Days of a Man 1914 



we turn to strike Russia to the ground, then march on to the 

 Balkans to set up order there." 



Thus it was; so cry out all documents, so it appears through 

 all memoirs, so it burns inextinguishable in the consciences 

 of all Germans who had open eyes and had not estranged 

 themselves from their best and noblest friends in other nations: 

 that the German people is lost, that it does not realize how deep 

 it has fallen, and how harsh the punishment will be for its 

 moral isolation and the breach of comity of which it has been 

 guilty. 1 



change in General public opinion in England had long been 

 British resolutely set against war, 2 and the perilous alliance 

 between Russia and France was widely regarded as a 

 blunder only to be excused by the fear of German 

 aggression; 3 but with the invasion of Belgium feeling 

 changed, over night as it were. 



On August 5, Sir Edward Grey made his famous 

 speech in Parliament, setting forth Great Britain's 

 relations and obligations in connection with the 

 crisis, at the same time urging a declaration of war. 

 Gardiner of the News afterward declared that all at 

 once the world seemed to turn black before his eyes, 

 so keen was his forecast of the terrible future involved 



x From "Mein Kampf gegen das Militarische und Nationalistische Deutsch- 

 land," a noble volume by Forster, issued in 1920. See Chapter LV, page 768. 



2 On August 4 my cabman said: "There ought to be common sense enough 

 in all Europe to stop this thing right now. Those that make war should be made 

 to fight it. There wouldn't be any war then." 



3 In view of the continuous menace from German militarism and the open 

 threats of the Pangermanists and other war agitators, one cannot greatly blame 

 France for taking alarm. That her statesmen grasped at straws explains even 

 if it fails to justify the disastrous alliance with the Tsar. Not only was Russian 

 autocracy sure to crumble under severe strain, but the whole agreement was 

 tainted with corruption. Paris brokers sold Russian bonds in great amounts to 

 the common people, stipulating that half the sum borrowed should be spent on 

 armament in France. Serbia was also borrowing in Paris and on identical terms. 

 Dalseme, a wholesale dealer in leather goods, told me that the Serbian govern- 

 ment was paying a hundred francs apiece for cheap saddles he was willing to 

 furnish at twenty. 



n 638 : 



