overtaken her. But there were two cardinal points in the situation
which had arisen which ultimately concerned Great Britain. The first
essential feature of British diplomacy, said Sir Edward, was that France
should not be brought into such a condition in Europe that she became
a species of vassal state to Germany. On the morning of July 31,
therefore, he had informed the German Ambassador that if the efforts to
maintain peace failed and France became involved Great Britain would be
drawn into the conflict.

In his speech of August 3 the British foreign minister also stated that
he had given France on the previous day the written assurance that if
the German fleet came into the English Channel or through the North Sea
to assail her, the British fleet would protect her to the uttermost.

TO PROTECT BELGIAN AUTONOMY

On the same afternoon, in the same place, Sir Edward Grey reiterated the
other dominant principle of British foreign policy--that England can
never look with indifference on the seizure by a great continental power
of any portion of Belgium and Holland. More than a hundred years ago it
was declared by Napoleon, who was a master of political geography, that
Antwerp was "a pistol leveled at the head of London."

When on July 31 the British foreign minister inquired by telegraph both
at Paris and Berlin whether the two governments would engage to respect
the neutrality of Belgium, France replied with an assurance that she was
resolved to do so unless compelled to act otherwise by reason of the
violation of Belgium's neutrality at the hands of another power. The
German secretary of state, Herr von Jagow, replied that he could give no
such assurance until he had consulted the Emperor and Chancellor, and
doubted whether he could give any answer without revealing the German
plan of campaign. He furthermore alleged the commission of hostile acts
by Belgium.

Developments quickly followed. The German government proposed that
Belgium should grant its armies free passage through Belgian territory.
The proposal was accompanied by an intimation that Belgium would be
crushed out of existence if it refused to comply. In fact, it was an
ultimatum presented at 7 o'clock on Sunday evening, August 2, to expire
within twelve hours.

Then came Sir Edward Grey's speech in parliament on August 3, when it
was fully realized that Germany and England were on the verge of war.
What followed was related in the House of Commons n