First World War centenary: how the events

of August 3 1914 unfolded

Britain went to war on August 4 1914. In the third part of
a four-day series, we document the dramatic events
leading up to the declaration of war as they happened,
hour-by-hour
Crowds in the streets of Berlin following the declaration of war against Russia
By Richard Preston
7:30AM BST 03 Aug 2014
The story so far: the events of August 1 1914, hour by hour
7am: The Belgian Council of State had broken from its deliberations at 4am. Viscomte J ulien
Davignon, the Foreign Minister, gave his political secretary, Baron de Gaiffier, Belgium's
reply to Germany's ultimatum of the evening before, which he handed to Walter von Below-
Saleske at the German Legation. Germany's proposed attack on Belgium's independence, it
said, 'constitutes a flagrant violation of international law'.
The Belgian government, if it were to accept the proposals submitted, would sacrifice
the honour of the nation and betray at the same time their duties towards Europe.
Belgian reply to the German ultimatum
In the streets of Brussels, Belgians celebrated their defiance in the face of German threats.
Oh, the poor fools. Why dont they get out of
the way of the steamroller? We don't want to
hurt them, but if they stand in our way, they will be
ground into the dirt. A counsellor at the German
legation in Brussels, watching the scene in the streets
11am: In London, Asquith's Cabinet met. Despite
the progress of the day before, there were now four
ministers on the verge of resigning over Britain's possible
intervention - J ohn Burns, J ohn Simon, Lord
Beauchamp and J ohn Morley. Discussion continued for
three hours over the statement that Sir Edward Grey
(pictured above, right), Foreign Secretary, would make
when he addressed the House of Commons that
afternoon.
The Cabinet was very moving. Most of us could
hardly speak at all for emotion.
Herbert Samuel, President of the Local Government Board
2pm: Grey found Prince Lichnowsky, the German ambassador, waiting for him at the
Foreign Office, anxious to know if the Cabinet had decided on a declaration of war. Grey told
him they had a 'statement of conditions'.
In the House, the Speaker took his chair at 2.45pm. Sir
Edward Grey slipped in almost unnoticed a few moments
afterwards, according to The Daily Telegraph's report the
next day. 'Although there were 76 questions on the Order
paper only two, and these of minor importance, were
answered. As each member whose name stood against a
question was called upon, he simply rose and said
"Postponed".'
The bank rate had soared in previous days and there had
been queues of people wanting to exchange paper notes for
gold. Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, began
the business of the day by introducing a Bill to suspend
temporarily 'the payment of bills of exchange and
payments in pursuance of other obligations. He then said
the City had asked for the bank holiday to be extended by
three days. He agreed and said an Order in Council to that
effect would be issued that afternoon.
Shortly after, Asquith entered the chamber to cheers and
explained that the bank holiday applied only to banks and
not to other industries.
Then it was then Greys moment. He began by explaining
the background to the crisis, a dispute between Austria and Serbia in which France had
become involved because of its alliance with Russia. Britain had a friendship with France -
the Entente Cordiale conceived in 1904.
A crowd gathers in Westminster during the escalating international crisis
Grey had told the French ambassador, he explained to the House, that if there were an attack
on France's coast, she would have the support of the Royal Navy. He explained, too, that
Britain had asked both France and Germany whether they would respect Belgian neutrality,
in accordance with the Treaty of London of 1839; France had said yes, Germany had declined
to answer. And now Belgium was threatened with an ultimatum by Germany, and Britain had
'great and vital interests in the independence... of Belgium'.
4.30pm: Grey had spoken for almost an hour, and was nearing his conclusion:
We are going to suffer, I am afraid, terribly in this war, whether we are in it or
whether we stand aside.... It may be said, I suppose, that we might stand aside, husband our
strength, and, whatever happened in the course of this war, at the end of it intervene with
effect to put things right and to adjust them to our point of view. 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 [cheers] and I do not believe, whether a Great
Power stands outside this war or not, it is going to be in a position at the end of this war to
exert its material strength [Hear, hear].
Sir Edward Grey, addressing the House of Commons
This was, by all accounts, the most successful
speech of Grey's political career - no one who reads it
today can fail to be impressed by the way in which he, in
the beguilingly hesitant, gentlemanly style that was his
trademark, established the moral credentials of the
imperialist position.
Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe
Went to War in 1914
4.40pm: Other members rose to speak after Grey. Predictably, some Liberal and Labour MPs
spoke against intervention, Conservatives were mostly in favour. But the previously anti-
interventionist Liberal Christopher Addison noted that Grey's speech 'satisfied, I think, all the
House, with perhaps three or four exceptions, that we were compelled to participate'.
5pm: Grey returned to the Foreign Office and was cheered by his staff. But in his office, Sir
Arthur Nicolson, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, found Grey morose. 'I hate war, I hate
war,' he said, banging his fists on his desk.
Prince Lichnowsky, German ambassador in London,
took Grey's speech to be an indication that Britain still
hoped to remain neutral.
6pm: After alleging that the French had crossed into
German territory and had also violated Belgian
neutrality, Germany sent its ambassador in Paris, Baron
Schoen, to deliver a declaration of war to the French
premier Rene Viviani
It is a hundred times better that we were not led
to declare war ourselves... It was imperative that
Germany, fully responsible for the aggression,
should be forced to admit her interests publicly. If
France had declared war, the alliance with Russia
would have become controversial and French unity
and spirit [would have been] broken, and Italy might
have been obliged by the Triple Alliance to come in against
France. President Raymond Poincar,
in his diary
A declaration and a mobilisation: how The Daily Telegraph reported the latest developments
7.30pm: The Cabinet met again in London and agreed that Germany must withdraw its
ultimatum to Belgium. Afterwards, Grey told Paul Cambon, the French ambassador, that if
the Germans did not back down, 'it will be war'.
Later that evening, Grey looked out of his window on to St
J ames's Park, where the gas lamps were being lit. Though
he could not recall saying the words later, he made his
famous remark:
The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall
not see them lit again in our lifetime.
Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary
Join us again tomorrow, August 4, for hour by hour
coverage of the day when Britain went to war