1914] "White Books 



in a gross maladjustment of their affairs. Germany c^ 

 and Austria were not to be dealt with in similar error 

 fashion, and the invitation strengthened the war 

 party; "Austria cannot be summoned before an 

 Areopagus/' replied the German authorities. A 

 conference at Berlin would have thrown the Pan- 

 germanists and other war makers on the defensive, for 

 the time being at least. To London they could 'not 

 be dragged; at Berlin they could not have escaped 

 publicity. 



Grey's failure seemed to me to rest not in intrigue 

 of which he has been more or less unjustly 

 accused but in lack of knowledge concerning the 

 people and temper of continental Europe. 



Early in August the German government put out Germany's 

 a "White Book," which through quoted documents statfment 

 tried to justify Austria's dealings with Serbia, a 

 state "within her own sphere of influence," and Ger- 

 many's invasion of Belgium. A copy of this pamphlet 

 being early sent me from Holland, it was apparently 

 for a time the only one in London. In my judgment 

 the authors utterly failed to make their case; neither 

 the much-exaggerated criticisms of Serbia nor the 

 geographical position of Belgium justified the initia- 

 tion of war. 



The British then issued their own "White Book," ThtBrit- 

 but with characteristic regard for routine they appar- ' 

 ently made no effort to secure publicity, merely 

 placing it on sale as usual in two bookstores, one 

 for each party. Noting this fact, I told Sir John 

 McDonell, Master of the Supreme Court, that Britain 



641 3 



