FAMILY TIES
Jakob Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim de Pourtalès was born on October 24, 1853, son of Wilhelm von Pourtalès and Charlotte Luise Auguste Gräfin von Maltzan zu Wartenberg und Penzlin. His father spent a number of years in Venice creating a collection of Renaissance sculpture, which included works by Jacopo Sansovino and Andrea Riccio… as well as paintings by old Italian masters. Friedrich’s siblings included Louise de Pourtalès (who died in 1879 at the age of twenty-nine), Johanna Albertine Antoinette de Pourtalès (wife of Bernard von Jagow-Calberwisch), and Rosa Margarete Guillemette Mathilde Auguste von Pourtalès (wife of Moritz von Hohenthal).
Among his extended family were uncles Count Guillaume von Pourtalès and Count Albert von Pourtalès (a member of the Prussian House of Lords). The latter uncle was appointed Prussian Minister to France by Wilhelm I and was eventually succeeded by the future “Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck in 1861. His family, who were originally Swiss, were Protestant bankers. The Pourtalès title was created in 1750 by the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, better known as “Frederick the Great”.
Friedrich von Pourtalès was also a cousin of Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, Chancellor of the German Empire and Minister President of Prussia from 1907 to 1917. Another cousin was Count James Pourtalès, who previously owned the family estate and went bankrupt in the Panic of 1893.
Friedrich was married to Gisela Elisabeth Kordelia Maria Charlotte Maximiliane Rahel Josepha Gräfin von Kanitz, daughter of Georg von Kanitz and Hélène Boniface Pauline Luise Gräfin von Hatzfeldt zu Trachenberg. Her maternal grandparents were Pauline de Castellane and Count Maximilian von Hatzfeldt. Gisele’s grandfather served as the German Minister to France from 1849 to 1859. He signed the Treaty of Paris in 1856 which ended the Crimean War.
After Hatzfieldt’s death, Pauline remarried to Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord (Duke of Valençay, Duke of Talleyrand, and Duke of Dino). Gisele’s aunt Margarete was the wife of Ambassador Anton Saurma von der Jeltsch.
CAREER
In Munich, Pourtalès was Prussian Minister to the Kingdom of Bavaria under the Prince Regent of Bavaria, Luitpold. The former conducted diplomacy in the style of the grand seigneur, holding posts in Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands and France.
On August 31, 1907, Tsarist Russia signed an agreement with the Great Britain. In addition to (1) the 1894 agreement between Tsarist Russia and republican France and (2) the 1904 Anglo-French alliance (a.k.a. the Entente Cordiale), these three countries formed the Triple Entente. It was a counterweight to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
Later that year, Pourtalès succeeded Count Monts as German Ambassador to Tsarist Russia. When he arrived in St. Petersburg, Pourtalès came with seventeen vanloads of furniture! In addition to the new post, Wilhelm von Mirbach served as the embassy clerk.
THE JULY CRISIS
On June 28, 1914, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Bosnian Serb activist named Gavrilo Princip. After weeks of investigations and secret talks (including a free hand from Austria’s ally Imperial Germany) the Dual Monarchy delivered an ultimatum to tiny Serbia on July 23rd. The note sent shockwaves across Europe!
Weeks earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov wanted assurance from both the Austrian Ambassador (Count Frigyes Szapáry) and the German Ambassador (Pourtalès) that the situation over Sarajevo would not worsen. On July 8th, Szapáry assured Sazonov that matters were calm. But there was no reply from Pourtalès! The assurance from Szapáry came only three days after Imperial Germany offered Austria the so-called “blank check” in dealing with the Serbs.
On July 12th, French President Raymond Poincaré and Premier René Viviani went on a good-will mission to Russia. The former spoke with Szapáry at the Winter Palace and sensed that something was wrong. Nevertheless, Poincaré pledged to support Sazonov via the 1894 agreement.
The day Poincaré and Viviani returned to France, Austria delivered the ultimatum to Serbia. The tiny Slavic nation published the Austrian terms to the world… and even proposed submitting its reply to the International Tribunal at The Hague in Holland. But before the reply to the ultimatum was sent, Serbia had mobilized its tiny army. The cabinet and officer corps believed that the Serbian reply would be rejected; that Austria wanted war! In addition, the mood in St. Petersburg was fiercely pro-Serbian, so the little Balkan nation felt that she was given carte blanche by Tsarist Russia, much like Austria receiving it from Imperial Germany!
On July 25th, Austria formally broke relations with Serbia. Now there was a scramble for diplomatic pause! With the Dual Monarchy acting unilaterally, Italy notified both Vienna and Berlin that she could not be bound in connection with any further consequences by the Austrians. British Foreign Minister Sir Edward Grey proposed a meeting in London with the French, German, and Italian ambassadors… but his plea fell on deaf ears!
That same day, Tsarist Russia partially mobilized in the districts bordering the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Pourtalès suggested that Sazonov send a message to Vienna to stop the drift to war. But on July 28, 1914 at 11 A.M. (nearly a month to the minute after Sarajevo), Austria-Hungary notified Serbia by telegram that she was declaring war!
Now the question was over general mobilization by Mother Russia. Such an action would lead to a great European war!
The day after Austria declared war on Serbia, Szapáry spoke with Sazonov, urging Russia to halt preparations. But during that meeting, Sazonov received word that Austrian gunboats on the Danube were shelling the Serbian capital of Belgrade! The news caused an abrupt end to the meeting.
Sazonov immediately informed Russian Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Janushkevich to proceed with general mobilization. In Berlin, Chancellor Theobald von Bethmamn-Hollweg sent a message to Pourtalès in St. Petersburg warning Sazonov that any further action by Russia will force Germany to mobilize. But Sazonov ignored the warning and sought the signature of Tsar Nicholas II ordering full mobilization on July 30, 1914.
The last day of July witnessed the setting sun of peace. Germany sent an ultimatum to Tsarist Russia; she had twelve hours to call off mobilization. Berlin sent another ultimatum to republican France, giving her eighteen hours to declare neutrality in the event of a Russo-German war.
In a last-ditch effort for peace, Bethmann-Hollweg wired Pourtalès to reason with Sazonov. Three times, Pourtalès asked that Russia’s mobilization be halted. Three times, Sazonov answered “Nyet!”
Pourtalès then produced a note from his pocket and handed it to Sazonov. It was the declaration of war! For the last Imperial German Ambassador to Tsarist Russia, it was a tearful goodbye… as he left St. Petersburg for home.
The July Crisis had ended; the Great War had begun!
DEATH AND LEGACY
Count Friedrich von Pourtalès died on May 3, 1928 at Bad Nauheim. He was seventy-four years old.
In his obituary, the New York Times wrote that Pourtalès:
“…supported the official German explanation of the cause of the World War. He asserted the innocence of his country and expressed belief that the Tsar had been forced into war against his will by the Russian war party. He believed that the surest guarantee of peace would have been an alliance of Germany, Russia and France, which he said the Kaiser and the Tsar tried to accomplish. He was one of those who accepted the theory that England had been feverishly pushing a policy of encirclement of the Central Powers.”