WHO ARE THE HUNS?

The Neutrality of Belgium. 45
substantiated proofs that England, long before the bringing-up
of the Balkan question, had firmly determined, in spite of the
greatest concessions by Germany with regard to Belgium and
France, to participate in the war. There is also Bonar Law's
letter to Asquith, of the 2nd of August, 1914. In this no word
is said of Belgium, but only of the "support of France and
Russia." This letter is written on the same day in which Sir
Edward Grey made concessions to France which, quite independent
of the question of Belgian neutrality, must inevitably
have led to war. The splendid essay upon the previous history
and the outbreak of the war in 1914, by Dr. Carl Strupp, "Zeitschrift
fur Vôlkerrecht," Vol. 8, pamphlet 2, page in, should
also be read. 1
1 Winston Churchill's statement that for five years, England had been
provided with munitions for the war, and the fact that England had her navy
in readiness before any other state, — whilst on the 26th of July, the German
Fleet and Kaiser Wilhelm were still absent in Northern waters, proves that
the Belgian question was a mere blind, and that England regarded the use
of Belgium as a base of operations for the war for which she had so long
prepared.
This point is also being gradually conceded under the pressure of public
opinion by the most influential papers of England. See the articles in the
"Times" and "Morning Post" on the birthday of King Albert, in April, 1915.
The "Times" writes: "The chief reasons why England guaranteed the neutrality
of Belgium and entered the Triple Alliance, were practical considerations
of self-interest. We have already told our enemies that if they wish to have
an acknowledgment of the fact that the preservation of the Balance of Power
was one of the reasons why we began the war, they could have it." {retrans.)
The Socialist leader, Newbold, is still more frank: "England entered
this war because foreign competition in the markets of the world had steadily
grown more formidable. The Continental Powers that stand before the abyss are
supported by us and lured into the war with promises. After the war, there will
be many countries that will be deep in our debt, or that will require capital
for the re-construction of their industries. Belgium will curse us. We defended
Belgium because it guarded the mouth of the Rhine and the Scheldt. But
where is our solicitude for Finland, the small Balkan states, Persia, Egypt and
the Boers ?" (retranslation.)
Lord Haldane has also, as is well-known, confessed that he was not
certain as to whether England could remain neutral, even though the neutrality
of Belgium had been respected by Germany (End of March, 1915).
Houston Stewart Chamberlain in his "Kriegs-Aufsatze," writes thus of his
Fatherland: "England wanted the war, and from the very beginning it was