Berchtold
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LEOPOLD ANTHONY JOHANN SIGMUND, COUNT VON, Austro-Hungarian statesman upon whose COUNT LEOPOLD VON BERCHTOLD shoulders lies the responsibility of having signed the note that brought on the World War. He was born April 18, 1863. At the outset of his public careeer he was secretary in the Foreign Office at Vienna, and rose by gradual stages in the diplomatic service until he was appointed Ambassador to Russia in 1906. Feb. 19, 1912, he became Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, succeeding Count Aehrenthal. Count Berchtold was a man of personal probity and agreeable personality. He lacked stamina to carry out his intended policies, and soon became the plastic agent of stronger men in one of the most intriguing courts of Europe. It is alleged that he instigated Bulgaria to attack Serbia after the first Balkan War had come to a close, the dual monarchy having viewed with intense disfavor the growth of Serbia's strength. This plan having failed of its desired result, Berchtold made overtures to Italy for an attack on Serbia, but these were declined. This check deferred the war against Serbia, which, however, was kept always in mind while awaiting a favorable pretext for its declaration. The opportunity came in June, 1914, when the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife at Sarajevo furnished colorable reason for holding Serbia rea sponsible. A note was promptly despatched to Serbia, signed if not drafted by Berchtold, couched in the most offensive language and making demands that were incompatible with the sovereignty of any self-respecting state. Serbia made a conciliatory reply, offering to accept al the terms except those that were manifestly impossible without abdication of her sovereign power. No answer, however, would have been acceptable, for war had already been decided upon and was declared almost immediately after the receipt of Serbia's answer. In the early months of the war, Berchtold remained at the head of the Foreign Office, but resigned January, 1915, and was succeeded by Baron Burian. He became Chamberlain of the Imperial Court in February, 1917. See WORLD WAR.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 Berchtold was still alive, living quietly on his estates; he died at Peresznye in Hungary on 21 November 1942, having taken no further part in politics after the fall of the monarchy. The 1921 portrait of a weak man who "became the plastic agent of stronger men" has not survived the opening of the Vienna archives: historians now read Berchtold as an active author of the July 1914 ultimatum to Serbia rather than a signature on someone else's note, and the wartime allegation that he pushed Bulgaria to attack Serbia has faded from serious accounts. The confident verdict that "war had already been decided upon" is still argued over a century later, most publicly in the debate opened by Fritz Fischer in the 1960s and revived by Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers (2012), which spreads the blame across every capital in Europe. The "World War" of this entry has since needed a number.
Written for this edition, 2026.