The Fall of the Dynasties: The Collapse of the Old Order: 1905-1922

by Edmond Taylor

Action was called for if peace was to be saved, and Grey, more than any European statesmen then in power, really was attached to peace. It was not easy to act with a divided Cabinet and Parliament, with an uninformed public opinion, and with both allies and potential adversaries chronically addicted to misunderstanding Britain’s attitude. In the circumstances Grey took what he felt was the most vigorous possible action. He called in the German Ambassador, Prince Karl Lichnowsky, spoke to him frankly about his worries, and made a formal plea that Germany use its good offices in Vienna to facilitate acceptance of the Serbian reply at least as a basis for further negotiation. The whole conversation, backed by the announcement in the British press the same day that leave had been canceled in the British Navy the personal initiative of the First Sea Lord, Winston Churchill — constituted the most explicit warning yet given not to count on British neutrality. Prince Lichnowsky, like the alert and conscientious diplomat that he was, immediately grasped its import and relayed it to Berlin with the sense of urgency that the situation called for.