If  William  and  Bethmann-Hollweg,  as  the  latter
himself  declared,  had  there  and  then  given  their  assent
to  "  warlike  measures  on  the  part  of  Austria-Hungary,"
at  the  peril  of  being  involved  in  a  war  with  Russia,  the


71          The  Guilt  of  William  Hohenzollern

decks  must  have  been  cleared  for  action  before  William
set  out  towards  the  Midnight  Sun.
It  is  thus  by  no  means  surprising  that  we  should  find
a  "  Memorandum  of  the  Under-Secretary  of  State,  Freiherr
von  der  Bussche,  for  the  Secretary  of  State  Zimmer-
mann,"  dated  August  30th,  1917.  In  this  we  read  :

"  In  July,  1914,  on  the  same  day  [July  5],  after  the
Austro-Hungarian  Ambassador  had  handed  His
Majesty  the  Emperor  the  letter  of  the  Emperor
Francis  Joseph,  which  had  been  brought  by  Count
Hoyos,  and  after  the  Imperial  Chancellor  von
Bethmann-Hollweg  and  the  Secretary  of  State
Zimmermann  had  been  received  at  Potsdam,  there
took  place  at  Potsdam  a  council  of  military
authorities  before  His  Majesty.  The  following  took
part :  His  Excellency  Capelle,  on  behalf  of  Tirpitz,
Captain  Zenker,  for  the  Admirals'  Staff,  representa-
tives of  the  War  Office  and  of  the  General  Staff.
It  was  resolved,  in  preparation  for  all  emergencies,
to  take  preparatory  steps  for  a  war.  Orders  in
agreement  with  this  have  thereupon  been  issued. —
A  thoroughly  reliable  source.
"  BUSSCHE."

The  information  given  by  Herr  von  Tirpitz  in  his
"  Memoirs  "  (1919,  page  209)  points  in  the  same  direction.
