Ships pass in the night

July 29, 1914

Two telegrams, between Kaiser Wilhelm and his cousin, Czar Nicholas II pass each other intransit today.  Both are conciliatory. Nicholas asks the Kaiser to do what he can to restrain his ally Austria-Hungary.  The Kaiser is thinking along the very same vein, but does scribble later in the margins of Nicholas' wire that this demonstrates Russia's obvious weakness. The telegrams are signed from "Nicky" and "Willi".  The royal houses are remembering that war very often results in unintended consequences and the world of the early 20th century is rife with unpleasant possibilities.  Still in the end all three of the royal houses will allow pride to overcome self-interest.  There's an eternal lesson from history there!