... M. Cambon repeated his question whether we would help
France if Germany made an attack on her. I said I could only adhere
to the answer that, as far as things had gone at present, we could
not take any engagement.... I said that the Cabinet would certainly
be summoned as soon as there was some new development; that at the
present moment the only answer I could give was that we could not
undertake any definite engagement.--(British "White Paper" No.
119.)
Now, if we remember that even on the day before Grey had informed the
German Imperial Chancellor that it would be a shame for England to
remain neutral and allow France to be crushed, we here find a new proof
of the unreliability of his conduct. If he has been gullible, the
declaration of 1912, the dangerous character of which is increased by
its apparently undefined tenor, has enmeshed him more and more. Also the
military and naval circles, whose consultations with the representatives
of the French Army and Navy certainly have been continued diligently
since the beginning of the Servian crisis, were forcing toward a
decision.
At all events, it became more impossible with every hour for Germany to
keep England out of the way by any offers whatsoever.
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