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The day after that--Monday, July 20--French President Poincaré and Premier René Viviani arrived in St. Petersburg on board the battleship ''France''. During the next three days of official ceremonies to mark the alliance between the two nations, Nicholas II and Sazonov brought both men up to date on the possibility of war in the Balkans; tsar and foreign minister expressed confidence in the outcome of a war with Austria, should they intervene on Serbia's behalf, and Poincaré in turn gave assurances that if Germany mobilized its armed forces in support of Austria, France would do the same in support of Russia. Warnings to this effect were conveyed to their potential opponents: Poincaré himself told the Austrian ambassador to Russia that "Serbia has very warm friends in the Russian people. And Russia has an Ally, France. There are plenty of complications to be feared!" Meanwhile, Sazonov informed the German ambassador that "Russia would not be able to endure it if Austria-Hungary issued threatening language to Serbia or undertook military measures....whatever happens there must be no talk of an ultimatum."<ref>Maurice Paléologue, ''An Ambassador's Memoirs'' trans. by F. A. Holt. London: Hutchinson, 1923, vol. 1, p. 18-19.</ref>
The day after that--Monday, July 20--French President Poincaré and Premier René Viviani arrived in St. Petersburg on board the battleship ''France''. During the next three days of official ceremonies to mark the alliance between the two nations, Nicholas II and Sazonov brought both men up to date on the possibility of war in the Balkans; tsar and foreign minister expressed confidence in the outcome of a war with Austria, should they intervene on Serbia's behalf, and Poincaré in turn gave assurances that if Germany mobilized its armed forces in support of Austria, France would do the same in support of Russia. Warnings to this effect were conveyed to their potential opponents: Poincaré himself told the Austrian ambassador to Russia that "Serbia has very warm friends in the Russian people. And Russia has an Ally, France. There are plenty of complications to be feared!" Meanwhile, Sazonov informed the German ambassador that "Russia would not be able to endure it if Austria-Hungary issued threatening language to Serbia or undertook military measures....whatever happens there must be no talk of an ultimatum."<ref>Maurice Paléologue, ''An Ambassador's Memoirs'' trans. by F. A. Holt. London: Hutchinson, 1923, vol. 1, p. 18-19.</ref>
==War Plans==
Despite Sazonov's warning (which had not yet been communicated to Vienna anyway), Austria's ambassador to Serbia presented its ultimatum to the government in Belgrade on the evening of Thursday, July 23--the date had been moved up after the timing of the Franco-Russian conference was determined. The ambassador, Baron Giesl von Gieslingen, read out the demands to the Serbian ministers, adding that they were being given forty-eight hours to accept the ultimatum; otherwise Austria would break off diplomatic relations, and war would follow.
News of the ultimatum was received by the Russian government the following morning; at once, Sazonov, who told a subordinate that he now "considered war unavoidable," met with the heads of the Russian armed forces to discuss a "partial" mobilization of the army against Austria-Hungary (though not against Germany), while other officials began withdrawing Russian assets from German banks as a precaution. A partial mobilization was approved by the Council of Ministers that afternoon (pending the Tsar's assent); immediately after which, Sazonov instructed Serbia's ambassador that his country should reject the ultimatum, and that it could count on Russian aid in case of a war: a message then repeated in a meeting with the German ambassador, Count Friedrich Pourtalès. These decisions in Russia on July 24 are regarded as the beginning of the most critical period of the "July Crisis."
==References==
==References==