"After my return from Berlin I informed Herr Krupp von Böhlen and
Halbach, one of whose Directors I then was at Essen. Dr. Helfferich had
given me permission and at that time the intention was to make him a
Director of Krupps. Herr von Böhlen seemed disturbed that Dr. Helfferich
was in possession of such information, and he made a remark to the
effect that the Government people can never keep their mouths shut. He
then told me the following. He said that he had himself been with the
Kaiser in the last few days. The Kaiser had spoken to him also of his
conversation with the Austrians, and of its result; but he had described
the matter as so secret that he [Krupp] would not even have dared to
inform his own Directors. As, however, I already knew, he could tell me
that Helfferich's statements were accurate. Indeed, Helfferich seemed to
know more details than he did. He said that the situation was really
very serious. The Kaiser had told him that he would declare war
immediately if Russia mobilized, and that this time people would see
that he did not turn about. The Kaiser's repeated insistence that this
time nobody would be able to accuse him of indecision had, he said, been
almost comic in its effect.