gations that England had incurred. These.involved, he explained, with regard to Russia, no more than diplomatic support. With regard to France, he had told her, at the crisis which led to the Algeciras Conference, that, if war were forced on her about Morocco, he believed that British public opinion would rally to her support. Since that time conversations had taken place between French and British naval and military experts, which, however, did not bind their Governments. In the Agadir crisis he had taken the same line, and in Nov. 1912 it had been agreed that, if either Great Britain or France had grave reason to expect an attack by a third Power or a menace to the general peace, both Governments should consult whether, and if so how, they should cooperate. There was no definite promise of intervention ; but in the existing crisis, in view of Anglo-French friendship, he invited every man to look into his own heart and construe the extent of the British obligation for himself. In view of that friendship, France had concentrated her fleet in the Mediter- ranean; Britain could not let France's unprotected coasts be bombarded. Accordingly he had told the French ambassador that, if a hostile German fleet came into the Channel or the North Sea, Britain would give France all the assistance in her power. The German Government had offered, in the event of British neutrality, to refrain from attacking the northern ports of France; but that was far too narrow an engagement. Then came the urgent question of Belgium. He had asked France and Germany whether they would respect Belgian neutrality. France had agreed, Germany had delayed replying, and had now issued an ultimatum to Belgium. Germany had asked if Britain would be satisfied with the preservation of Belgian integrity after the war, but the Government had refused to barter away British interests and obligations. The King of the Belgians had appealed to King George. If Great Britain stood aside, she could not prevent Europe falling under the dominion of a single Power. Ireland was the one bright spot. The feeling there made it unnecessary to take the Irish question into account. Un- conditional neutrality was precluded by the commitment to France and the consideration of Belgium. To stand aside would be to sacrifice the good name of Great Britain without escaping the most serious economic consequences. The forces of the Crown were never more ready or efficient; the Government, which had wished for peace, appealed to the country for support. The speech finally convinced the country and the Empire of the righteousness of the cause. Mr. Law promised full support. Mr. Redmond electrified the House by saying that Irish f ee 'i n g na( l completely altered towards England, and British troops might be withdrawn, as Ireland would be defended by her own armed sons. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, indeed, the leader of the Labour party, and some individual Liberals and Labour men, condemned any departure from neutrality; but it was made clear that the bulk of the Liberals and even of the Labour men were with the Government. Only two Cabinet ministers, Lord Morley and Mr. Burns, resigned. Next day Great Britain issued her ultimatum to Germany to respect Belgian neutrality; and, Germany refusing, she declared war.
Sir Edward Grey had said that the forces of the Crown were never more ready or more efficient. The navy, through the fore- sight of the First Lord (Mr. Churchill), and First I MHitar'"" 1 ^ e& ^ or ^ (Prince Louis of Battenberg, afterwards the Action* Marquess of Milford Haven), was already mobilized, the demobilization of the magnificent fleet which the King had recently reviewed at Spithead having been counter- manded in view of the European crisis; and it proceeded at once to its stations in the North Sea, under the command of Sir John Jellicoe. The German mercantile marine was soon swept, with slight exceptions, from the seas, and a blockade of Germany set up. Though the army was small and unequal to a great conti- nental war, the Expeditionary Force, which Lord Haldane had fashioned, was also ready, and Sir John French, the Inspector- General of the Forces, was its commander. The Army Reserve was at once called out and the Territorial Force (also Lord Haldane's creation) embodied. It was necessary immediately to appoint a Secretary of State for War, the seals of the office
having been held since the spring by Mr. Asquith in addition to the Premiership. In response to public demand, Lord Kitch- ener, who was starting to resume, after a visit to London, his duties as British Agent in Egypt, was kept at home to take over the War Office as a non-political chief. There was some disposition at first, both in the Cabinet Lord and in the Liberal press, to endeavour to confine the l ^ ic t ^ e e aer British share in the war to the sea, and to object to WarOfflce. sending soldiers to fight in France. No more was heard of this after Lord Kitchener's appointment. The Expedi- tionary Force was despatched in perfect secrecy and perfect safety in the first half of the month, and was ready for action in France on Aug. 21. Another great service which Lord Kitchener rendered his country and the world was to bid the British Empire prepare for a three years' war and raise troops to be reckoned in millions rather than thou- sands. He started to organize a new army, which was popularly known as Kitchener's Army; applications for commissions poured in, and recruiting was extraordinarily brisk and general during the remainder of the year, espe- cially after the news of the retreat from Mons. The dis- position of all classes of young men to go to the front was sensibly increased when the young Prince of Wales went to join Sir J. French's staff in October. Large camps were formed in all parts of the country, the most extensive training ground being Salisbury Plain. From all the dominions and colonies and from India came immediate offers of help.
The dislocation of business in London, the financial capital of the world, promised at first to be extremely serious. On the Friday before the outbreak of war the Stock Exchange, an hour after its opening, closed sine die Safe- and the Bank rate was advanced to 10 per cent, guarding Happily the following Monday was the August "nessand bank holiday; the bankers and merchants met and Finance, invited the Government to prolong this interlude for three days. This was promptly done; a Postponement of Payments bill supplemented the Moratorium proclamation and was extended to a period of one month; the Government mean- while relieved the monetary crisis by issuing new Treasury cur- rency notes for i and los. The Bank rate was reduced after the bank holidays to 6 %, and before long to 5 %. By these prompt measures, the first financial flurry was quickly overcome. A vote of credit for 100,000,000 was proposed in the House of Commons by the Prime Minister, together with an immediate increase of 100,000 men for the army and of 67,000 for the navy and coastguard. The war, he said, had been forced on the coun- try, and no nation ever entered a struggle with a clearer conscience.
Other immediate steps taken by the Government involved the control of the railways, and the setting up of a system of insurance of war risks, so as to secure the continuance of over- seas trade; the passing of a Defence of the Realm Act Measures. authorizing trial by court-martial of spies and of per- sons contravening regulations made for national safety, and of bills enabling Great Britain to take advantage of enemypatents, to requisition stores for the army, and foodstuffs " withheld un- reasonably " in order to raise their price, and to supplement deficiencies in housing. Other legislation, passed before Parlia- ment was prorogued, provided for special constables, for re- striction of the sale of liquor, and for giving emergency powers to the courts for the protection of debtors. Measures calculated to relieve distress were pushed forward; but the anticipated distress from unemployment did not occur, and a great fund for its relief, running into many millions, which was organized under the presidency of the Prince of Wales, had eventually to be diverted into other directions.
An enormous amount of voluntary effort seconded Govern- ment activity. Private houses were freely offered for hospital purposes, yachts were converted by their owners in- to hospital ships; in every profession men who had retired returned to release younger men for Kitchener's Army; women, encouraged by the precept and example of the Queen, set themselves in all parts of the country to make under-
