New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 1, No. 1: From the Beginning to March, 1915, With IndexVarious
History
New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 1, No. 1: From the Beginning to March, 1915, With Index
Various
World War, 1914-1918
Mr. Shaw proceeds to what he calls the diplomatic history of the war.
His notion of historical veracity may be judged from his description of
the Austrian ultimatum to Servia as an escapade of a dotard. He puts the
whole blame of it on Franz Josef, and yet he must know quite well that
Germany has admitted even to her own subjects that Austria asked
Germany's opinion about her policy and obtained Germany's approval
before delivering the ultimatum. [Official German pamphlet "Reasons for
the War with Russia," August, 1914.] There is no word in Mr. Shaw's
diplomatic history of the repeated efforts toward peace made by Great
Britain and scotched by Germany. On the contrary, with astounding
audacity and disingenuousness, he tries to make it appear that
suggestions for peace were offered by Germany and rejected by Great
Britain. Once more it simply was not so.
*Defense of Sir Edward Grey.*
Mr. Shaw's paraphrase of Document 17 in the British diplomatic
dispatches is a staggering travesty. So far as I can see it bears no
relation to the original. Further, he not only deplores that a liberal
government should have an imperialist Foreign Secretary, but he accuses
Sir Edward Grey of sacrificing his country's welfare to the interests of
his party and committing a political crime in order not to incur the
wrath of The Daily News and The Manchester Guardian. This is totally
inexcusable. Let me not be misunderstood. I am not a liberal. I am an
out-and-out radical. I foresee a cleavage in the Liberal Party, and when
that cleavage comes I shall be on the extreme left wing. I entirely
agree with Mr. Shaw's denunciation of secret diplomacy and undemocratic
control of foreign policy. By every social tradition I should be in
opposition to Sir Edward Grey, but I think Grey was the best Foreign
Secretary that the Liberal Party could have chosen and that he worked
well on the only possible plane, the plane of practicality. I am quite
sure he is an honest man, and I strongly resent, as Englishmen of all
opinions will resent, any imputation to the contrary.
As for the undemocratic control of foreign policy, a strong point about
our policy on the eve of the war is that it was dictated by public
opinion. [See Grey's dispatch to the British Ambassador at Berlin, No.
123.] Germany could have preserved peace by a single gesture addressed
to Franz Josef. She did not want peace. Mr. Shaw said Sir Edward Grey
ought to have shouted out at the start that if Germany fought we should
fight. Sir Edward Grey had no authority to do so, and it would have been
foolish to do so. Mr. Shaw also says Germany ought to have turned her
whole army against Russia and left the western frontier to the care of
the world's public opinion in spite of the military alliance by which
France was bound to Russia. We have here an example of his aptitude for
practical politics.
*Was Belgium a Mere Excuse?*
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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