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1912] OTHER OFFICIAL VISITS 77
commanding an army corps. He was responsible for the
operations of General Samsonoffs army in the region of
the Mazovian Lakes, operations which ended in the loss
of this army. The future historians of the War will have
to decide who was the real culprit in this catastrophe :
was it General Samsonoff who made mistakes, or was it
General Jilinsky who decided on the operations before
he had estimated the fighting strength of the army in
question, and without knowing exactly what forces the
enemy was opposing to it ?
I went the next day to see the Foreign Secretary, to
repeat the conversation I had had with the Chief of the
General Headquarters Staff, and I frankly expressed my
conviction that under the circumstances the proposed
military convention could never be concluded.
" But what is your exact opinion as to the
expediency of such a convention ? " asked Sazonoff.
"To be quite frank," I replied, " I am still in doubt
myself. On the one hand, you know my opinion about
the desire for conquest of the Bulgarians and Serbians :
having concluded with them a military convention of
which the point would be directed against Turkey, we
should appear to be encouraging their projects; by
making, per contra, this convention into a weapon against
Austria-Hungary, we should still further strain the chain
of our relations with the Central Empires : woe to us if
a link snaps! But on the other hand a military
convention, drawn up with skill and great caution, might
unite Serbians and Bulgarians and prevent them taking
up arms against our wish, or at a moment we might
consider inopportune. All this should be carefully
weighed, and it is most regrettable that the chief of our
General Headquarters Staff will not even allow a
careful and impartial examination of such an important
question."
" In that case, let us wait," said the Foreign Secretary,
in conclusion.
Besides my audience at Tsarskoe-Selo and my
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