Page:The guilt of William Hohenzollern.djvu/226

222 Immediately on the receipt of Schon's reply the Foreign Office set itself to evolve a declaration of war, and produced the following document, still dated Aug. 1st:

"The German Government has from the beginning of the crisis been striving for a peaceful settlement. But while it was mediating between Vienna and St. Petersburg by desire of H.M. the Tsar of Russia and in conjunction with England, Russia mobilized her whole army and navy. The security of the German Empire has been threatened by this measure, which had not been preceded by any extraordinary military preparations in Germany. Not to meet such a danger would mean to risk the existence of the Empire. The German Government has therefore summoned the Russian Government to cease mobilizing against Germany and her allies at once. At the same time the German Government informed the Government of the French Republic of this message, and in view of the known relations of the Republic to Russia, asked for a declaration whether France were willing to remain neutral in the Russo-German war. To this the French Government has given the ambiguous and evasive answer that France will do what her interests demand. By this answer France reserves the right to take the side of our enemies, and is able at any moment to take us in the rear with her army, in the meanwhile mobilized. In this attitude Germany must see a threat, especially as, although the time limit has long expired, she has received no reply to the summons to Russia to cease mobilizing her forces, and thus a Russo-German war has broken out. Germany cannot leave it to France to choose