The news of Germany's declaration of war on France shattered many people's last hope for peace. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoWithin days, the war had spread from the Balkans to Eastern, Central and Western Europe, with more than two-thirds of the continent's land and population inevitably involved. Since 1870 people on both sides of the Rhine have been worried, and since 1905 what most people had expected to see has finally happened. A German newspaper happily wrote that day in a special issue with the headline "The Well-being of Guns": "The fun is to act." It also said that the Germans were "ecstatic...... This is a moment we have been waiting for for a long time...... The purpose has not been attained, the territory has not been extended to what must be extended, and the sword that we are forced to take up will never be sheathed."

Upon learning of Germany's declaration of war on France, King George V did not hesitate to sign a general mobilization order.

At 7 a.m. sharp, at the last minute of the 12-hour deadline given by Germany, De Geefier, political secretary of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, rang the doorbell of the German embassy and handed a copy of the Belgian Government to German Ambassador Bello. On the way home, the baron heard the cries of the newsboy, and the morning newspaper announced the full text of the ultimatum and the Belgian reply. He heard people reading the news and heard the shrill exclamations of the excited crowd gathered together.

Belgium's fearless "no" was inspiring. Many thought that Germany would have to bypass their homeland without risking the condemnation of the world.

"The Germans are dangerous, but not crazy yet," the people said to each other.

Even in the Belgian royal palace, in the cabinet ministries, there was still a glimmer of hope, and it was hard to imagine that the Germans would deliberately start a war knowing their mistakes. But by the evening of 3 August, when the Kaiser received a belated reply to King Albert's personal appeal two days earlier, the last glimmer of hope had vanished. The Kaiser's reply was only another attempt to persuade Belgium to surrender without a fight. The Kaiser replied that it was "with the most friendly wishes towards Belgium" that he made his solemn request. "As the conditions have already been set out, it is still up to Your Majesty whether or not our relations can be maintained, both before and now."

"What did he think of me?" King Albert shouted. For the first time since the crisis began, he lost control and expressed his indignation. Immediately after assuming the post of Supreme Commander of the Belgian Army, he ordered the blowing up of bridges over the Maas River near Liège, as well as railway tunnels and bridges on the border with Luxembourg. He still did not appeal to Britain and France for military assistance and alliances.

King Albert was reluctant to sign a death certificate for Belgian neutrality, but the neutrality that the Belgians valued was soon shattered by the harsh reality - at 8 a.m. the next day, the first earthy grey waves rushed across the Belgian border at Gemmerich, 48 kilometres from Liège, and Belgian sentries opened fire from the outpost.

In Brussels, an hour after the German invasion began, King Albert rode to the Reichstag in his military uniform without any wearing. The queen and her three children sat in an open-top carriage, followed by two carriages, and the king was alone behind the palace on horseback, a small procession trotting along the royal mile. Along the way, every household hung the national flag and held flowers; The streets and alleys are full of excited people; Strangers shook hands with each other, laughed and shouted, and each person's feelings, as one later recalled, "were bound together by a common bond of love and common hatred between him and his fellow man." Wave after wave of cheers came towards the king, as if the people, with common feelings, were trying to show him that he was a symbol of their country, of their will to insist on independence. Even the Austrian ambassador, who somehow forgot that he should not have appeared, and watched this small procession from the window of the Parliament with diplomats from other countries was also wiping away tears.

In the hall, after the parliamentarians, the guests, and the queen and courtiers had taken their seats, the king entered alone, placed his hat and gloves solemnly on the podium, and began to speak, only with a slight tremor in his voice. Recalling the Parliament of 1830, which founded independent Belgium, he asked: "Gentlemen, are you committed to upholding the inviolability of this sacred gift left by our forefathers?" The parliamentarians could not restrain themselves and stood up and shouted "Yes, yes, yes!" ”

After the speech, the streets and alleys were full of passion, like crazy. The army, which has always been looked down upon, is now a hero. The people shouted, "Down with the Germans!" Execute the murderer! Long live Belgian independence! ”

After the king's departure, the crowd cheered for the Minister of War. In the government, no matter who holds the post of Minister of War, he is always the most unpopular person in peacetime because of his position. Monsieur de Brockevier, though a mild-mannered and sophisticated man, wept when he appeared on the balcony and was moved by the excitement of the hatred of everyone in Brussels that day.

On this day, in Paris, French soldiers in dark blue tops with red trousers and wide hems marched through the streets in a neat stride, singing:

This is Alsace, this is Lorraine, this is our Alsace, ah, ah, ah, ah!

When the last "ah" word is sung, the song turns into a triumphant cheer.

On the boulevard, where vehicles were extinct, there were groups of volunteers carrying flags and banners with the slogan "Luxembourgers will never be Germans!" "Romania is loyal to its Latin mother!" "Italy's freedom was bought with the blood of the French!" "Spain and France are like sisters!" "The British are willing to fight for France!" "Greeks love France!" "The Scandinavians of Paris!" "The Slavic nation stands with France!" "Latinos swear to defend the mother of Latin American culture!"

A banner with the slogan "Alsatians go back to their homeland" was cheered and cheered by the crowd in respect.

At the joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives, French Prime Minister Viviani's face was as pale as death, and he looked exhausted, but when he spoke, he was still enthusiastic and eloquent. This speech, like the actions of everyone on this day, has been hailed as the greatest speech of his life's work. He carried the text of the Franco-Russian treaty in his briefcase, but no one questioned it. When he said that Italy had declared neutrality "with the insight peculiar to the intellect of the Latin peoples," there was a frenzied cheer. This third member of the Triple Alliance, when the test came, walked away, as expected. The reason for this was that Austria's attack on Serbia was an act of aggression and thus relieved it of its obligations under the Treaty.

Italy's neutrality eliminated the need for France to defend its southern border, which amounted to an increase of four divisions, or 80,000 troops.

President Poincarai was unable to attend Parliament in person on official business, and after Viviani's speech, his speech was read on his behalf. When it was read, the entire audience stood in solemnity from their seats. He said that France, which stands for freedom, justice and reason before all mankind, has sent letters of sympathy and goodwill from all corners of the civilized world.

On the same day, it was pouring rain in Berlin, and the horses' hooves of Wilhelmstrasse were clearly audible, and the cavalry was galloping lightly through the glittering streets.

In the morning, after the ceremony in the cathedral, the members of the Reich of the Second German Reich marched en masse into the Imperial Palace. The entrance was heavily guarded, with rope fences separating the aisles, and everyone had gone through four checks before finally taking their seats in Whitehall. The Kaiser, accompanied by several generals, quietly walked in and ascended to the throne. Chancellor Batemann, dressed in a dragoon uniform, took the speech from his royal briefcase and presented it to the Kaiser, who stood up from his seat and began to read it. He said that the war was provoked by Serbia with the support of Russia, and that he counted the crimes of Russia, provoking a "shameful" boo. After the prepared speech, he raised his voice and announced: "From this day forward, I will not recognize the parties, only the Germans!" Then ask the leaders of the parties to come up and shake his hand if they agree with him. In the frenzied agitation, all the leaders were not mistaken, and at the same time, the rest of the people present erupted in ecstatic cheers.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the members of Parliament resumed their session at the Reichstag to listen first to the Prime Minister's speech, and then to perform the rest of their duties, first by voting on the appropriation for the war, which was unanimously approved by a sum of five billion marks, and then by vote of the Parliament to adjourn itself for four months, or to adjourn for as long as the war was generally expected. Chancellor Batemann announced the end of the agenda with confidence: "Whatever our fate may be, August 4, 1914 will forever be one of the greatest days in Germany!" ”

At 7 o'clock in the evening of the same day, Britain finally gave a clear answer to the anxious and long-awaited note to the German Government, declaring that Britain felt obliged to "preserve the neutrality of Belgium and to insist on the observance of the treaties to which Germany was a signatory to us". The note demanded that the German Government must provide a "satisfactory reply" by midnight.

In Berlin, the British Ambassador, Sir Edward Goschen, presented a note from the British Government to German Prime Minister Batemann.

"It was not the Belgian question that brought Britain into the war, but the hypocrisy of making a big fuss about it made me indignant!" Bateman was furious and made a big discussion. He said that Britain had declared war on a "nation of marriages" that was "inconceivable" and that it was "tantamount to striking a man from behind when he was fighting for his own life with two intruders." He said Britain was responsible for all the terrible events that could arise from "this fatal and grave step" and that "it was all just for the sake of one word - 'neutrality' - just for a scrap of paper ......"

Shortly after the British ambassador returned to the embassy, there was a commotion in the streets outside. The Berliner Zeitung made an extraneous announcement to the German public that Britain had declared war - even though it was still a few hours before midnight. This latest act of "betrayal", this latest act of perfidy, this act of adding a new enemy to Germany, after the Italian Apostasy, made the Germans furious, and many immediately became a crowd of roaring thugs, who threw stones at the windows of the British Embassy for an hour.

Overnight, Britain became the most hated enemy.

The Germans could not figure out how this treachery could be found. It is unbelievable that a woman who wants to participate in politics should dare to make trouble with the Prime Minister, and that the British, who openly resist the police, should want to fight. Britain's power, though extensive and powerful, was declining, and the Germans treated it with contempt and inferiority to the Romans in the West, as the Gauss of the West did to the Romans of the later period.

At 9 o'clock, the British Government was informed by an intercepted plain-code telegram from Berlin that the German Government believed that it had been at war with Great Britain since the time the British ambassador had asked for his passport. The members of the Cabinet then hurried to a meeting to discuss whether to count that time as a declaration of war or wait until the time limit set out in the ultimatum, which they finally decided to wait.

There were no surprises, and midnight came as scheduled. At 12:20, Britain issued a telegraphic order to start war: "War, Germany, action." ”

The next day, August 5, the first battle of the war began as the Germans launched an offensive against the Belgian fortress of Liège. Moltke Jr. wrote to Konrad von Herzendorff, Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, that Europe had entered "a war that would determine the course of history for centuries to come."

(End of chapter)