Britain Declares War on Germany
"If Germany dominated the Continent it would be disagreeable to us as well as to others,
for we should be isolated."
~Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary (Tuchman 91)
"Of course France tried to give the image of a responsible nation which had no mean to harm her neighbor countries, notably by drawing back her troops . . . 10km in the inner country all along the boundary with Germany. But this had one goal, showing Great-Britain, which was in favor of peace, that France was on the defensive and pacifist; this way Britain would . . . no doubt join forces with France in case Germany . . . show[ed] agressiveness [sic]" (Stéphane Jonard). British intervention came with the German invasion of Belgium and the looming threat posed by the German navy at sea.
"Why should I follow your fighting line
For a matter that's no concern of mine? . . .
I shall be asked to a general scrap
All over the European map,
Dragged into somebody else's war
For that's what a double entente is for."
~ Owen Seaman, Editor of Punch in 1914
For a matter that's no concern of mine? . . .
I shall be asked to a general scrap
All over the European map,
Dragged into somebody else's war
For that's what a double entente is for."
~ Owen Seaman, Editor of Punch in 1914
'"If we fail Russia now, we cannot hope to maintain that friendly cooperation with her in Asia that is of such vital importance to us' (Sir George Buchanan, British Ambassador, St. Petersburg). Above all, Britain could never afford to have Europe dominated by a triumphant Germany. If Germany overran the Channel ports, Britain's control of the seas would be under threat. Prime Minister Herbert Asquith took a pragmatic view: 'It is quite against British interests that France should be wiped out.' At 11 p.m. on the 4th of August,
Britain declared war on Germany."
~The First World War: The Complete Series, 'To Arms 1914'
A Canadian post card from 1914
"It was like awaiting the signal for the pulling of a lever, which would hurl millions to their doom. The deep notes of Big Ben rang out into the night, the first strokes in Britain’s most fateful hour since she arose out of the deep. Every face was suddenly contracted into a painful intensity.”
~David Lloyd George, British Chancellor of the Exchequer
(The First World War: The Complete Series, 'To Arms 1914')