The first of the very important reports of the British Ambassador at St.
Petersburg, Sir George Buchanan, to the Secretary of State, Grey, is
dated on that day; on the same day the note addressed by Austria-Hungary
to the Servian Government had been brought to the knowledge of the
European Cabinets, and the British Ambassador conferred with the Russian
Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Sazonof, over this matter. The French
Minister also took part in this conference. When the latter and M.
Sazonof, in the most insistent way, tried to prove to Buchanan that
England, together with Russia and France, must assume a threatening
attitude toward Austria-Hungary and Germany, the British Ambassador
replied:
I said that I would telegraph a full report to you of what their
Excellencies had just said to me. I could not, of course, speak in
the name of his Majesty's Government, but personally I saw no
reason to expect any declaration of solidarity from his Majesty's
Government that would entail an unconditional engagement on their
part to support Russia and France by force of arms. Direct British
interests in Servia were nil, and a war on behalf of that country
would never be sanctioned by British public opinion.
Pages:
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80