37 Days (2014) s01e01 Episode Script

CHATTERING 'I once calculated that the Foreign Office 'receives 250 telegrams every hour.
'That is 6,000 telegrams per day.
'Or 42,000 each week' You thought I was Persia, didn't you? I've been promoted! '.
.
which comes to 2,190,000 telegrams every year.
'Britannia rules the waves, I suppose.
'And for that reason, we must welcome these tides of information.
'Political crisis in Argentina.
'The abolition of slavery in Siam, I love it.
'It means that I am working at the centre of the world 'and get to find out what is happening, as soon as it happens.
'Well, within a few hours, anyway.
'But, my word, it is an awful lot of telegrams!' Could you do these promptly, Muriel? Please? Please! 'This particular one though, received in London from His Britannic Majesty's Consul 'in Sarajevo, on June 28, 1914.
Well, I should be honest with you, 'the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, murdered in Sarajevo.
'Interesting, for sure, over breakfast, 'but forgotten by tea-time.
' Thank you.
'Or so I thought.
As did everyone else I spoke to.
'But it was not forgotten.
And I think it never will be.
' 'You know, it is a magical place, 'and I have to pinch myself sometimes that I'm here.
'Just two years on from Kings, 'a second division clerk in the great, and, as some would have it, 'independent kingdom of the Foreign Office.
' What's in the box, Henry, lead piping? 'Not much of a player, not yet, but a ringside seat 'if you like your boxing.
' Shoulders back.
Doubtless that is for me, Alec.
It is, sir.
Well, let's take it into my office.
'That's my boss, Sir Eyre Crowe.
' So, what do we have? 'The Assistant Undersecretary at the Foreign Office.
'German born, educated in Berlin, but now, 'he is more British than any one of us.
' Well, well.
'I have learned to watch Sir Eyre closely 'because everyone knows he is a brilliant man.
Including himself.
' Do you know, I was about to predict something like this? 'This man had come to Britain at 17, a German speaker still, 'and sailed through his civil service examinations.
' I thought so.
Rash, rash, rash.
'I think he likes me too.
'I am a scholarship boy, you see.
'A bit of an outsider myself.
' Look at this.
The 28th was the Serb holy day.
What a time for an Austrian archduke to go to Sarajevo.
It is rash, sir.
Yes.
Rash.
So Is this important or not? It is.
But important enough to disturb the Foreign Secretary? Right now? Right now.
No.
CLOCK CHIMES I believe you may want to think about that one again.
KNOCK ON DOOR Come.
I am leaving, Crowe, Is it urgent? It's Bosnia, Foreign Secretary.
I think that might wait.
Really? Come and walk me out then.
'That is Sir Edward Grey, the Liberal Foreign Secretary.
'As a statesman he was, we believed, trusted and admired.
' The Mesopotamia minute.
And I shall need the Persian text first thing tomorrow.
Sir.
So who would want him dead? Many people.
Franz Ferdinand was an unpopular man and made enemies easily.
What does your stomach say? Croat? Muslim? I doubt it.
Hungarian? Hmmpossibly.
More likely to be a Serb, then? That is where I would place my money.
Me too.
The question is, how will the Austrians take it? You are going to give me a very brief but wonderfully incisive answer.
The same way they take all their disappointments.
Hysterical condemnation, a baroque display of official grief and a demand for financial compensation.
From? Oh, from whomever they can find to blame.
We don't want it to be Serbia, do we? No.
It would be messy.
It would Yes? Austria does have rather too many unruly Serbs within its own borders to go picking a fight with a whole lot more outside.
So do we need to worry? We always need to do that.
But I should enjoy my supper? Mm-hmm.
BELL CHIMES 'You know, Sir Edward might also have been 'the unluckiest man in Britain.
'His wife had recently died after being thrown by a horse.
' How is your boy doing? Very well, sir.
I hope to see him back here before long.
'His elder brother had been eaten by a lion 'and his younger brother would be mauled to death by a buffalo.
'That is enough personal tragedy to finish a man, 'but Grey bore it, somehow.
' That dreadful man, Eyre Crowe, I'll wager he sees this as an opportunity to have a go at the Germans.
Now, now, dear, Sir Edward has come here to relax, not to talk shop.
Oh, nonsense, he loves talking shop, you all do.
Look at David over there.
Do you want him to recite Welsh poetry? No, you don't.
You want him to relate some tittle-tattle from the Treasury! You can never distinguish between a dinner party and a cabinet meeting and much as we would all welcome your feminine wisdom in Cabinet, Margot, there is a difference! More's the pity! But at least tell me this, Sir Edward, is it Serbia or Servia? Oh! B for "Barbarian", or V for "Villain"? I am at a loss.
Some of our clerks type it up as B, others V.
The Times favours V.
Never.
In the Manchester Guardian, it is B.
And the News of the World says, "Who the hell cares?" About the spelling? About anything! I have no firm allegiance to either, Margot.
Well, you should get these things straight.
A misspelt name is like a forgotten face.
A grave insult.
Just the sort of thing men will go to war over.
Quite so! Those Serbs do appear to enjoy killing royalty, though.
We don't know it is the Serbs yet.
Yes, but Margot is quite correct.
They are thrilled by violence, by the reality, not just the idea.
Winston's kind of people! LAUGHTER Their own King Alexander stripped and butchered in the Royal bedchamber.
His wife, too.
Both of them thrown from open windows.
It is the land of the blood feud.
A contested will, pistols are drawn.
An argument over a worthless plot of land, out come the knives.
And the embittered past, always there - threatening to engorge the present.
Dear God, it sounds just like Ireland.
Please, can we NOT talk about that?! Here, here.
Of course, my dear, except to say, that if I were Prime Minister instead of you, I'd have had the leaders of the Ulster Volunteer Force shot by now.
I do believe she would! And anyone else bent on using guns to overturn the decisions of the British House of Commons.
Ah, bloodshed.
The perfect solution to the Irish problem(!) But there will be blood.
You've all let it slide too far.
The only question is, whose? Thank you, Margot.
You have been keeping your cards close to your chest tonight, Sir Edward.
So, please, give me something to take away.
Ireland is not my department, Margot.
Oh, I am not talking about that.
Home rule will be resisted by Ulster, and the Tory leadership, and there will be a horrible civil war, that is obvious.
Now, I want to know about the Sarajevo assassination.
Should I be worried? Well, I don't see why.
You see, now I am worried.
I can read you like a book.
Well, I do hope I am not so transparent to foreign diplomats.
Sowhat is the Foreign Office plotting? "Plotting"? We all know you sit on a mountain of secrets.
Nobody is plotting anything, Margot, but you have my assurance, if this country has anything to worry about you will be the first to be told.
Edward.
Thank you.
Good night, Winston.
Yes.
Edward.
Good night, David.
Thank the Lord I am not married to her.
If I had been, I'd be a widower by now.
Sorry, Edward.
Damn careless of me.
But I must say, I do hope it's not the Serbs.
Because if it is Austria won't be happy until their army has been billeted in Belgrade.
I am not sure.
And then we will have the Russians rattling their sabres.
We don't want a Slav common front developing over this.
I can't imagine Austria would be stupid enough to provoke that.
CLANKING Good night, Edward.
Good night.
I am certain you will make us proud if you are called upon.
You are still up, William.
That wasn't necessary.
It's me.
Crowe? I was let in by your men.
What is it? I was right, it was a Serb.
A young student, a fanatic, clearly, possibly an anarchist, I forget.
Principo, I think.
The details all are here, such as they are.
I thought you would want to know before the morning papers.
Thank you, Crowe.
'The Archduke's assassin was Gavrilo Princip, 'a Bosnian Serb, and a nonentity, 'but a nonentity with a very powerful idea.
'Princip believed that Bosnia should be part of the Kingdom of Serbia 'and that it would take violence 'to get rid of the province's Austrian overlords, 'violence that he and his friends were willing to inflict.
'And the victim they chose was this man.
'The Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
'The heir to the Habsburg throne and the symbol of everything Princip 'hated about Austrian rule - 'its arrogance, its bullying, and 'Well, the sheer fact that it regarded the Serbs in the province 'as an inferior race.
'And it was madness for a Habsburg to visit Sarajevo 'on this day of all days, 'for the 28th was the most important date in the Serb calendar.
'A day of holy mourning.
'It would be like an English king going, in battle dress, 'to Dublin on St Patrick's Day.
'An act of self destruction.
'Yet this fool might still have escaped.
'The young assassins had lost their nerve and all Princip had seen 'of the Archduke's car was a blur as it raced by.
'He had retreated to a little cafe 'and was no doubt contemplating what might have been.
'But then 'by some perverse roll of the dice, the boy got a second chance.
' Back, back! It is fine! 'The Archduke's driver had got lost in the city's old town 'and the car Well, this makes me laugh and cry even now, 'the car was stuck right outside Princip's coffee house.
' DOGS BARK ENGINE REVS SHE GASPS 'These shots, from this boy, they were loud in Sarajevo.
'I promise you, they were even louder in Berlin.
'For Austria was our ally and Franz Ferdinand was our friend.
' Good morning.
'For most of my colleagues in the Chancellery of the German Reich, 'it was as if we ourselves had been shot.
'There were very few like me in the Imperial Government.
'I count myself a liberal 'and liberalism is understood to be a kind of poison here.
'I favour making the Fatherland a true democracy, too.
'And that, should it ever become known, 'would be enough to see me cashiered.
'For this is a Prussian institution, still, not a German one.
'And here is the man at the head of it - 'the Imperial Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg.
' The Kaiser needs to know the title of the book, not the chapter and verse.
This one.
'Bethmann-Hollweg had spent a lifetime 'in the Prussian civil service.
'He was extremely competent 'and he knew that the murder in Sarajevo 'would affect our Kaiser personally.
' They were friends.
They were more than friends.
They were hunting partners.
What became of the antelope population of Bohemia? One day, perhaps, there are children who'll want to know the answer.
You can tell them it was eliminated in the course of one glorious weekend by the Archduke and our Kaiser.
They achieved that? It is impossible to kill so many living things and not effect a bond of some kind.
'But Bethmann-Hollweg's special gift was for obedience.
'Obedience to the right man.
'Obedience to this man '.
.
Kaiser Wilhelm II.
'You all know him.
'The eldest grandson of Queen Victoria.
'The withered left arm with which 'he was yanked into life by a panic-stricken midwife.
'The moustache pointing to heaven.
'He was often a puzzle to us, though.
' No crime greater.
There is no crime greater.
Regicide attacks the apex of civilised life.
When you kill a king you kill the order in which people find all meaning.
Your Majesty And these Serbs! I hate them! We all do.
I know it's a sin to hate anybody and we ought not to do it.
But we cannot help hating THEM! Tell them about the Browning.
The gun that was shot in Sarajevo.
Yes.
Well.
We don't know for certain, but it might appear Ah! We know! The bullet displays markings of the Royal Serbian arsenal.
That's what Vienna is telling us.
It wasn't a deluded boy who fired the gun, it was the Serbian Government.
It is possible the gun was stolen.
It is fairly well known, I think, that practically every farm in Serbia has become a dump for pilfered weapons since the last Balkan war.
Good, Prince Lichnowsky.
That is what they will want us to think.
What does my Chancellor say? In terms of Imperial policy, sir, we first ought to see what line of thinking emerges from Vienna.
In the meantime, we might sound out the Russians, for the obvious reason that they continue to see themselves as the "protectors of the Serbian nation".
We know from experience that Russia gets nervous whenever there is a disturbance in the Balkans Do you think that is an appropriate German response, to wait and see how Russia reacts? I didn't quite say that, Your Majesty.
It's what you meant! The Austrians! They're our problem.
Isn't that so? As soon as the corpse is buried, their courage will fail.
And if it fails this time, she is finished.
Every Serb, Croat, Polack, Transylvanian-Romanian-Negro-Gypsy in the Habsburg Empire, any race with a grievance, will pick up the gun and point it to the Austrian heart! We all know this, don't we? Well, don't we? That is why, this time, we must give Vienna some backbone.
Serbia must learn to fear the Habsburgs again.
Hear, hear.
We should let Austria know that whatever she intends to do to the Serbs, we shall support her.
Won't they still procrastinate? Not if Bethmann here tells them that our support is conditional on their taking immediate and decisive action against the Serbs.
Military action? Of course, military action! But it must be swift! None of their usual coming and going.
Look at you! You're all worried about Russia.
Where the hell is Moltke when you need him? That was not a rhetorical question.
Well, General Moltke is still on vacation in Carlsbad, Your Majesty.
Oh.
My Chief of Staff didn't think it worthwhile to break his holiday over this, like the rest of us? I have an appointment with him in two days' time, Your Majesty.
And for the rest of you.
Stop worrying about Russia.
If there's one man in the world who detests regicide more than I do, it's the Tsar.
God knows, his family has seen enough king-killers in its time.
Prince Lichnowsky, if you will.
You will be returning to London soon? Tomorrow night, Your Majesty.
Yes, yes, tomorrow, that's right.
You know, Max, what really matters is what our English cousins will say.
They don't understand that, but we do.
Look at this.
Do you know where this oak comes from? I suppose it You're going to tell me it's from England.
Oh, better than that Max.
Much better than that.
It's from the quarterdeck of Nelson's Victory.
It's a gift from my grandmother.
HE INHALES You can still smell the salt.
Do you know that Lord Nelson used to get sea-sick? I can get sea-sick, too.
It's a damn shame for us sailors.
Do you think Sir Edward Grey will be in a flap over what has happened? Oh, I have always found him to be very calm.
Easy to be, of course, when you have the deck of cards arranged just as you want it.
That is true, sir.
It is.
And I'm pleased you think Edward Grey will be calm.
Austria needs to be loved by the other great powers.
She's gravely ill.
We all know that.
BELL CHIMES The best medicine is to get their soldiers in some foreign capital, just for a short while.
The Serbs are wild animals.
But you can tame them, and then you can order them around.
They have a special talent for servility.
You're my friend, Max.
I picked you for London myself because I wanted somebody there who would tell me the truth.
Not just what I want to hear.
Well, I believe Grey will look sympathetically on any Austrian effort to punish the assassins.
But we should be aware that there is still something in the British mind that revolts against overweening force.
Against the bully, if you will.
Especially in the Balkans.
It is still the land of Lord Byron, in that respect.
Yes, yes, of course.
They see a large nation oppress a small one and it raises a protective instinct, I suppose.
Unless Britain herself is the oppressor.
And then they call it paternalism! There is some truth in that, sir.
The hypocrisy of the English, Max! I don't know how you endure it.
'Two days later, the Kaiser's belligerent thoughts about Serbia, 'now written up into smooth prose, 'were handed to the Austrian ambassador in Berlin.
'Look at him.
So smug.
' Our respects to Vienna.
'Why? 'Because he's Hungarian nobility and that's their style? 'Or maybe it's the Kaiser's astonishing document in his hand.
' "We will back you", it said, "in whatever you choose to do".
'We would all come to know the Kaiser's memorandum to Austria 'as "the blank cheque".
'But that phrase doesn't really do it justice.
It implies a choice.
'Whereas we were expecting, even requiring the Austrians 'to open hostilities with Serbia.
'Of course, the old Emperor in Vienna, Franz Joseph, 'worked to his own stroke.
'66 years he had sat on his throne.
'What was urgency to a man like that? 'Our blank cheque was meant to be cashed straightaway.
'There was little chance of that.
'Nothing happened.
'It was as if the Balkans went back to sleep.
'No guns were raised, no cannons were wheeled out.
'No armies moved.
' In my opinion, war's a certainty.
Too many guns in circulation now to bring politics back into the equation.
Winston? Yeah, here's our problem.
About 30,000 German rifles have been landed at Larne, County Antrim, in the past few months.
Now, we can get no help from the local authorities there, once those weapons are in the hands of the Ulster Volunteers.
Because the Ulster Volunteers ARE the local authorities? There's no greater opponent of Irish home rule than the Irish policeman.
The ROYAL Irish Constabulary.
Unswervingly loyal to Westminster, until the moment they don't want to be.
Our fairest chance is for me to put more ships into the Irish Sea to try and intercept the gun running.
But, of course, it's the Nationalists, too, who What is it, Edward? Ah, well, perhaps it's nothing.
Ah, well, it transpires that the assassins - the Sarajevo assassins - were trained in Belgrade.
The Black Hand? Well, that's what they call themselves.
It's a pantomime name.
Not pantomime blood, unfortunately.
Quite.
Evidently the Black Hand has warrened the Serbian secret service, whose leading officers seem to be terrorists in all but name.
I don't think the Serbian Prime Minister or his Cabinet knew anything of Princip or indeed how far this Black Hand stretches.
Mm-hm.
The Austrians know all this, presumably? According to our intercepts, they do.
Oh, well.
That's good.
Means they've absorbed the shock.
But still no official reaction from Vienna? Nothing.
So what do you think is happening? Well, I imagine that the Austrian and Serb governments have opened a private channel of communication and are sorting the problem out between themselves.
But? But? I'm expecting you to say what you always say at this moment.
Yes, yes? What do I always say? You wear what you imagine is your guileless face and you tell me that where central Europe is concerned, it is better to listen to what Berlin is saying than Vienna.
I do that? Mm.
And then you say In fact, why don't you say it now while I get my things together? No, I know the face.
You don't have to do that.
Just give me the words.
I probably say something like, "Austria's reached the point "where she can do nothing in her foreign policy "without consulting Germany first.
" Mm-hm.
But sometimes I go further than that and say, "Austrian policy is made in Berlin.
" As you know.
Good.
I'm glad you've got that off your chest.
And you know I have an appointment on this beautiful summer's afternoon with the Invincibles, which not even the appearance of the German Navy in the Channel would stop me from attending.
Very Francis Drake, Foreign Secretary.
You know, Crowe, you should really take up cricket.
It teaches one an awful lot about life.
Prince Lichnowsky loves it.
The cover drive! Ha-ha! You know, that's the finest sight in cricket.
Oh, and in the whole field of sport, Edward? Quite so.
Good to see you back, Max.
I was sorry to miss your innings.
You mean you blinked? Oh, it was over that quickly? Clean bowled, I'm afraid.
Hardly saw it.
Your eyes? No! It was just a very fast ball.
Let's take a walk around the rope.
I've been reassured by the Austrian silence.
I think that's a good sign, don't you? I do.
It suggests a very responsible approach, the Balkans being such a tinderbox.
I agree.
Ah! There's two there! Let's just speculate for a moment, if you don't mind.
What do you think would happen if Austria decided to punish Serbia? To punish her? Teach her a lesson.
Do you believe that Russia would come to the aid of the Serbs? Well, she might.
And if that happened, would France have to follow Russia and Would Britain be bound to follow France? Yes.
Would Britain be bound to follow France? Yes, ah You're trying to get me to say that if Russia cries help, a French gendarme and a British bobby will turn up on the doorstep.
You're teasing me, Edward.
I fear you are almost trying to tell me something, Max.
But you do have an understanding with France.
You know we do, just as we have one with Russia.
But nothing that binds you in a crisis? We are still speculating.
Yes, well, I have nothing to hide.
His Majesty's Government has an obligation to Parliament not to incur secret liabilities abroad, you know that.
I often think we are a little more open on that score than you are.
I sometimes wonder what your Reichstag doesn't know.
I'll tell you this, no speculation now.
What happened last week much depends on Austria maintaining its sense of proportion.
It's important that Serb sentiment isn't raised to a point where Russia finds it impossible to stand aside.
APPLAUSE Good shot.
Edward? Hm? About your eyes? I told you, it was a very quick ball.
Yes, of course.
But the physician I mentioned in Nuremberg, the oculist, he can see you in August when you take your vacation.
The whole thing would be very discreet.
Thank you, Max.
There are some secrets we have to keep.
You know, Edward, we can take this to Parliament, share the load.
No, I wouldn't want to do that.
At least not yet.
The Commons has a right to know.
Of course.
And she will want to know.
For the moment, I would like to keep it within the charmed circle.
"Charmed circle"? I wonder who that might be.
You've sacked the butler, have you, dear? Foreign Office? Crowe's cabal in the Foreign Office? Just you and Crowe? Please, Margot.
One sugar or two.
Ah, oh Two.
Diplomacy, all those silken phrases.
Why don't you just come out and say what you mean for once? Why don't you say what you mean when you see a friend wearing a dress you don't like? She does.
Well, some things are better not said.
Not even the truth? Especially the truth.
You never know who will misunderstand it.
Openness.
We hear it from our backbenchers all the time, together with that other shibboleth, Democratic Foreign Policy.
It wasn't so very long ago that democracy itself sounded risible.
Can you imagine trying to conduct diplomacy under such conditions - for the clamour of popular passions? There would be dead bodies everywhere.
We are the surgeons.
We've seen most things, and I'm sorry if this sounds arrogant, we know how to use the knives.
Oh.
Oh.
KNOCK AT DOOR Oh! Do you have any chalk with you? This stuff doesn't seem to work properly.
I I Of course you don't.
It would be too strange if you did.
Thank you for coming, Crowe.
I've taken the liberty of ordering up a rather superb Elbling.
He's odd, isn't he? Your boss.
He's never been to Germany in all his time as Foreign Secretary.
Not really.
He hasn't been to Austria or Russia either.
He says it allows him to keep an open mind and to play the ball, not the man, whatever that means.
Sporting metaphors will be the death of us one day.
I must confess I have never understood the British obsession with sport.
Pursuing a rolling ball teaches you nothing apart from how to pursue a rolling ball.
KNOCK AT DOOR You should be in no doubt, Crowe, there are some very important people who admire what you have done at the Foreign Office.
It can't have been easy to educate the old guard about Germany.
There was a terrible blind spot there.
I am not popular.
I'll bet you're not.
No mandarin likes to be told they've been hoodwinked by a rogue.
Sir Edward though, is a fair man.
There is no grudge there.
He is supremely fair.
He truly believes in the role of honour in diplomacy.
That's one thing a rogue can never forgive, outwit them by stealth or by deceit and they will grin and bear it, they might even admire you.
But defeat them by acting honourably and they will burn for revenge.
That's something cricket doesn't teach you.
I think I'm correct in saying that I'm the only member of the entire Government who has spent some time with the Kaiser.
Most probably.
He looks on war as a child looks on war.
He never got past the tin soldier stage, uniforms, naval signals, regimental colours, of actual warfare he knows nothing and fears the worst.
So we should treat him like a child? In a manner of speaking, yes.
The only gesture he will understand from Britain is the raised hand.
That's what I think.
You must have told Sir Edward this yourself? Hm Politics is a curious business, isn't it? Who's strong? Who's weak and whatnot? I think it's better it comes from someone who doesn't constitute a threat CHURCH BELLS RING 'Where the hell is General Moltke when you need him? 'That's what the Kaiser had asked his men in Berlin.
'Well, here he was.
' General? 'In Carlsbad.
' Ah, a storm from Berlin! 'Taking the cure.
' You want a towel? No Thank you.
Someone get him one.
'Every bit the Chief of the General Staff '.
.
even out of uniform.
'And I will tell you something about this uniform.
'The Chief of Staff is not a hereditary position in Germany, 'but Moltke's uncle had worn it before him.
'And in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the uncle had led 'the German army that crushed France and occupied Paris 'What did the nephew think of that? 'An example to follow? A burden to carry - both?' The Kaiser thinks the Russians will stand back and let the Austrian army enjoy the whore houses in Belgrade for a couple of weeks, doesn't he? He wants a victory without paying a price.
Just a small victory - in a local war.
But it can't happen.
The Russians aren't that stupid.
And let's stop pretending the Austrians are going to solve our problems for us.
I agree.
If we really wish to change the balance of power in the Balkans we ought to think about what kind of price we are prepared to pay.
The German army isn't just there for decoration.
So will you come back to Berlin? If I do that, everything will speed up.
Precisely.
But I don't want things to speed up, I want them to slow down.
The longer things drag on with Serbia, the more agitated the Russians will get.
With the Russians agitated, the less belligerent we shall appear in the weeks to come.
I'm staying here for a while.
Harder! Not so hard.
You can't send your ultimatum because your soldiers are wanted at the harvest? What happened to the idea of farmers doing the harvest? MUFFLED LAUGHTER So the middle of August - five weeks? You will be ready in five weeks' time, brilliant! Do you think there's any chance the Serbs might discover what we're up to by then? And the Russians? Will they still be seething at the regicide in a month's time? Or will they be Serbia's gallant protector again? Do not sit down! This is Austria's last chance.
So please, explain to your Emperor, using your own words, that unless action is taken against Belgrade in the next week it will be too late.
Too late forever.
You won't get another chance.
It's like taking care of a pony.
LAUGHTER BELLS RING 'Quick to take offence, slow to act.
'Isn't that always the way with people who stand on their dignity? 'The same with nations.
'Since the Archduke's assassination a whole three weeks 'had passed before the Habsburg Emperor finally got round to 'composing his ultimatum to Serbia.
'But don't be fooled by this pathetic quadrille.
'Austria was in no haste, but weak and decadent as she was, 'her vindictiveness wasamazing.
'In Berlin we waited 'We cursed the Austrians for their stupor.
'And then This!' It's inept.
They might as well have just invaded.
This makes them look unreasonable.
'Unreasonable? 'What Austria wanted from Serbia was complete humiliation! 'In a police cell in faraway Sarajevo, the Austrians already had 'the Archduke's assassin Gavrilo Princip - 'he and his wretched comrades still dreaming of a greater Serbia.
'And the boys had confessed to receiving shooting lessons 'and a case of revolvers in Belgrade - but now Austria blamed 'the entire Serb nation for their operation and its list of demands 'on the Serbian Government was so extreme that, in meeting them, 'the Serbs would have completely surrendered their sovereignty.
' This is an astonishing ultimatum.
It is.
So much for Fermanagh and Tyrone.
I wouldn't take your eyes off Ireland, gentlemen.
I'm happy to.
Such a dreary bog.
I'd bet on an Irish war before I would a Balkan one Sadly.
But the Austrian ultimatum has been purposely designed to be rejected surely? It probably has.
But that doesn't mean it will be.
So, you have cause for hope? I know Serbia is in no shape to fight a war.
Nor I understand is Russia.
Then they have no alternative but to negotiate.
Mm.
Just keep them supplied with tea until Sir Edward's ready.
Oh, and don'tdon't let them speak to each other.
Howhow do I do that? 'We'd gathered the principal ambassadors at the Foreign Office.
'Prince Lichnowsky you know.
'Count Benckendorff - German name, but the ambassador for Russia.
'And the Times reader is Count Mensdorff of Austria.
'They're all cousins.
That's worth saying again' The three cousins are here.
Who would you like to see first? Austria - I suppose.
Count Mensdorff, if you'd like to come this way.
What is this country - Servia? My government, after a thorough police investigation into the murder of our Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his consort, have sifted through the accumulated evidence Yes, yes, what I want to know is what you think of this ultimatum.
"The Serb government should suppress any newspaper which creates "anti-Austrian feeling.
"It must outlaw all pan-Serbian cultural societies.
"It must rewrite its school textbooks to eliminate any negative "references to the Habsburg monarchy.
" What an extraordinary thing to demand of an independent country.
Don't you agree? It's as though you imagine Serbia to be a little province in your own empire.
I don't think that there is that assumption.
Do you know what I said to Crowe here when I read this thing two hours ago? Oh, you said it was the most formidable document ever addressed by one state to another.
Was that before or after I fell off my chair? It's designed to be rejected, isn't it? No, it is.
Let's not act like children today.
No government wishing to maintain its sovereignty could agree to these terms.
There would be a revolution.
They'd be overthrown by their own people.
Is that what you want? We have no opinion on these Because if it is, you'll be dealing with someone far worse in Belgrade.
You'll get someone in charge who actually does hate you.
(Point five.
) Ah.
Ah, yes.
Point five.
How will that be achieved? You demand the right for your own state officials to take an active role in policing anti-Austrian feeling in Serbia.
There are many police forces co-operating over national boundaries these days.
Give me strength.
You've also given us 48 hours - well, that's 18 hours now - to use our influence and help Serbia move towards some of these demands.
I have been instructed to ask you what position Britain would take if a conflict would break out between Austria and Serbia.
There is a strong feeling in this country that Serbia shouldn't be humiliated.
There's considerable admiration for her.
There is.
Is there? But, you know, I would very happily let you and the Serbs sort this mess out between the two of you.
But I can't do that because we both know there is a danger that Russia will be drawn in and the British interest would become involved.
To join forces with Russia? To mediate, you fool! Diplomacy is a branch of manners.
That man has none.
BENCKENDORFF: Russia is outraged by this, Sir Edward.
We have our dignity too.
And Serbia is a friend of ours.
We can't let her be put on the end of an Austrian chain.
I think that's a slightly fanciful image, Count Benckendorff.
My government hopes you will support us as our trusted ally.
It's quite true.
We have co-operated well in recent years, especially in Asia, and that has been gratifying.
But Afghanistan is not the Balkans.
What are you saying? I'm saying I'm just warning you that nobody in England much cares about Serbia.
It would infuriate the British people to know that even a single mule of ours had been sacrificed for a country most of them cannot place on a map.
That is outrageous.
I'm not saying it's commendable, I'm just outlining our difficulty.
Do you think this? He agrees with me.
Ah, the other thing, my dear Count.
Please.
I would urge Russia to steady its own horses.
I mean, Austria has put Serbia in an impossible position, I appreciate that.
But it will be easier for me to play the mediator if you are not already locked into their quarrel.
You do understand that? I'll get Prince Lichnowsky.
I can't stay in here any longer.
I need air.
Good idea.
We can use the garden.
Actually, I'd like to see the prince alone.
You really didn't know? I discovered its contents at exactly the same time as you did.
Because I thought you were testing me at the cricket.
No-one in Germany knew what was in the ultimatum, but a few people did know there'd be one.
I see.
And did Germany encourage Austria to be militant in drawing up that ultimatum? I can't answer that, Edward.
Because you don't know? I can't answer that either.
Ah, what do you think the Kaiser will think when he reads it? He's currently on holiday, isn't he? Yes, he is.
He's definitely on holiday.
I believe he gets back Yeah, no matter.
But you say you were as ignorant of the actual contents of the ultimatum as we were? So, tell me, man to man, now you've seen it, what do you think? What I think of it is probably what you think of it.
DOOR OPENS I think the Germans are playing with us.
I realise that.
So why don't we send out a signal that we are not to be played with? I meant I realise that's what you think.
What, I'm wrong? There's this curious defect somewhere, Crowe.
In me? In the way you operate.
You're always so eager to hold Germany to an inappropriate moral standard.
Perhaps it comes from being an intellectual.
Or perhaps because I was born in Germany? I didn't say that.
You're thinking it.
No, I'm not.
But like all abstract thinkers, you have your idee fixe, your obsession.
We can't afford obsessions.
We've developed a sophisticated diplomatic machine over the years.
It's not perfect but it keeps the peace.
Villains get caught in its moving parts, those who don't abide by the rules get spat out.
Well, you know this.
At least you used to.
Since this morning, we have but one task - to get the interested nations talking to each other.
Those with poisonous motives will be exposed, the machine will be greased - by me, by others - and it will operate as it did before.
DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES BELLS RING You look well, Moltke.
£20.
Carlsbad has worked its magic.
The Kaiser will be excited about the Austrian ultimatum.
Mmm, yes, I think he will be.
Because he won't know what it means.
Well, he's finally getting his little Balkan war.
Yes, he'll get that.
He'll sit there contemplating that harmless little acorn of his, but acorns have a habit of growing.
The little Balkan war will not remain a little Balkan war forever.
The problem with our Kaiser is that he only ever plans one move ahead.
Well, he's absolutely certain that the Russians will not come to the aid of Serbia.
And he's right, but they will mobilise their army and that will be enough.
But why on earth would they do that? I will leave them with no other choice.
BICYCLE BELL RINGS It's not like you to sulk, Crowe.
I am not sulking.
And now you're offended.
No, I'm not.
You'll feel better tomorrow when the hysteria subsides and the Balkans becomes boring again.
For that matter, oh, so will I.
And Germany? Look, 20 minutes of sunshine left.
My favourite part of the day.
Good night.
Good night, Foreign Secretary.
Hm, early night for once, unlike you, I'm afraid.
Nice to see you're fitting in.
BELL CHIMES Lovely evening.
Sir.
Austria doesn't want to talk.
She wants a war in the Balkans.
A quick, clean war.
Over before the Russians know it's even begun, yes? It's the Russian army.
The Tsar appears to have ordered a section of it facing the Austrian Empire to mobilise.
When you are so close together, it is difficult to avoid friction.
Now is the time to put British power into the scales.
If the iron dice roll, may God help us.
You want to invade France? I will tell you this, Britain will not stay neutral.
Britain is not capable of getting involved.
The English are liars.
Are you going to wait until France is violated before you act? The whole world will be thrown into chaos!