Diplomacy of Distortion

Abstract

Although Benedetti’s report to the emperor marked the conclusion of his ambassadorial duties, his connection with Franco-Prussian diplomacy did not cease with the outbreak of hostilities. Indeed, within the week following the official French declaration of war he was the subject of numerous diplomatic conversations and press reports. This notoriety was occasioned by Bismarck’s decision to make public the alliance and compensation draft treaty which Benedetti had left with him in late August 1866. Anxious to influence favorably the attitude of the British government toward Prussia, the chancellor used this unique document to further his aims.¹ When Ambassador Bernstorff had tried on 19 July to persuade Gladstone and Granville to oppose an intended French blockade of the German coast, he had briefly alluded to the existence of the Benedetti draft. The small impression this reference had made upon the British statesmen did not satisfy the chancellor, and he decided upon a more persuasive course to win Britain’s sympathies as well as those of the other powers.² Ambassador Bernstorff was instructed to arrange the publication of the Benedetti draft in the English press. The release was to be prefaced by a statement to the effect that Prussia had refused to avoid the war at the cost of betrayal of her south German allies and Belgium.³ Furthermore, Bernstorff was urged not to indicate too precisely the date of origin of the document.’ Bismarck was anxious to convey the impression that the imperial government had never abandoned its hope, even after the London Treaty of 1867, to annex both Luxemburg and Belgium. Little time was lost in complying with the chancellor’s order and on Sunday evening, 24 July, Krause called on Delane, the influential editor of The Times, at his rooms at Serjeant’s Inn.² During the interview the counsellor avoided mention of the precise date of the document and gave Delane to understand that it had been drafted after the creation of the North German Confederation. In reply to the editor’s repeated efforts to pinpoint the date, Krause intimated that the proposal had been made during the Belgian railway dispute of 1869. Delane finally accepted Krause’s explanation and satisfied himself that the copy was authentic.³ His publication of the document next day greatly aided Bismarck in his efforts to further Prussia’s cause.⁴