One June 28, 1914, eleven days after Parliament approved Churchill’s bill, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated at Sarajevo. It was not until August 10, 1914, that the Anglo-Persian Oil Convention would receive its Royal Assent. By then, the world had changed. Russia mobilized on July 30. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia and mobilized its armies. At 11:00 P.M. on August 4, after Germany had ignored a final British ultimatum against violating Belgium’s neutrality, Churchill flashed a message to all of His Majesty’s ships: “COMMENCE HOSTILITIES AGAINST GERMANY.” The
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