The German Chancellor has made similar claims,
while in the German "White Paper," published in full in THE NEW YORK
TIMES of Aug. 24, it is likewise attempted to fasten the responsibility
for this war on Germany's opponents.
A close and impartial study of both the English and German "White
Papers" must suffice to convince the reader that Germany clearly was the
aggressor and that England made every possible effort first to prevent a
war between Austria and Servia and later to localize the conflict.
Germany, on the contrary, by insisting from the start that there should
be no intervention in the settlement of the dispute between Servia and
her ally, Austria, made a European war inevitable. The sophistry,
inaccuracies, and unwarranted conclusions of the German professors and
editors have not helped their cause. The irrefutable facts remain,
first, that Austria with the knowledge and approval of Germany presented
to Servia an ultimatum so worded that she knew that the conditions
imposed could not be complied with by any nation retaining a spark of
self-respect; second, that after Servia had accepted Austria's ultimatum
with the single exception of the most offensive clause, which she
proposed to submit to arbitration, Austria, with Germany's consent,
proclaimed herself unsatisfied and immediately declared war on Servia;
third, that Germany and Austria knew that a war with Servia meant a war
with Russia, and that a war with Russia meant a general European
conflagration; fourth, that Germany declared war on Russia, started the
invasion of France before declaring war, and, by refusing to respect the
neutrality of Belgium, to which she was solemnly pledged, forced both
Belgium and England into the war.
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