Page:Paul Samuel Reinsch - Secret Diplomacy, How Far Can It Be Eliminated? - 1922.djvu/110

 rocco, which had then just become known to the public, had admitted that in such a case the prom- ise of purely diplomatic support might easily bring on the obligation to assist in other ways; that an entente cordiale creates close relation- ships between two countries; and that, should one of them get into difficulties without its guilt, it would expect to receive support.

The moral responsibilities in which the For- eign Minister had involved the British Govern- ment were not simple, nor did they exist against France alone. Because of the Franco-Russian alliance the relationship established between Great Britain and France virtually involved shar- ing in the defense of France against the conse- quences of her alliance with Russia, as the subse- quent events showed; any serious situation aris- ing in the Balkans and affecting Russian interests would thereafter involve France, and through her, Great Britain. Accordingly, the effect of this policy was to make the peace of Great Britain depend upon, and to involve it with, the complex struggle for influence in the Balkans.

After Sir Edward Grey's speech of August 3rd, Mr. T. Edmund Harvey, M.P., said: "I am convinced that this war for the great masses of the countries of Europe is no peoples' war. It