this valley of the shadow of death with courage and faith â with courage to suffer, and faith in God and our country ⦠We must stand together at this hour ⦠On us of this generation has come the sharpest trial that has ever befallen our race. We have to uphold the honour of England by demeanour and deed ⦠We are standing for justice, for law against arbitrary violence. 24
2.35 AM, 4 AUGUST 1914, MOVES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
The matter is more than merely delicate; it is life and death. The previous evening at 1800 hours, Admiral Wilhelm Souchon had been in the western Mediterranean aboard his flagship Goeben â a German battlecruiser displacing 22,640 tons, with ten 11-inch guns â in the company of the light cruiser Breslau , when he had received a signal bearing stunning news.
Germany is at war with France!
Once he had told his crew, they had started singing and shouting all together, and were so joyous they had even lifted him on their shoulders!
After the declaration of war, he had immediately guided Goeben and Breslau towards the French North African coast, intent on sinking some French troopships that were taking the Algerian Corps back to defend France. It is at this time that he receives a surprising order from Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz:
ALLIANCE WITH GOVERNMENT OF CUP CONCLUDED AUGUST 3. PROCEED AT ONCE TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 25
4 AUGUST 1914, HOUSE OF COMMONS, WESTMINSTER, FOR KING, FOR COUNTRY
The atmosphere is electric. Germany had not only declared war on Belgium the day before â for having refused permission for German troops to march across its territory to invade France â but on this afternoon at Visé, Germans are pouring across the Meuse River and into Belgium regardless. âThe Rape of Belgiumâ has begun.
What now? Will Great Britain honour her own treaties to France and Belgium and join what is certain to be a catastrophic conflagration, or will she remain aloof?
At 3 pm in the House of Commons, His Majestyâs Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey â a distinguished-looking aristocrat, of rather regal bearing himself â stands to answer that very question. âIt may be said, I suppose, that we might stand aside, husband our strength, and ⦠at the end of it intervene with effect to put things right. If, in a crisis like this, we run away from those obligations of honour and interest as regards the Belgian treaty, I doubt whether, whatever material force we might have at the end, it would be of very much value in face of the respect that we should have lost.â 26
He is answered by tumultuous cheering from his fellow parliamentarians on both sides of the chamber. Britain will honour its obligations.
In a Europe now choked by ultimatums and refusals, overwhelmed by the sound of marching feet, of clanking artillery moving into position, of weeping women and children farewelling their soldiers as they leave, Grey adds his own ultimatum, one he knows to be entirely useless. Germany must respect Belgian neutrality and stand down from its mobilisation or Great Britain will declare war.
German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollwegâs response is effectively delivered that same afternoon, when he tells the Reichstag that while the German invasions of Belgium are technically in violation of international law, the fact is that, â Meine Herren ⦠wir sind jetzt in der Notwehr, und Not kennt kein Gebot! â Gentlemen, now we are in a state of self-defence, such distress does not know any rules.â 27
He is met with cheering and applause so powerful that, as the newspaper Berliner Tageblatt notes, âhardly anyone of Bismarckâs successors had received the like beforeâ. 28
Germany is not the only country that can hand over polite notes. For that evening at 7 pm, the British Ambassador to Germany, Sir Edward Goschen, passes the same to the German Secretary of State, Gottlieb von Jagow, informing him of His
2.35 AM, 4 AUGUST 1914, MOVES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
The matter is more than merely delicate; it is life and death. The previous evening at 1800 hours, Admiral Wilhelm Souchon had been in the western Mediterranean aboard his flagship Goeben â a German battlecruiser displacing 22,640 tons, with ten 11-inch guns â in the company of the light cruiser Breslau , when he had received a signal bearing stunning news.
Germany is at war with France!
Once he had told his crew, they had started singing and shouting all together, and were so joyous they had even lifted him on their shoulders!
After the declaration of war, he had immediately guided Goeben and Breslau towards the French North African coast, intent on sinking some French troopships that were taking the Algerian Corps back to defend France. It is at this time that he receives a surprising order from Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz:
ALLIANCE WITH GOVERNMENT OF CUP CONCLUDED AUGUST 3. PROCEED AT ONCE TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 25
4 AUGUST 1914, HOUSE OF COMMONS, WESTMINSTER, FOR KING, FOR COUNTRY
The atmosphere is electric. Germany had not only declared war on Belgium the day before â for having refused permission for German troops to march across its territory to invade France â but on this afternoon at Visé, Germans are pouring across the Meuse River and into Belgium regardless. âThe Rape of Belgiumâ has begun.
What now? Will Great Britain honour her own treaties to France and Belgium and join what is certain to be a catastrophic conflagration, or will she remain aloof?
At 3 pm in the House of Commons, His Majestyâs Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey â a distinguished-looking aristocrat, of rather regal bearing himself â stands to answer that very question. âIt may be said, I suppose, that we might stand aside, husband our strength, and ⦠at the end of it intervene with effect to put things right. If, in a crisis like this, we run away from those obligations of honour and interest as regards the Belgian treaty, I doubt whether, whatever material force we might have at the end, it would be of very much value in face of the respect that we should have lost.â 26
He is answered by tumultuous cheering from his fellow parliamentarians on both sides of the chamber. Britain will honour its obligations.
In a Europe now choked by ultimatums and refusals, overwhelmed by the sound of marching feet, of clanking artillery moving into position, of weeping women and children farewelling their soldiers as they leave, Grey adds his own ultimatum, one he knows to be entirely useless. Germany must respect Belgian neutrality and stand down from its mobilisation or Great Britain will declare war.
German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollwegâs response is effectively delivered that same afternoon, when he tells the Reichstag that while the German invasions of Belgium are technically in violation of international law, the fact is that, â Meine Herren ⦠wir sind jetzt in der Notwehr, und Not kennt kein Gebot! â Gentlemen, now we are in a state of self-defence, such distress does not know any rules.â 27
He is met with cheering and applause so powerful that, as the newspaper Berliner Tageblatt notes, âhardly anyone of Bismarckâs successors had received the like beforeâ. 28
Germany is not the only country that can hand over polite notes. For that evening at 7 pm, the British Ambassador to Germany, Sir Edward Goschen, passes the same to the German Secretary of State, Gottlieb von Jagow, informing him of His
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