The concession of this point takes me immediately to the ultimatum itself and to the question, “Was the tenor of the ultimatum justified?” Mr. Beck, in his judgment, says:  “The ultimatum is grossly unreasonable and disappropriate to any grievance that Austria had.”  Perhaps Mr. Beck is right, but I have good reasons to think that the tenor of the ultimatum was fully justified, in view of Servia’s former conduct.

Austria was dealing here with a Government the real spirits of which had come into power by the commission of one of the most dastardly crimes of modern times.  A crime which, at the time of its commission, sent a shock of horror through the entire civilized world, to wit, “the outrageous murder of the former King and Queen of Servia,” outrageous because it was perpetrated by the so-called aristocracy of Servia.  The long-continued agitation carried on by Servia against Austria, at the instigation of Russia, which finally culminated in another no less outrageous assassination, that of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his consort, to my idea fully justified Austria in making demands which under ordinary circumstances might have been termed “unreasonable.”

The question whether Austria was justified in going to war against Servia is a debatable one, but I respectfully refer to the fact that our own country, the United States, was only very recently on the verge of precipitating war with a “much weaker” nation than ours, on account of the latter’s refusal to salute the American flag.  Neither did we stop on that occasion with the ultimatum, but we followed it up with dispatching a fleet of warships, the landing of troops, and the seizure of Vera Cruz.

From the time Austria’s ultimatum was sent all the great powers seemed to have professed a great eagerness for the preservation of peace.  Mr. Beck asserts that Germany was not sincere in its desire for peace and could have avoided the war if it had seriously tried to exert its influence over Austria.  This finding is based on the inference drawn from the fact that Germany failed to achieve any results.

To determine whether Mr. Beck is justified in finding as he does, it is necessary, first of all, to examine the exact status of the powers at the time the ultimatum was sent.  We find that Austria had a just grievance against Servia, for which it was seeking redress.  An issue was therefore raised between Austria and Servia.  Germany, although Austria’s ally, immediately defined its attitude by declaring emphatically that “the question at issue was one for settlement between Servia and Austria alone.”

Why Did Russia Mobilize?

I beg to ask Mr. Beck to answer the following question:  By what right—­moral, legal, or equitable—­did Russia make Servia’s cause its own?  Did Russia have any alliance with Servia?  I further ask:  What privity existed between Austria, Servia, and Russia?

Suppose Mr. Beck can justify the action of Russia, although a “rank outsider,” in taking Servia’s part, how can he possibly justify the positively unreasonable and, under the circumstances, most dangerous step of “actual mobilization” on the part of Russia?