Het Duitsche Witboek: Documenten aangaande het uitbreken van den oorlog

This volume brings together a remarkable set of diplomatic papers from the summer of 1914, presented in their original spelling and layout. An editor’s notes guide you through restored line breaks and corrected printing errors, while preserving the authentic feel of the era’s bureaucratic language. Listeners will hear the very words that shaped the world’s descent into conflict.

The documents focus on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the ensuing investigation, exposing how Serbian conspirators, Austrian‑Hungarian authorities, and Russian strategists each framed the event. Correspondence reveals the tangled ambitions of Balkan states, the promises of alliances, and the warnings issued by officials who sensed a larger war looming. These primary sources lay bare the political calculations that preceded the first shots of a global conflict.

Supplementary material adds context, summarising the editorial changes and offering brief overviews of the corrections made. For anyone curious about the diplomatic underpinnings of the Great War, this collection provides a vivid, unfiltered glimpse into the decisions and dilemmas that set history in motion.