the British army
and most highly esteemed by the nation generally for his powers of
organization and administration, as well as for his military fame,
the appointment increased the confidence of the British people in the
Liberal Government and awakened their enthusiasm for war. Parliament
unanimously passed a vote of credit for $500,000,000 on August 6.

Lord Kitchener immediately realized the serious nature of the task
confronting his country as an ally of France against the military power
of Germany. His first step was to increase the regular army. The first
call was for 100,000 additional men. This was soon increased to 500,000.
Within a month there were 439,000 voluntary enlistments and then a
further call was made for 500,000 more, bringing the strength of the
British army up to 1,854,000 men, a figure unprecedented for Great
Britain.

The war fever grew apace in England. All classes of society furnished
their quota to the colors for service in Belgium and France. The period
of enlistment was "for the war" and a wave of patriotic fervor swept
over the British Isles and over all the colonies of Britain beyond the
seas. Political differences were forgotten and the empire presented
a united front, as never before. If Germany had counted on internal
dissension keeping England out of the fray, the expectation proved
unfounded. Englishmen, Irishmen and Scotsmen stood shoulder to shoulder.
The Irish Home Rule controversy was dropped by common consent. The men
of Ulster and the Irish Nationalists struck hands and agreed to forget
their differences in the presence of national danger.

Trade resumed normal conditions and the Bank of England rate, which
earlier in the week had mounted to 10 per cent, was reduced on August
to 5 per cent.

There were some panicky conditions and a disquieting collapse on the
London Stock Exchange during the last days of feverish diplomacy, and it
was due to the financial solidity of the British nation, no less than to
its level-headedness and the promptness of government measures, that the
declaration of war, instead of precipitating worse conditions, cleared
the atmosphere.

BRITISH TROOPS LAND IN FRANCE

While the British army was being mobilized, the utmost secrecy was
observed regarding all movements of troops. The newspapers refrained
from publishing even the little they knew and an expeditionary force,
composed of the flower of the British army and numbering approximately
94,000 m