Majestyâs Governmentâs demands that Germany make a commitment by midnight German time to go no further with violating Belgian neutrality. The Ambassador does so even though he knows that, by now, over one and a half million German soldiers massed along that countryâs western frontier have begun to pour across the Belgian border and, despite fierce resistance, are heading towards northern France, on their way to Paris â they think.
At the same time, Russian soldiers are now flooding west towards Germany, even as the Austrian Army is moving on Serbia.
Whatever final hope Sir Edward has is extinguished an hour later, when, in a private dinner with Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, the German leader confesses to the British Ambassador, in tears, his astonishment that Britain would indeed go to war with Germany over â einen Fetzen Papier â a scrap of paperâ, represented by the 1839 treaty guaranteeing Belgian neutrality. Sir Edward Goschen carefully explains that because that scrap of paper bears Englandâs signature, her honour is at stake. The two take their leave of each other, most unhappily.
In London, the crowds begin to gather outside Whitehall and Buckingham Palace, in Trafalgar Square and in the Mall. By the evening, with still no word that Germany has backed down, those crowds have turned into cheering masses. They are mostly the common people, but wending their way among them are many men and women in evening dress, wanting to be a part of it, as field guns and ammunition wagons rumble by to great cheering. Men dressed in khaki receive the same acclaim. Our boys !
By 6.30 pm, the Victoria Memorial before Buckingham Palace at the centre of Queenâs Gardens is simply black with people, singing and cheering and hoping for an appearance by the King.
And there he is!
A massive cheer goes up from the crowd as, at 7 pm, King George V and Queen Mary appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and Princess Mary. They are regaled with a mass throaty rendition of âGod Save the Kingâ and âFor Heâs a Jolly Good Fellowâ. The same scene is repeated at 9.30 pm, as the crowd gets still bigger, and again at 11 pm, though by now Princess Mary has gone to bed.
So it is that, after Big Ben has tolled 11 times, for thee, and for hundreds of millions of people across Europe now at war with each other, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey and Home Secretary Reginald McKenna sit in complete and morose silence for a full ten minutes contemplating the catastrophic consequences of what has occurred. The three brass chandeliers that provide dim illumination to the men add to the sense of gloom.
Suddenly, a flurry of activity outside, as the First Lord of the Admiralty arrives â¦
âWinston dashed into the room radiant,â Lloyd George would recall, âhis face bright, his manner keen and he told us, one word pouring out on the other how he was going to send telegrams to the Mediterranean, the North Sea and God knows where. You could see he was a really happy man. I wondered if this was the state of mind to be in at the opening of such a fearful war as this â¦â 29
Outside, as midnight approaches (the crowd unaware of the time difference), there is a change in the air. âA profound silence fell upon the crowd,â The Times would report the next day. âThen as the first strokes rang out from the Clock Tower, a vast cheer burst out and echoed and re-echoed for nearly 20 minutes. The National Anthem was then sung with an emotion and solemnity which manifested the gravity and sense of responsibility with which the people regard the great issues before them.â 30
7.45 AM, 5 AUGUST 1914, MELBOURNE, THE FIRST SHOT FIRED
Aboard the German cargo ship SS Pfalz â a 6557-ton steamer â anchored at Port Melbourneâs
At the same time, Russian soldiers are now flooding west towards Germany, even as the Austrian Army is moving on Serbia.
Whatever final hope Sir Edward has is extinguished an hour later, when, in a private dinner with Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, the German leader confesses to the British Ambassador, in tears, his astonishment that Britain would indeed go to war with Germany over â einen Fetzen Papier â a scrap of paperâ, represented by the 1839 treaty guaranteeing Belgian neutrality. Sir Edward Goschen carefully explains that because that scrap of paper bears Englandâs signature, her honour is at stake. The two take their leave of each other, most unhappily.
In London, the crowds begin to gather outside Whitehall and Buckingham Palace, in Trafalgar Square and in the Mall. By the evening, with still no word that Germany has backed down, those crowds have turned into cheering masses. They are mostly the common people, but wending their way among them are many men and women in evening dress, wanting to be a part of it, as field guns and ammunition wagons rumble by to great cheering. Men dressed in khaki receive the same acclaim. Our boys !
By 6.30 pm, the Victoria Memorial before Buckingham Palace at the centre of Queenâs Gardens is simply black with people, singing and cheering and hoping for an appearance by the King.
And there he is!
A massive cheer goes up from the crowd as, at 7 pm, King George V and Queen Mary appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and Princess Mary. They are regaled with a mass throaty rendition of âGod Save the Kingâ and âFor Heâs a Jolly Good Fellowâ. The same scene is repeated at 9.30 pm, as the crowd gets still bigger, and again at 11 pm, though by now Princess Mary has gone to bed.
So it is that, after Big Ben has tolled 11 times, for thee, and for hundreds of millions of people across Europe now at war with each other, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey and Home Secretary Reginald McKenna sit in complete and morose silence for a full ten minutes contemplating the catastrophic consequences of what has occurred. The three brass chandeliers that provide dim illumination to the men add to the sense of gloom.
Suddenly, a flurry of activity outside, as the First Lord of the Admiralty arrives â¦
âWinston dashed into the room radiant,â Lloyd George would recall, âhis face bright, his manner keen and he told us, one word pouring out on the other how he was going to send telegrams to the Mediterranean, the North Sea and God knows where. You could see he was a really happy man. I wondered if this was the state of mind to be in at the opening of such a fearful war as this â¦â 29
Outside, as midnight approaches (the crowd unaware of the time difference), there is a change in the air. âA profound silence fell upon the crowd,â The Times would report the next day. âThen as the first strokes rang out from the Clock Tower, a vast cheer burst out and echoed and re-echoed for nearly 20 minutes. The National Anthem was then sung with an emotion and solemnity which manifested the gravity and sense of responsibility with which the people regard the great issues before them.â 30
7.45 AM, 5 AUGUST 1914, MELBOURNE, THE FIRST SHOT FIRED
Aboard the German cargo ship SS Pfalz â a 6557-ton steamer â anchored at Port Melbourneâs
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