Austrian Telegram to Serbia declaring War on July 28, 1914
Austrian Telegram to Serbia declaring War on July 28, 1914

As we see, Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28, but it took her another eight days, until August 5, to declare war on Russia, on account of her obligations to Germany under the Dual Alliance treaty. But she could not get her act together: in a case of truly exceptional schlamperei, she forgot to declare war on Great Britain and France. After waiting until August 12, these two countries took it upon themselves to correct the Austrian oversight and declared war on Vienna, via telegram to her ambassador in Switzerland.

(© John Vincent Palatine 2015/18)

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