And what, finally, does she guarantee her? Independence and integrity!
That is exactly the same that Germany had promised her. For this Belgium
had to be dragged through the horrors of war, and the good name of
Germany as that of an honest nation had to be dragged through the mire,
and hatred and murder had to be started, that Belgium might get on the
battlefield, from the insufficient support of Russia and France and
England, what Germany had freely offered her--independence and
integrity.
Casual readers would not miss the word neutrality from Sir Edward Grey's
guarantee, because they do not differentiate between the words
integrity, independence, and neutrality. Great Britain and her ally
Japan, marching through China into Kiao-Chau, may be said to have
violated China's neutrality, but not her independence, nor, so long as
they refrain from annexing any Chinese territory, her integrity.
Fixing the Blame.
Nobody familiar with the careful work of Sir Edward Grey can for one
moment believe that Sir Edward inadvertently dropped the word, just as
little as J. Ramsay Macdonald and other British leaders believe that he
inadvertently dropped one of the two remaining words, integrity and
independence, when he told Parliament of Germany's guarantee, and why
Great Britain should not accept it, but go to war.
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