In spite of this intimation, which was patently a very
grave warning, the German Government made no further communication (with the exception of a colourless statement to our Ambassador in Berlin on July 12th) till July 21st, when Sir Edward Grey sent for the German Ambassador in London and again emphasized the gravity of the situation. The Ambassador offered no official explanation to meet the misgivings of the British Government, and that evening Mr. Lloyd George made his speech with the approval of Mr. Asquith and Sir Edward Grey. It was not till July 27th that a friendly communication came from Germany, and from that date onwards there were "no further difficul- ties." Throughout the negotiations Sir Edward Grey insisted on the fact that Great Britain had not the smallest desire to prevent Germany getting reasonable concessions from France; on the contrary, the British Government earnestly hoped for such an arrangement. The whole aim of Great Britain was to discourage aggression, but it was expected that Germany would also refrain from aggressive tendencies. We wished to be friends with Germany, but it should be plainly under- stood that it was quite out of the question that we should sacrifice existing friendships in order to purchase such a result. Sir Edward Grey condemned irresponsible mischief- making among critics of the Government, and particularly reprobated Captain Faber's recent speech, which, we may say, should never have received the attention it did.
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