Germany
Prince Lichnowsky
1860–1928 German Ambassador in London, 1912–1914
Born in Upper Silesia, Lichnowsky was a prince and hereditary member of the Prussian upper house who left the diplomatic service in 1904. Appointed ambassador in London in 1912, he reported repeatedly in July 1914 that the Austro-Serbian conflict could not be kept local and that Britain would back France and Russia, but some warnings were withheld from the Kaiser. He left London after Britain declared war on 4 August 1914. In 1916 he privately circulated a memorandum, My Mission to London 1912–1914, criticizing German diplomacy; its unauthorized publication led to his expulsion from the Prussian upper house. Since the 1960s he has increasingly been counted among the few German statesmen who clearly foresaw the 1914 catastrophe. He died in 1928.