Page:The Great War.djvu/47

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CHAPTER VI ENGLAND BEFORE THE WAR TN the days before war was actually declared, the -^ position England would take remained obscure. Not until the very end did she publicly make up her mind. Yet long before the invasion of Belgium sup- plied a definite issue, it was clear that the war party in London was growing. Officially, however, and with unmistakable earnestness Sir Edward Grey labored at St. Petersburg and Berlin for peace. Throughout the critical period his whole endeavor was to find a way by which the Servian dispute could be withdrawn from the battle ground of the two groups of Powers and relegated to diplomatic dis- cussion by the Powers not directly affected. In this effort France and Italy joined loyally. Neither desired war. Russia, too, frankly pessi- mistic from the start, consented to accept any form- ula which should not involve the destruction of Serv- ian independence. But as Russian championship of Servia was for Austria, in fact, a step toward the assertion of Russian tutelage over the Slavs of the Balkans and, indeed, of Austria herself, no middle ground was discoverable, while Germany steadily stood behind her ally. It must be the work of his- 37

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