superiority, and of her incomparable war machine, perfect and ready in
every detail, could have, and should have dominated the confusion and
danger of the situation with the sang-froid and self-confidence born
of strength, instead of allowing herself to be swept along by the
sinister currents leading to an ocean of blood.

And if Germany, with trembling Europe hanging on her words, had
proclaimed boldly "There shall be peace," and thus by her veto had
saved the world from the curse of this war, she would not only have
done a splendidly meritorious deed, unequalled in the world's history,
which would have brought her immortal fame and would have been greeted
by the joyous acclaim of all peoples, but she would have gained by
that very act the uncontested leadership amongst the nations. From
their gratitude for being freed from the nightmare of war's menace,
she would readily have obtained (as intimated by Sir Edward Grey in
his telegram) compliance with any reasonable demand she might have put
forward for the extension of the scope of her development and
influence.

4. Once the Entente existed it seems to me so obvious that England _in
an aggressive war waged by Germany and Austria_ against France and
Russia _was bound to throw in her lot with the latter country_, that I
was quite unable, at the time, to understand Germany's outburst of
surprise and fury against England. Alliance or Entente, call it what
you will--had England backed out in that crisis it would have been a
miserable breach of faith on her part, by which she would have
forfeited her place in the world's respect and which would have been
bitterly resented by her former friends and left her completely
isolated henceforth.

Moreover, apart from all moral obligations and the compelling force
of political considerations, she could have felt all the less tempted
to enter into a separate agreement with Germany at that critical
juncture and remain neutral, as the latter at that very moment had
demonstrated that she did not consider herself bound by any treaty,
when military interests seemed to her to make the breach of such
treaty advisable. In the face of Germany's violation of Belgian
neutrality, how could England have felt assured that, if an
arrangement between the two countries had been effected, it would be
respected by Germany, in case at any given moment it might appear to
the German Government to be requisite from the point of view of
military necessit