
Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky (8 March 1860 – 27 February 1928) was a German diplomat who served as ambassador to Britain during the
July Crisis
The July Crisis was a series of interrelated diplomatic and military escalations among the Great power, major powers of Europe in mid-1914, Causes of World War I, which led to the outbreak of World War I. It began on 28 June 1914 when the Serbs ...
and who was the author of a 1916 pamphlet that deplored German diplomacy in mid-1914 which, he argued, contributed heavily to the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
Pre-1914 life and career
He was the sixth
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
and eighth
Count Lichnowsky. He succeeded his father in 1901. His father was Carl, Prince Lichnowsky (1819–1901), fifth Prince and seventh Count Lichnowsky, a general of cavalry, and his mother was Marie, Princess of
Croy (1837–1915). He was the head of an old noble
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n family, possessing estates at
Kuchelna, then in Austrian Silesia, and
Grätz in Moravia (present
Hradec nad Moravicí, Czech Republic). As a hereditary member of the upper house of the
Prussian Diet for the
Free Conservative Party
The Free Conservative Party (, FKP) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and the German Empire which ran as the German Reich Party (, DRP) in the federal elections to the Reichstag (Ger ...
, Lichnowsky played a part in domestic politics, adopting in general a moderate attitude and deprecating partisan legislation. Though a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, he avoided identifying himself with the clerical party in Germany.
Entering the diplomatic service, Lichnowsky was appointed an attaché at the
London embassy in 1885 and later served as legation secretary at
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
.
[ He became German Ambassador to ]Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
in 1902, replacing Philipp, Prince of Eulenburg, but was forced into retirement in 1904, accused of too much independence from the Foreign Office after several conflicts with Friedrich von Holstein, head of the Office's political division. In 1904, he married Countess Mechtilde von Arco-Zinneberg (1879–1958).[
He spent eight years in retirement, as his memoirs relate, "on my farm and in my garden, on horseback and in the fields, but reading industriously and publishing occasional political articles." For several years, newspaper rumour in Germany had connected the name Lichnowsky with practically every important diplomatic post that became vacant, and even with the Imperial chancellorship. No official appointment was forthcoming, however, beyond the designation of privy councilor (German: ''Wirklicher Geheimrat'') in 1911.][
In 1912, Lichnowsky was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom, in which post he served until the outbreak of war in 1914. Soon after his appointment, he filed a report on a conversation with Lord Haldane, British secretary of state for war. In it, Haldane had made clear that Britain could go to war if Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia and Germany attacked France. The report was said to have infuriated ]Kaiser Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
.
The 1914 Crisis
During the July Crisis of 1914, Lichnowsky was the only German diplomat who raised objections to Germany's efforts to provoke an Austro-Serbian war, arguing that Britain would intervene in a continental war. On 25 July, he implored the German government to accept an offer of British mediation in the Austro-Serbian dispute. On 27 July, he followed with a cable arguing that Germany could not win a continental war. This cable was not shown to Kaiser Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
. A cable on 28 July relayed an offer from King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
George was born during the reign of his pa ...
to hold a conference of European ambassadors to avoid general war. A final cable on 29 July to the German Foreign Office stated simply "if war breaks out it will be the greatest catastrophe the world has ever seen." These warnings went unheeded, and by the time the final cable reached Berlin, Austrian troops were already bombarding Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
.
On Britain's declaration of war on 4 August 1914, Lichnowsky returned to Germany. So highly was he thought of, a British military guard of honour saluted his departure – a rare privilege in the circumstances.
His 1916 pamphlet
His privately printed pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...
, ''My Mission to London 1912–1914'', circulated in German upper-class circles in 1916, accused his government of failing to support him in efforts to avert World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
; its 1917 publication in the United States led to his expulsion from the Prussian House of Lords
The Prussian House of Lords () in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Representatives (), it formed the Prussian bicameral legislature ...
. In 1918, the renamed "Lichnowsky Memorandum" was published in ''The Disclosures from Germany'' (New York: American Association for International Conciliation, 1918). It was also published in the Danish journal ''Politiken'' in March 1918, from which a British copy was published by Cassell & Co., later in 1918, with a preface by Professor Gilbert Murray
George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greec ...
.
The pamphlet mainly covers the period 1912–1914, and occasionally back to 1900. Lichnowsky deplored the German alliance with Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
(though he owned land in Austria and had served as a diplomat in Vienna), feeling that it inevitably pulled German diplomacy into Balkan crises and tensions with Russia, without any compensating benefits to Germany with its new industries, trade and colonies. "This is a return to the days of the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
and the mistakes of the Hohenstaufens and Habsburgs," he wrote.
The Kaiser had commented on 31 July 1914 about an encircling British diplomacy during the crisis: "For I no longer have any doubt that England, Russia and France have agreed among themselves, knowing that our treaty obligations compel us to support Austria-Hungary, to use the Austro-Serb conflict as a pretext for waging a war of annihilation against us. ... Our dilemma over keeping faith with the old and honourable Emperor has been exploited to create a situation which gives England the excuse she has been seeking to annihilate us with a spurious appearance of justice on the pretext that she is helping France and maintaining the well-known Balance of Power in Europe, i.e. playing off all European States for her own benefit against us."
In contrast, Lichnowsky outlined how the British foreign minister Sir Edward Grey had helped, with two treaties, on dividing the Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...
and establishing the Berlin–Baghdad railway, and had supported Germany's policy in the resolution of the Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...
in 1912 and 1913 that excluded Russia. Britain had held back from declaring war until 4 August, after Belgium had been invaded, yet in a telegram sent to him from Berlin on 1 August: "... England was already mentioned as an opponent..."
Lichnowsky summed up his view on blame for the outbreak of war, and the failure of diplomacy, in three main points:
* "We ermanyencouraged Count Berchtold ustrian foreign ministerto attack Serbia, although German interests were not involved and the danger of a world-war must have been known to us. Whether we were aware of the wording of the ustrianUltimatum is completely immaterial."
* Between 23 and 30 July, Sergey Sazonov, the Russian foreign minister, having declared that Russia would not tolerate an attack on Serbia, all attempts to mediate the crisis were rebuffed by Germany. In the meantime, Serbia had replied to the Austrian ultimatum and Berchtold was "content ... with the Serbian reply".
* "On the 30th July, when Berchtold
Berchtold (also Berthold, Bertold, Bertolt) is a Germanic name from the Old High German ''beruht'' ('bright' or 'brightly') and ''waltan'' ('rule over'). The name came into fashion in the German High Middle Ages from about the 11th century. The cog ...
wanted to come to terms (with Serbia]), we sent an ultimatum to Petrograd ussia merely because of the Russian mobilisation, although Austria was not attacked; and on the 31st July we declared war on Russia, although the Czar pledged his word that he would not order a man to march (against Germany), as long as negotiations were proceeding – thus deliberately destroying the possibility of a peaceful settlement."
"In view of the above, undeniable, facts, it is no wonder that the whole of the civilised world outside Germany places the entire responsibility for the world war upon our shoulders."
At the pamphlet's end, he forecasts that the Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
were doomed to lose World War I, and says: "The world will belong to the Anglo-Saxons, Russians and Japanese." The German role, he wrote, "will be that of thought and commerce, not that of the bureaucrat and soldier. (Germany) made its appearance too late, and its last chance of making good the past, that of founding a Colonial Empire, was annihilated by the world war."[Pamphlet p. 44.]
The pamphlet heavily influenced the minds of the French and British politicians who promulgated the Versailles Peace Treaty in 1919.
Comments
In his column in the 11 May 1918 issue of ''Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...
'', G. K. Chesterton would note:
:''And, what is worse, the spirit of this cheerless impudence has sometimes spread and chilled the blood of better men. I have noticed it lately in the last stiff pose of people who still try the stale game of blaming everybody for the war, long after the Lichnowsky revelations and the peace imposed on Russia have quite finally fixed the blame.''
The latter refers to the harsh terms the Germans imposed on Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...
in early March 1918. Chesterton was reminding his readers that, were Germany to win the war in the west, it would impose equally harsh terms on Belgium and France, in line with the 1914 Septemberprogramm
The ''Septemberprogramm'' (, literally "September Program") was a memorandum authorized by Chancellor of Germany, Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg of the German Empire at the beginning of World War I. It was drafted on 9 September 1914 by t ...
.
Professor Murray summarised his 1918 foreword to the pamphlet with:
:''The cleaner our national conscience the keener surely will be our will to victory. The slower we were to give up the traditions of generosity and trustfulness that came from our long security, the firmer will be our resolution to hold out...''
Lichnowsky was seen as a 'Good German' who had truthfully warned his government but had been ignored at the crucial moment.
Lichnowsky's viewpoint was largely followed by the influential historian Fritz Fischer in his 1961 book ''Germany's Aims in the First World War''.
Descendants
* Wilhelm Dionysos Hermann Carl Max, 7th Prince and 9th Count Lichnowsky (b. 1905 – d. 1975), had three children:
** Christiane Maria, Countess Lichnowsky (b. 1937 – d. 1980)
** Felix Michael, 8th Prince and 10th Count Lichnowsky (b. 1940). had three sons:
*** Roberto, Count Lichnowsky (b. 1963)
*** Eduardo, Count Lichnowsky (b. 1964)
**** Ursula, Countess Lichnowsky (b. 1998)
*** Miguel (Michael or Michel), Count Lichnowsky (b. 1965) had one daughter:
**** Rui, Count Lichnowsky (b. 1996)
** Luci Margit, Countess Lichnowsky (b. 1941), had two sons and two daughters:
*** Ferdinand Wilhelm, Ritter von Winterhalder (b. 1969)
*** Alexander Nikolaus, Ritter von Winterhalder (b. 1970)
*** Annabella Maria von Winterhalder (b. 1971)
*** Jasmin Maria von Winterhalder (b. 1978)
* Leonore Marie Helene Leodine Mechtilde, Countess Lichnowsky (b. 1906 – d. 2002)
* Michael Max Leopold Nikolaus, Count Lichnowsky (b. 1907)
References
Notes
Citations
* "Gothaischen Taschenbücher"
* http://www.kitenews.com.br/Lichnowsky/pages/genealogy.htm
Further reading
*—, ''Heading for the Abyss: Reminiscences'' (New York: Payson and Clarke, 1928).
*
*
* Edward F. Willis, ''Prince Lichnowsky, Ambassador of Peace: A Study of Prewar Diplomacy, 1912–14'', (Literary Licensing LLC 2013)
* Harry F. Young, ''Prince Lichnowsky and the Great War'', 977 2009
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lichnowsky, Karl Max
1860 births
1928 deaths
Ambassadors of Germany to the United Kingdom
German people of World War I
Princes in the German Empire
German Roman Catholics
Karl Max
Members of the Prussian House of Lords
Free Conservative Party politicians
People from Racibórz County
People from the Province of Silesia
Grand Crosses of the Order of Franz Joseph
Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
People of the July Crisis