German White Book

Front cover and extract from the German White Book on the causes of the 'German-Russian-French war', August 1914.

When a general European war broke out in August 1914, each of the combatants rushed to publish diplomatic sources purporting to show that the origins of the conflict lay elsewhere. For example, Britain published a Blue Book, and Russia an Orange Book. This extract from Germany's equivalent, the White Book, shows a telegram from the German embassy in St Petersburg, dating from 27 July 1914, in which the Russian war minister, Serge Sazonov, allegedly promises that no general mobilisation of the Russian army will be undertaken 'under any circumstances'.
Catalogue reference: FO 371/1992/43963 (3 Aug 1914)

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