Morning: Berchtold sends coded instructions by courier to Szápáry instructing him to tell Sazonov that if Austria-Hungary’s statement that it does not covet Serbian possessions or intend to infringe the sovereignty of Serbia does not persuade Russia to give Austria-Hungary a free hand in dealing with Serbia he is to make it clear that Vienna will go to “extreme lengths” to obtain fulfilment of its demands and it will not recoil from the possibility of European complications.
The courier doesn’t get to St Petersburg until the afternoon of 27 July.