German Imperial War Council of 8 December 1912

Trying to appease the growing sense of alienation, Bethmann Hollweg had his Foreign Office state secretary Alfred von Kiderlen-Waechter publish a newspaper article in the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung advising Austria-Hungary against a military action, which in turn caused annoyance in Vienna.

The chancellor ultimately provoked a diplomatic crisis, when in a Reichstag speech on 2 December he publicly confirmed the alliance with Austria-Hungary.

The report left Wilhelm furious, lamenting that in the 'Germanic struggle for existence' the British, blinded by envy and inferiority feelings, join the Slavs (Russia) and their Romanic accessories (France).

[1] His opinion was that Austria-Hungary should attack Serbia that December, and if “Russia supports the Serbs, which she evidently does…then war would be unavoidable for us, too,”[1] and that this would be better now than later, after completion of (the just begun) massive modernization and expansion of the Russian army and railway system toward Germany.

Admiral Tirpitz, however, asked for a “postponement of the great fight for one and a half years”[1] because the Navy was not ready for a general war that included Britain as an opponent.

He insisted that the completion of the construction of the U-boat base at Heligoland and the widening of the Kiel Canal were the Navy's prerequisites for war.

[1] The British historian John Röhl has pointed out the coincidence that the date for completion of the widening of the Kiel Canal was the summer of 1914,[3] but a reading of the report of the conference shows no agreement as to a war in 1914.

[3] It was clearly established that, if there was going to be a war, the German Army wanted it to commence before the new Russian armaments program began to bear fruit.

[3] Historians more sympathetic to the government of Wilhelm II often reject the importance of this War Council as only showing the thinking, and recommendations of those present, with no decisions taken.

"[3] Röhl is on safer ground when he argues that even if this War Council did not reach a binding decision it does nonetheless offer a clear view of their intentions,[3] or at least their thoughts.

H.M. welcomed this message as providing the desired clarification for all those who have been lulled into a false sense of security by the recently friendly English press.

Moltke said that even then the navy would not be ready, and the army's situation would continue to worsen, since due to our limited financial resources our opponents are able to arm themselves more rapidly.