"I have had conversations with all my colleagues representing the Great Powers. The impression left on my mind is that the Austro-Hungarian note was so drawn up as to make war (with Serbia) inevitable; that the Austro-Hungarian Government are fully resolved to have war with Serbia; that they consider their position as a Great Power to be at stake; and that until punishment has been administered to Serbia it is unlikely that they will listen to proposals of mediation. This country has gone wild with joy at the prospect of war with Serbia, and its postponement or prevention would undoubtedly be a great disappointment."[107] Added to which we have further proof in a despatch from the British Ambassador at Rome, dated July 23, 1914:-- "Secretary-General, whom I saw this morning at the Italian Foreign Office, took the view that the gravity of the situation lay in the conviction of the Austro-Hungarian Government that it was absolutely necessary for their prestige, after the many disillusions which the turn of events in the Balkans has occasioned, to score a definite success."[108] FOOTNOTES: [104] _Great Britain and the European Crisis_, No. 32. [105] _Great Britain and the European Crisis_, No. 33. [106] _Great Britain and the European Crisis_, No. 71. [107] _Great Britain and the European Crisis_, No. 41. [108] _Great Britain and the European Crisis_, No. 38. APPENDIX C. SOME GERMAN ATROCITIES IN BELGIUM. In December, 1914, a Committee was appointed by the British Government to inquire into the German outrages in Belgium and France. Under the Chairmanship of Lord Bryce, this Committee was composed of:-- THE RT. HON. VISCOUNT BRYCE, O.M. (Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford, 1870; Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1886; Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster (with seat in Cabinet), 1892; President of Board of Trade, 1894; one of the British Members of the International Tribunal at The Hague; Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1905-6; His Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Washington, 1907-12). THE RT. HON. SIR FREDERICK POLLOCK, Bt., K.C., LL.D., D.C.L. (Judge of Admiralty Court of Cinque Ports since 1914; Editor of Law Reports since 1895; Chairman, Royal Commission on Public Records, 1910; Corpus Professor of Jurisprudence, Oxford, 1883-1903; Author of The Law of Torts, 1887; History of English Law, 1895.) THE RT. HON. SIR EDWARD CLARKE, K.C. (Solicitor-General, 1886-92). SIR ALFRED HOPKINSON, K.C. (Professor of Law, Owen's College, Manchester (Principal, 1898-1904); Adviser to the Bombay University, 1913-14). MR. H. A. L. FISHER (Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University; Chichele Lecturer in Foreign History, 1911-12). MR. HAROLD COX, M.A. (Editor, _Edinburgh Review_).