Britain pledges to defend Belgian neutrality

On 3 August 1914 at 3 p.m. the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, delivered in the House of Commons one of the most important speeches in the history of British diplomacy. The Cabinet had approved its content a few hours earlier. Grey had to convince Parliament and a divided government that Great Britain could not remain indifferent to a war on the Continent.

The Foreign Secretary assured the House that the country was not bound by any treaty that would automatically oblige it to go to war alongside France. He spoke, however, of obligations of honour and of interest. He recalled that the French fleet, under earlier arrangements, had been concentrated in the Mediterranean, leaving the northern coasts of France unprotected. Great Britain therefore could not stand idly by while the German fleet attacked them.

Most important of all, however, was Belgium. Grey reminded the House that Great Britain was one of the guarantors of its neutrality under the Treaty of London of 1839, and informed members of the German ultimatum to Brussels. He asked whether the country could stand aside while treaties were being broken and a small state fell victim to a stronger neighbour. The House received the speech with clear support. Even the leader of the Irish nationalists, John Redmond, backed it.

After Grey’s speech the British government gave Belgium a clear signal. The minister in Brussels was instructed to say that London expected the Belgians to resist German pressure and was ready, together with France and Russia, to help them if they asked for help. The Belgian government received this assurance on the morning of 4 August.

In the evening Grey, standing at the window of his office and watching the street lamps being lit, is said to have remarked to a friend: “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” The next day, after German troops entered Belgium, Great Britain sent Germany an ultimatum, and at midnight it was at war with it.