No reply
of any kind was ever made to this proposal by Germany.
[Illustration: THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION IN 1815 (Map: Baltic Sea on the
North, Adriatic Sea on the South, Eastern France and Belgium on the
West, Poland on the East.)]
All suggestions and negotiations looking forward to peace were brought
to a tragic end on the following day, Tuesday, July 28th, when Austria
declared war on Serbia, having speedily mobilized troops at strategic
points on the Serbian border. Russian mobilization, which had been
proceeding only in a tentative way, on the Austrian border, now became
general, and on July 30th, mobilization of the entire Russian army was
proclaimed.
Germany's effort to exclude England from the war began on Thursday, July
29th. A note, sounding Sir Edward Grey on the question of British
neutrality in the event of war was received, and a curt refusal to
commit the British Empire to such a proposal was the reply. Sir Edward
Grey, in a last determined effort to avoid a world-war, suggested to
Germany, Austria, Serbia and Russia that the military operations
commenced by Austria should be recognized as merely a punitive
expedition. He further suggested that when a point in Serbian territory
previously fixed upon should have been reached, Austria would halt and
would submit her further action to arbitration in the conference of the
Powers.
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