HOW THE DAY UNFOLDS 100 YEARS AGO

2
ND
AUGUST 1914
6am: Soon after dawn, reports came via Reuters that Russia had begun an assault on German
territory.
7.30am: The German ambassador, Count Pourtals, and
his staff left St Petersburg from the Finland
station. In London, Herbert Asquith, the Prime
Minister, had his breakfast interrupted by the
arrival of Prince Lichnowsky, the German
ambassador, who was in an agitated state. Lichnowsky,
who had misunderstood
Britains position the
day before, now begged
Asquith not to side with
France. The Prime
Minister (pictured
below, right) told him that Germanys behaviour was
rapidly changing British public opinion. By now, Germany
had seized the main railway station in Luxembourg. The
German chancellor, Bethmann Hollweg, claimed there was
no aggressive intent and that this was merely a precaution
to secure the railways against a possible French attack.
Paul Cambon, the French ambassador in London, asked to
meet Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary. Cambon
reminded Grey that the Treaty of London of 1867, signed
by the Great Powers, guaranteed Luxembourg's neutrality.
The Foreign Secretary responded that the treaty was a collective instrument and that if
Germany had violated it, Britain did not have to honour it.
11am: Despite it being a Sunday, the Cabinet met. Grey told his colleagues of France's
decision to mobilise the previous day. As a consequence of a secret pact made at the 1912
Anglo-French naval talks, France, he said, counted on Britain to secure the English Channel
and the North Sea while its own navy patrolled the Mediterranean. The Cabinet was divided,
Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, remaining the most clear-sighted about what was
coming.
1.30pm: After much discussion the Cabinet agreed, despite
polarised opinions, to allow Grey (pictured right) to tell the
French that Britain would not allow Germany to use the
Channel for operations against northern France. J ohn
Burns, President of the Board of Trade, threatened to
resign, seeing the decision as an act of hostility to Germany
(after the meeting he announced his intention to retire). For
his part, Grey said: We have led France to rely upon us
and unless we support her in her agony, I cannot continue
at the Foreign Office. The Cabinet agreed to meet again at 6.30pm.
1.45pm: After the meeting Grey took a walk around London Zoo. Asquith and his wife
Margot saw the German ambassador Prince Lichnowsky and his wife Mechtilde. The
Anglophile prince, who had been awarded an honorary degree at Oxford earlier in the
summer, was clearly distressed at the way events were unfolding, as was his wife.
To think that we should bring such sorrows to an innocent, happy people! I have
always hated and loathed our Kaiser have I not said so a thousand times, dear little
Margot. He and his friends are all brutes!
Princess Mechtilde Lichnowsky, wife of the German ambassador in London, to Margot
Asquith, Margot Asquiths Great War Diary 1914-1916
Despite the gravity of the crisis, Asquith's thoughts still flitted to young Venetia Stanley, on
whom he was fixated. He had hoped to spend the weekend with her but events had
determined otherwise.
I got no letter from you this morning, which is the saddest blank in my day.
Asquith, in a letter to Venetia Stanley, August 2
The women in Asquith's life: his wife Margot (left) and Venetia Stanley (right)
After the Cabinet broke up for the afternoon, Churchill went to see Arthur Balfour, the
Conservative former prime minister and opposition leader and still a significant figure in his
party. Churchill told him half the Liberal Cabinet could resign if war was declared. Balfour
said he would be prepared to join a coalition if that happened.
The lie that started the First World War
2.20pm: A note was handed to French and German ambassadors in London explaining that
the British government would not allow the passage of German ships through the English
Channel or the North Sea in order to attack the coasts or shipping of France. Grey gave
Cambon, the French ambassador a pledge: If the German fleet comes into the Channel or
through the North Sea to undertake hostile operations against the French coasts or shipping,
the British Fleet will give all protection in its power. The British public would have been
startled to hear this: there was no commitment made in public and at this point the Cabinet
did not know of Germany's impending ultimatum to Belgium. Cambon sent the news to Paris,
where his telegram arrived at 8.30pm.
I am sorry to say that since I wrote to you [on
August 1] we have learned officially that Germany has
declared war on Russia. I cannot think that the rupture
with France can be long delayed. And the course of events
is likely to be very serious as regards Belgium.
Winston Churchill (pictured right), in a letter to Lord
Robert Cecil, Unionist MP
Asquith recognised that the Entente Cordiale of 1904
bound Britain to France (though much more loosely, in the
eyes of most Britons, than France's view of the
arrangement) and that Britain had an obligation to Belgium
- but at this stage he could not foresee Britain joining a
continental conflict:
The despatch of the Expeditionary Force to help France at this moment is out of the
question and would serve no object.
Asquith, letter to Venetia Stanley
3pm: The Belgian vice consul in Cologne arrived at the Foreign Ministry in Brussels to
report that he had been watching troop trains leave Cologne station, heading for the Belgian
border, since 6am that day. In Paris, unconfirmed reports were reaching J oseph J offre,
commander-in-chief of the army, that German troops were crossing the French frontier. He
argued that a 10km buffer zone, which had been in place, should be lifted and the Cabinet
agreed.
Telegram: Tsar Nicholas II, wearing an English uniformwith his cousin George V, in Russian regimental uniform
From St Petersburg, Tsar Nicholas II sent a telegram to London, to his cousin George V: 'I
trust your country will not fail to support France and Russia in fighting to maintain the
balance of power in Europe. God bless and protect you.
How well do you know the history of the First World War?
3.30pm: The Tsar and his court attended mass in St Georges Hall - the Great Throne Room -
in the Winter Palace, St Petersburg. Echoing some words of Alexander I a century before, he
swore that he would never make peace as long as one of the enemy is on the soil of the
fatherland.
4pm: There had been Socialist-led demonstrations for
peace across Germany in the preceding days, though to
little effect.
Now a trade union-led demonstration in London brought
10,000 people to Trafalgar Square to protest against war. A
rival group sang the National Anthem rather than the
Internationale and marched to Buckingham Palace, where
the King and Queen waved to them from the balcony.
6.30pm: In London, the Cabinet met for the second time
that day. Lloyd George, the Chancellor, was being
persuaded of the arguments for resisting Germany, and a
small majority was now in favour of action if there was a
substantial violation of Belgian neutrality.
At the London railway stations serving the south and east
coasts, The Daily Telegraph found 'perplexed'
holidaymakers discovering that services to the Continent had been whittled down to almost
zero.
The Daily Telegraph reports the call-up of Navy and Army reserves
At Liverpool Street, only one-way tickets to the Hook of Holland were on sale, no returns.
Passengers travelling from the the other direction brought tales of confusion, as this Daily
Telegraph report, below right, illustrates.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, another fateful moment was
unfolding. Walter von Below-Saleske, the German minister
in the city, handed Viscomte J ulien Davignon, the Belgian
Foreign Minister, a letter claiming that Germany had
evidence France was preparing to cross Belgian territory to
attack Germany. In order to defend herself, Germany
would need to enter Belgian territory - Germany needed,
by the dictate of self-preservation to anticipate this
hostile attack.
The first draft of this letter had been written by General
Helmuth von Moltke, Chief of the General Staff, on J uly
26. Belgium was now given 12 hours - until 7am on
Monday August 3 - in which to respond.
9pm: King Albert met the Belgian Council of Ministers. They agreed they could not accept
the German demands and set about drafting a reply.
Our answer must be no, whatever the consequences. Our duty is to defend our
territorial integrity. In this we must not fail.
King Albert I of Belgium
12 midnight: The Belgian Council of Ministers' meeting adjourned and the Premier, Foreign
Minister and Minister of J ustice went to the Foreign Office to draft their reply.
1.30am: The German minister von Below turned up unexpectedly at the Belgian Foreign
Office. Germany was uneasy about its ultimatum. Having long assumed that Belgium would
not fight, it was now worried that Belgian resistance would hold up its meticulously planned
timetable for the invasion of France. In an attempt to goad the Belgians, von Below suggested
France had made incursions on German territory and could not therefore be trusted to respect
Belgian neutrality.
2.30am: Unmoved by von Below's tactics, Belgian ministers reconvened to approve a reply.
Belgium declared itself firmly resolved to repel by all means in its power every attack upon
its rights. The Belgian army had six divisions of infantry and a cavalry division. Germany
intended to march 34 divisions through Belgium.
Join us again tomorrow, August 3, the day when Germany declared war on France -
and the lamps began to go out all over Europe