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Ladislaus de Szögyény-Marich von Magyar-Szögyen und Szolgaegyháza

Ladislaus de Szögyény-Marich von Magyar-Szögyen und Szolgaegyháza was born in Vienna on 12 November 1841.  He was a member of the Hungarian parliament from 1869 to 1882.  From then, Szögyény became second section chief in the foreign ministry, followed by first section chief in charge of the "Great Powers" desk, which handled the most important foreign policy of that time.  On 24 October 1892, while visiting the royal Hungarian hunting lodge at Gödöllö, Szögyény was appointed by Kaiser Franz Josef to be the ambassdor to Germany, as well as to the German states of Prussia, Meckenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, and Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Szögyény presented his credentials to Kaiser Wilhelm II at Berlin on 12 November 1892. Graf Szögyény was still the Austrian ambassador to Germany during the July crisis.  Szögyény and Graf Alexander Hoyos, Foreign Minister Leopold Berchtold's secretary, received the so-called "Blank Check" from the German Kaiser on July 5, 1914.  The initial reason for their meeting was to discuss a Bulgarian alliance with the Central Powers in spite of the fact that the Kaiser loathed tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria personally. This had been urged by Hungarian Premier Istvan Tisza and seconded by Berchtold.  By the time of their meeting, the Bulgarian issue was replaced with the Serbian issue.  On dealing with the Serbs, the Kaiser stated that Austria could "rely on Germany's full support."  A reference perhaps to Germany's support during the Bosnian crisis six years earlier; at least, that's how Szögyény and Berchtold understood it. GWS, 10/00 [rev. 6/04]