Page:The guilt of William Hohenzollern.djvu/102

98 more energetically we support her, Russia is all the more likely to keep quiet. In Petersburg, of course, there is sure to be a bit of a row, but fundamentally Russia is not ready to strike now. Nor will France and England desire war now. In a few years, according to all competent authorities, Russia will be ready to strike. Then she will crush us with her numbers; then she will have built her Baltic fleet and her strategical railways. Meanwhile, our group will be growing weaker and weaker. Russia knows this very well, and, therefore, absolutely desires peace for a few more years. I willingly believe your cousin Benckendorff, that Russia does not want a war with us now. Sasonow gives the same assurance. But the Government in Russia, which to-day is still a friend of peace and, to a certain extent, pro-German, becomes increasingly weaker and Slavonic feeling more and more anti-German. ... I desire no preventive war. But when battle offers we must not run away."

So Jagow does not believe that Russia, at the moment, can and will wage war. He does not want to force a preventive war exactly, but if it does come, it will really be a piece of good fortune for the German Empire and its allies.

This was, in those days, a widespread opinion, not only in Austria, but also in Germany. Immediately after the outbreak of war, Herr Paul Rohrbach, a Pan-German magnate, and likely to be familiar with the German General Staff's line of thought, made this statement:

"For us—i.e. for Germany and Austria-Hungary