Mitchell Loughlin’s Reviews > The Guns of August > Status Update

If you don’t comply we will take your country. This letter is coming off the heals of Belgiums king Albert’s cost to Germany where Monke, the ever stubborn man ask what Albert would do if a foreign country invaded them.

Belgium was created as a neutral state that wasn’t allowed to attack but also was forced to defend itself against aggressions trying to cut through the country

Belgiums ultimatum

Perfectly on theme Germany offered Belgium an ultimatum at 7pm August 2nd 1914. They had 12 hours to respond meaning the parliament would need to work through the night. The letter said that if Belgium would stand aside Germany would peacefully enter and leave the city as they needed. What was left unsaid is what would happen if they didn’t reply but the message was clear.

I honestly don’t understand why this changes anything for then English. Did they assume it was all going to disappear if they turned their back?

Churchill and co were totally baffled. They had mad plans, commitments, and allies only to turn there back. The both parties of cabinet members threatened to resign if it it didn’t go there way. England just recovering from “the Irish situation” was fractured politically and wanted to restore some level of stability before war.

G officially declared war on Russia which forced E’s hand.

Despite commitments to France the English cabinet remained opposed war. France, who had planned the entire war around the idea of English assistance along the coast was notability pissed. One French leader was quoted to have said “I’m an waiting to see if the word honor is removed from the English dictionary”

The common view was that this war was of no concern of England and they should remain neutral

Germany now in full panic considers giving France its claimed territory back if they stay out of the war but the leadership sours at the idea of losing power (shot)

In fact after the war an entire book was written describing why they could in fact have turned the troops around.

Meanwhile France knowing there alliance with England was predicated on Germany being the aggressor pulled all
Of there troops back 10 kilometers from the border to make it painfully obvious who fired the first shot. This was a risk due to the attack mindset of the French people

He refused to do so because it took so much planning to pull off his French attack. Basicallyan ego move (shot). He claimed that pulling back at this point would be impossible due to the inability of the train scheduled to be updated at this point. Counterpoint to this his own uncle, a war hero and the reason he rose so far, had designed annual test runs for the train operators to
So just that.

The Germans now freaked out that their threats didn’t work have to pay the tab. They attempt to negotiate there way out of this war by pleading to England who gives them a political answer that Germany misinterpreted as agreement to stay out of the war if Germany doesn’t attack France. In fact they said France or Russia. (Shot)

The Kaiser starts to follow this belief asking the leader to pull back from France

The Russian army secure in knowledge that they have French backing do not reply to the threat.

While this is happening the Germans also
Send an ultimatum to France saying they need to give up there forts indefinitely to Germany and to agree to not back the Russians. France knowing Germany will be fighting a two sided war reply France will respond in pursuance of its own interests