Ordeal by Battle

day 1914, but was so far on the way to convalescence four weeks later as to desire news of the

getting in their harvest or looking forward hopefully to the vintage. Business was prosperous. Credit was good. Money, in banking phraseology, was 'cheap.' The horror of the Serajevo assass

:—'What has happened in Ulster?'—The answer, 'Nothing has happened i

{14} four weeks while they have been watching by his bedside, will he not fancy that his suppose

. The Turk is wondering if, and when, he may venture to come in; while the Italian, the Roumanian, the Bulgar, the Greek, the Dutchman, the Dane, and the Swede are reckoning no less anxiously for how short or long a period it may still be safe for them to stand out. Three millions of men, or thereabouts—a British Army included—are advancing against one another along the

night over the cities, dropping bombs, with a careless and impartial aim, upon buildings both private and public, both sacred and profane, upon churches, palaces, hospitals, {15} and arsenals. The North Sea and the Baltic are sown with

IGH

ed at if he concluded that the fumes of his fever were not yet dispersed, and that this frightful

that we were asleep, and that the whole thing was a nightmare which must vanish when we awoke? We were faced (so at least it seemed at frequent moments) not by facts, but by a spectre, and one by no means unfamiliar—the spectre of Europe at war, so long dreaded by some, so scornfully derided by others, so

at a few days later the British Army would be crossing the Channel to assist France and Belgium in repelling a German invasion. To the ordinary man—and not merely to the ordinary man, but equally to the press, and the great maj

saster is of great importance, although very far fr

rn frontier. The Imperial authorities instituted a secret enquiry into the circumstances of the plot, as a result of which they professed to have discovered that it

s independence. They had been framed with the deliberate intention, either of provoking a refusal which might afford a pretext for war, or of procuring an acceptance which would at once reduce the Servian Kingdom to the position of a vassal. Even in Berlin it was admitted[2] that this ultimatum asked more than it was reasonable to expect Servia to yiel

ERVIA

tone and the substance of its submission. Almost everything that {18} Austria had demanded was agreed to. What remained outstanding was clearly not worth quarrelling about, unless a quarrel

ugh, to weigh it carefully, to find it wanting, to ask for his passports, and to catch his train, all wit

discovering some means of peaceful settlement.[6] France and Italy promptly accepted his invitation.[7] Germany, while professing to desire mediation, did not accept it.[8] Consequently Sir Edward

various quarters during the next four and twenty hours. They present a {19} most pathetic appearance, like the efforts of a cre

LIZA

ld not stand by while a Slav nation was being crushed out of existence, despi

onsidered, reasons for believing that Germany was secretl

nded that Russia should cease her mobilisation, and as no answer which satisfied her was forthcoming, but only an interchange of telegrams between

de—knowing full well beforehand that the terms of the Dual Alliance compelled the Republic to lend assistance if Russia were attacked by more than one power. {20} Sir Edward Grey enquired of Fran

rmy advanced into the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, and was correctly reported as

sented an ultimatum to Belgium[12] demanding free passage for

clear that, although a member of the Triple Alliance, she did not co

ght not be willing tamely to submit to the violation of Belgium and invasion of France, proceeded to state, under cross-e

D DECL

ore midnight, that the integrity of Belgium would not be violated. The answer was given informally at a much e

h Russia, and within a week from that date Great Britain

the Serajevo murders, as that an official clique at Vienna connived at them, by deliberately withdrawing police pr

an demands.... He repeated very earnestly that, though he had been accused of knowing all the contents of tha

via before it was despatched and telegraphed it to the German Emperor. I know from the German Ambassador himself that he endorses every line of it."—British

known beforehand, and had no more than other Powers to do with the stiff terms of the Austrian note to Servia."—Sir Edward Gr

ly of Servian Government

Paper, Nos

e Paper,

per, Nos. 35

and 71. Cf. also German W

ussian Orange Book, No. 77;

sation began at least two days earlier (White Paper, N

r, Nos. 114, 12

ok, No. 20; French Y

No. 152; French Ye

Paper, Nos.

rnment was terrible to a degree: just for a word—'neutrality,' a word which in war time had so often been disregarded—just for a scrap of paper Great Britain was going to m