The Irish standard., 1914-11-07
The War---HOw 1t Began
By Father Judge, S. ]. in America"

ocutS d. SIIduSS duOuldly, d. 61SduIAC
and terrible struggle of a large num-
Der of empires and kingdoms. the re-
sponsibility for which all nations in
volved repudiate There can be no
doubt that all foresaw the danger
clearly and wished to escape it Sir
Edward Grey predicted that if it
came "the war would be the biggest
ever known" English white Pa
per-" No. 49, The German Secre-
tary of State said to Sir H. Rumbold,
"that he had given the Russian Gov
eminent to understand that the last
thing Germany wanted was a gen.
eral war, and he would do all in his
power to prevent such calamity"
(Nov. 49, The German Ambassador
in an interview held at 2 a. M, at
st. Petersburg, completely broke
down on seeing that war was in
evitable." (No. 3D. Sir Edward
Grey said to the German Ambassador
in London: II hate the idea of war
between any of the great powers, and
that any of them should be dragged
into a war by Servia would be de-
testable." mo. ID M. Cambon de-
clared. France is pacific; she does
not desire war;" (No. 99.) M. Saz-
anof stated "he was completely weary
of the ceaseless endeavors he had
made to avoid a war;" mo. 1872
Austria protested again and again
that she sought nothing but the chas-
tisement of Servia, and protection
from her Vaccinations.
How, then, did the war begin?
Was it without a reason? Who
counseled it? Who caused it? In
reply various solutions have been Of
fered. Some insist that it was due
to the rulers; it is, they claim, a con-
flict of the Hapsburgs, the Hohen-
zollerns and the Romanoffs; it could
never have taken place among demo-
cracies. But in contradiction of this
nothing could be more vehement than
the desire of peace expressed by the
Gar, the Kaiser, and by King George
V. II thank you from my heart for
your mediation" (Which permits a
CLEAN of hope that everything can
yet be settled peaceably. We are far
from DESTROYS of war. I am trust
ing in the grace of God with all
my might and hope for the success
of your mediation in Vienna, for the
welfare of our countries, and for the
peace of Europe" July 31.) Com
pare similar most friendly exchange
of communication between the other
crowned heads of Europe.
If we make careful analysis of the
documents SO far within our reach,
certain truths will come to light,
which, SO far as know, have not as
yet been insisted on. There can be
no doubt that France was convinced
that if England, supported by her two
allies, would take firm stand, Ger
many and her ally Austria would not
dare to enter into war. In a confer
ence held at st. Petersburg on July
Gath between M. Sazanof and the En-
glish and French Ambassador, the
latter expressed the opinion that
either Austria had made up her mind
to act at once or that she was
'bluffing.' Whichever it might be
our only chance of averting war was
for us to adopt firm and united at
titude." (No. g. This conviction
was shared later by the French Presi-
dent and M. Sazanof. "He ON. Cam
bon) is convinced that peace between
the powers is in the hands of Great
Britain. If his Majesty's Govern
ment announced that England would
come to the aid of France in the
event of a conflict between France
and Germany, as a result of the diff
ference between Austria and Servia,
there would be no war, for Germany
would at once modify her attitude"
(No. 90 Similar sentiments were
expressed by the Russian Premier.
On July rs Sir G.. Buchanan in
formed Sir Edward Grey: HE (M.
Sazanof) did not believe that Ger
many really wanted war, but her at
titude was decided by ours. If we
took our stand firmly with France
and Russia there would be no war. If
we failed them now rivers of blood
would flow, and we would in the end
be dragged into war;" (No. 10
Even after Austria had determined
on war with Servia, Russia reposed
entirely on the initiative of England.
From now on nothing remains for
US to do but to rely entirely on the
British Government to take the initi-
alive in the steps in which they may
consider advisable" mo. 90 (3)
July 29th.]
England was thus pressed by her
allies to take firm and threatening
attitude. Sir G. Buchanan at st.
Petersburg at first seemed to share
Il