Two days later Austria declared herself to be at war with Russia, and within a week from that date Great Britain and France issued a similar declaration against Austria. [1] There is perhaps as much reason, certainly no more, for believing that an official clique at Belgrade plotted the Serajevo murders, as that an official clique at Vienna connived at them, by deliberately withdrawing police protection from the unfortunate and unpopular Archduke on the occasion of his visit to a notorious hotbed of sedition. [2] Herr von Jagow "also admitted that the Servian Government could not swallow certain of the Austro-Hungarian demands.... He repeated very earnestly that, though he had been accused of knowing all the contents of that note, he had in fact no such knowledge."--Sir H. Rumbold at Berlin to Sir Edward Grey (White Paper, No. 18). [3] "Although I am unable to verify it, I have private information that the German Ambassador (_i.e._ at Vienna) knew the text of the Austrian ultimatum to Servia before it was despatched and telegraphed it to the German Emperor. I know from the German Ambassador himself that he endorses every line of it."--British Ambassador at Vienna to Sir Edward Grey (White Paper, No. 95). (Cf. also White Book, Nos. 95 and 141; French Yellow Book, No. 87; Russian Orange Book, No. 41.) "The German Ambassador (_i.e._ in London) read me a telegram from the German Foreign Office saying that his Government had not known beforehand, and had no more than other Powers to do with the stiff terms of the Austrian note to Servia."--Sir Edward Grey to the British Ambassador in Berlin (White Paper, No. 25). (Cf. also French Yellow Book, Nos. 17, 30, 36, 41, 57, and 94.) [4] Last paragraph of Reply of Servian Government to Austro-Hungarian note. [5] White Paper, Nos. 20 and 23. [6] White Paper, No. 36. [7] White Paper, Nos. 35, 42, and 52. [8] White Paper, Nos. 43 and 71. Cf. also German White Book, Nos. 12 and 15. [9] White Paper, No. 113; Russian Orange Book, No. 77; French Yellow Book, No. 95. [10] These suspicions were well founded. German mobilisation began at least two days earlier (White Paper, No. 113; French Yellow Book, Nos. 60, 88, 89, and 106). [11] White Paper, Nos. 114, 122, 123, and 125. [12] Belgian Grey Book, No. 20; French Yellow Book, No. 141. [13] White Paper, No. 152; French Yellow Book, No. 124. [14] White Paper, Nos. 85 and 123. [15] "I found the Chancellor very agitated. His Excellency at once began a harangue which lasted for about twenty minutes. He said that the step taken by His Majesty's Government was terrible to a degree: just for a word--'neutrality,' a word which in war time had so often been disregarded--just for a scrap of paper Great Britain was going to make war on a kindred nation, who desired nothing better than to be friends with her."--British Ambassador at Berlin to Sir Edward Grey (White Paper, No. 160). {22} CHAPTER III WHO WANTED WAR?