(Photo: Unknown German war photographer.)
German soldiers in a railroad car on their way to the front in 1914. “Just over a month later they would be at war.” “The Germans sent the signal ‘Pleasant journey’ and the British replied ‘Friends in past and friends forever,’ ” writes MacMillan.
As Margaret MacMillan tells in The War that Ended Peace, shortly after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, all social events in Kiel, Germany, were cancelled and a British fleet that had been paying a courtesy call left the northern port city. Until the last possible moment, decorum defined Britain’s interactions with Germany. Increasingly worried about Germany’s mounting power - especially that of its navy - the Brits joined Russia and France in 1907 to form the Triple Entente (but were the least committed country in the alliance). England did its best to remain in so-called “splendid isolation,” focusing on ruling its enormous empire rather than becoming mixed up in mainland Europe’s political drama.īut Britain could not stand the idea of a single nation dominating mainland Europe. Many in Britain did not agree, preferring to avoid at all costs being pulled into Germany’s quarrels with France and Russia. (Photo: United Kingdom Government)Īs least until 1901, Joseph Chamberlain, Britain’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, favoured cosying up to Germany and even pushed to join the Triple Alliance. HMS Invincible, British Battlecruiser, launched in 1907.
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