How did Britain get involved in the war? Which is a very good question since the British people thought that it was a European war. Parliament was divided between coming to France's aid or remaining neutral. Asquith's cabinet was also divided, although most thought that Britten should prepare for mobilization.
Way and see was Asquith's political policy and he remained indecisive until the last moment. Mean while member's of his cabinet were secretly preparing for mobilization.
Britten was not in a treaty with any of the European countries therefore she was not obligated to come to anyone's aid. France wanted Britten to join her against Germany but it was argued that it was a European war and Britten should stay out of it. In the other camp were those in the cabinet that had foresight in what would happen if France lost the war.
This debate continued until Germany declared that they were going to use Belgium, a neutral country, as an avenue for attacking France. Belgium’s neutrality was part of the 1839 Treaty of London.[i] Under that treaty the European powers would recognize and guarantee the independence and neutrality of Belgium. The significant part of the treaty was in Article VII, which required Belgium to remain perpetually neutral and the signatory powers would be committed to guard that neutrality in the event of invasion. The cosigners of the treaty were Great Britten, Austria, France, the German Confederation (Prussia ), Russia, and the Netherlands. Since Germany’s intention was to break the treaty, Britain felt that under Article VII it was their responsibility to come to Belgium’s defense. Therefore they sent an ultimatum to Germany; if they invaded Belgium, Britain would enter the war.[ii]
German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg could not believe that Britain would go to war against Germany over a mere “scrap of paper”[iii]. Kaiser Wilhelm was unconcerned by the threat, and ordered his army to invade Belgium on August 4, 1914. When the German Army crossed over the Belgian border, the British Parliament signed the General Mobilization Decree; Britain was officially at war with Germany.
[i] Eric Van Hooydonk (2006). "Chapter 15". In Aldo E. Chircop, O. Lindén. Places of Refuge: The Belgian Experience. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. p. 417
[ii] Marshall, S.L.A. World War 1 pp 50-53
[iii] Larry Zuckerman (2004). The Rape of Belgium: The Untold Story of World War I. New York University Press. p. 43.
No comments:
Post a Comment