I was struck most this week by Kern's piece on the July Crisis. I was fascinated by the desire of some contries (namely Germany and to a lesser degree Austria-Hungary) to go to war. The fact that numerous officials planned when to send their ultimatums dependent upon the Poincaré's (the French Foreign Minister) schedule in order to ensure that he would not be in Russia (and thus unable to confer face-to-face) at the time(262). The secret additional unltimatum that Germany planned to force on France in the case of their agreement also seems demonstrate a desire to ensure that there could not be a peaceful solution (273). I suppose this reveals a major difference in my cultural context, but it seems to me that since WWI, most countries have tried to avoid war at almost any cost. Maybe this is because people are now aware of the human carnage that modern warfare entails, a concern which seems to have eluded many military and political leaders before the war.

I was also convinced by Kern's argument that technology seems to have been a primary factor for the war in more ways than one. I can understand the way in which the telegraph would result in a breakdown of diplomatic practices, but I was more surprised by the way in which the leaders seemingly refused to talk with their proposed eneimes on the telephone, opting instead for telegraphs. The medium of telephone, hearing the voice of your counterpart and being able to respond in real time would seems like it would facilitate greater, more presonal communications. But instead participants seem to have felt that telgraphs and state beurocracy seem to have stripped them of their personal agency.