England on the Witness Stand; The Anglo-German Case Tried by a Jury of Englishmen (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915 Excerpt: ...that this was not an accurate description of Germany's intentions, but without waiting for the official reply from Berlin, which was received within two days, our Foreign Secretary, with the knowledge of Mr. Asquith but not of the rest of the Cabinet, the same evening delivered, by the medium of Mr. Lloyd George's speech at the Mansion House, what was universally interpreted as an ultimatum to Germany. For a day or two the issue of war and peace hung in the balance, but the crisis was safely passed and an agreement was reached. It is one of the ironies of diplomacy that the subsequent treaty between France and Germany actually obtained better terms for Britain than those tabled in the secret clauses of the Anglo-French and FrancoSpanish treaties Germany received "compensations" in the French Congo in exchange for territory in the Upper Cameroons and for the acknowledgment of the French Protectorate in Morocco, but in addition she secured for all the Powers, including Britain, equality of economic opportunity in Morocco, while the 1901 treaties had handed over all public works to French and Spanish capitalists, and had guaranteed an "open door" for the trade of other Powers for thirty years only As the French Yellow Book bears witness, it was the atti tude of Britain and France at the time of the Agadir incident of 1911 which caused Germany to proceed so vigorously with her preparations for war. There could no longer be any doubt that Britain was cooperating with France against Germany. From this date the extreme military rivalry between France and Germany dates. Out of this incident grew the arrangement between France and Britain whereby the French Fleet was withdrawn from the English Channel and concentrated in the Mediterranean. Inde...