Why did Britain join the war in 1914

Why did Britain join the war in 1914? Story Create a title for each paragraph. Below is a description of how Britain joined the war in 1914. Summarise each paragraph in 1 or 2 bullet points. A Between August 1 st and 3 rd, Germany declared was on both France and Russia. Despite being a member of the Triple Entente, Britain was not obliged to join the war to defend either ally, as theirs was not a military alliance. Source British recruitment poster from 1914. The 1839 Treaty of London guaranteed Belgium's neutrality. In 1914, German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg infamously sneered at Britain’s willingness to go to war over a "scrap of paper. " A map which shows Germany’s ‘Schlieffen plan’ to march through Belgium and attack France. When Germany enacted the Schlieffen Plan and invaded neutral Belgium. Britain offered an ultimatum – the German army was to leave Belgium by midnight, or Britain would go to war against them. Belgium’s neutrality had been guaranteed by Britain and other major European powers in the Treaty of London in 1839. Britain’s decision to go to war was based on their determination to honour this international treaty and protect Belgium. They saw Germany as the aggressor especially when reports of brutality against the Belgians made their way across the channel. Around 6, 000 Belgians died during the invasion. Many British people were morally outraged. B However, Britain was also concerned about the growing strength of Germany. If Germany defeated Belgium and France, they would gain control of the coastal ports which were essential to Britain’s trade with Europe. It is assumed that the German high command did not take Britain’s threat of war seriously, as Britain had always enjoyed ‘splendid isolation’. Some historians think that Germany underestimated the strength of the British army, which was small in comparison to theirs. Whatever their reason, Germany did not withdraw from Belgium and Britain declared war on Germany on 4 th July 1914. The following telegram was released by the Foreign Office of Herbert Asquith’s government: “Owing to the summary rejection by the German Government of the request made by His Majesty’s Government for assurances that the neutrality of Belgium would be respected, His Majesty’s Ambassador in Berlin has received his passport, and His Majesty’s Government has declared to the German Government that a state of war exists between Great Britain and Germany as from 11 pm on August 4 th. ” Task 1 Read through the Story of the events of August 1914. For each paragraph, you need to create a ‘title’ on one side, and a short summary (two bullet points maximum) on the other. C Sir Edward Goshen, a British diplomat, reporting the words of the German Chancellor in a dispatch to Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey. “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. ” Scholarship Taken from an interview with historian Margaret Macmillan for History Hit. The British came in partly because of Belgium, a neutral state when Germany invaded it (and Luxembourg) as part of the Schlieffen Plan at the start of World War One. The British cared strongly about the rights of neutral nations and the whole notion of neutrality, in part because they had so often been neutral themselves. There was a feeling that standing by and allowing such a fundamental principal to be ignored might lead to troubling consequences in the longer run. The idea of Belgium, a relatively small country, being steamrollered by Germany did not sit well with the British, especially when reports of German atrocities crossed the channel. Historian Peter Hart, author of The Great War 1914 -1918, writing in History Extra in 2014. Since its defeat of France in 1871, Germany had threatened domination of Europe while also challenging the supremacy of the Royal Navy through a provocative naval race. During the July Crisis of 1914, Britain was not central to events and initially favoured a negotiated settlement. Yet the invasion of Belgium, the possibility of outright defeat for France and the threat to the Channel ports were challenges that, given the sensibilities of the age, could only be answered by war. Task 2 Look at source A, B, and C. In your book, write a short description of the message of each source. Then answer the question “What do these sources tell you about Britain’s decision to go to war? ” Task 3 Read through the scholarship about Britain’s decision to join the war. Highlight what you think are three most important sentences. In your book, answer the question “Why do historians think Britain joined the war in 1914? ”.