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On 28th june 1914 Europe was enjoying a prosperous peace

37 days later the nations were at war

In that time only a handful of people knew what was happening

37 Days Part 1 of 3

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd Sync: Marocas62

"One month in summer"

I once calculated that the Foreign Office

receives 250 telegrams every hour.

That is 6,000 telegrams per day.

Or 42,000 each week...

You thought I was Persia, didn't you? I've been promoted!

'..which comes to 2,190,000 telegrams every year.

Britannia rules the waves, I suppose.

And for that reason, we must welcome

these tides of information.

Political crisis in Argentina.

The abolition of slavery in Siam, I love it.

It means that I am working at the centre of the world

and get to find out what is happening, as soon as it happens.

Well, within a few hours, anyway.

But, my word,

it is an awful lot of telegrams!

Could you do these promptly, Muriel?

-Please? -Please!

This particular one though, received in London

from His Britannic Majesty's Consul in Sarajevo,

on June 28, 1914.

Well, I should be honest with you,

the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, murdered in Sarajevo.

Interesting, for sure, over breakfast,

but forgotten by tea-time.

Thank you. Or so I thought.

As did everyone else I spoke to.

But it was not forgotten. And I think it never will be.

28th JUNE 1914

37 DAYS TO WAR

You know, it is a magical place,

and I have to pinch myself sometimes that I'm here.

Just two years on from Kings,

a second division clerk in the great,

and, as some would have it,

independent kingdom of the Foreign Office.

What's in the box, Henry, lead piping?

Not much of a player, not yet, but a ringside seat

if you like your boxing.

Shoulders back. Doubtless that is for me, Alec.

-It is, sir. -Well, let's take it into my office.

That's my boss, Sir Eyre Crowe.

So, what do we have?

The Assistant Undersecretary at the Foreign Office.

German born, educated in Berlin, but now,

he is more British than any one of us.

Well, well.

I have learned to watch Sir Eyre closely

because everyone knows he is a brilliant man.

-Including himself. -Do you know,

I was about to predict something like this?

This man had come to Britain at 17,

a German speaker still,

and sailed through his civil service examinations.

I thought so. Rash, rash, rash.

I think he likes me too.

I am a scholarship boy, you see.

A bit of an outsider myself.

Look at this. The 28th was the Serb holy day.

What a time for an Austrian archduke to go to Sarajevo.

-It is rash, sir. -Yes. Rash.

So...

-Is this important or not? -It is.

But important enough to disturb the Foreign Secretary?

-Right now? -Right now.

No.

I believe you may want to think about that one again.

Come.

-I am leaving, Crowe, is it urgent? -It's Bosnia, Foreign Secretary.

I think that might wait.

Really? Come and walk me out then.

That is Sir Edward Grey, the Liberal Foreign Secretary.

As a statesman he was, we believed, trusted and admired.

The Mesopotamia minute.

And I shall need the Persian text first thing tomorrow.

Sir.

-So who would want him dead? -Many people.

Franz Ferdinand was an unpopular man

and made enemies easily.

What does your stomach say?

-Croat? Muslim? -I doubt it.

-Hungarian? -Possibly.

More likely to be a Serb, then?

-That is where I would place my money. -Me too.

The question is, how will the Austrians take it?

You are going to give me a very brief

but wonderfully incisive answer.

The same way they take all their disappointments.

Hysterical condemnation,

a baroque display of official grief

and a demand for financial compensation.

-From? -From whomever they can find to blame.

We don't want it to be Serbia, do we?

-No. -It would be messy.

-It would... -Yes?

Austria does have rather too many unruly Serbs within its own borders

to go picking a fight with a whole lot more outside.

-So do we need to worry? -We always need to do that.

But I should enjoy my supper?

You know, Sir Edward might also have been

the unluckiest man in Britain.

His wife had recently died

after being thrown by a horse.

-How is your boy doing? -Very well, sir.

I hope to see him back here before long.

His elder brother had been eaten by a lion

'and his younger brother would be mauled to death by a buffalo.

That is enough personal tragedy to finish a man,

but Grey bore it, somehow.

That dreadful man, Eyre Crowe,

I'll wager he sees this as an opportunity

-to have a go at the Germans. -Now, now, dear,

Sir Edward has come here to relax, not to talk shop.

Nonsense, he loves talking shop, you all do.

Look at David over there. Do you want him to recite Welsh poetry?

No, you don't.

You want him to relate some tittle-tattle from the Treasury!

You can never distinguish between a dinner party and a cabinet meeting

and much as we would all welcome your feminine wisdom in Cabinet,

-Margot, there is a difference! -More's the pity!

But at least tell me this, Sir Edward, is it Serbia or Servia?

-B for "Barbarian", or V for "Villain"? -I am at a loss.

Some of our clerks type it up as B, others V.

The Times favours V.

Never. In the Manchester Guardian, it is B.

And the News of the World says, "Who the hell cares?"

-About the spelling? -About anything!

I have no firm allegiance to either, Margot.

Well, you should get these things straight.

A misspelt name is like a forgotten face.

A grave insult.

Just the sort of thing men will go to war over.

Quite so!

Those Serbs do appear to enjoy killing royalty, though.

-We don't know it is the Serbs yet. -Yes, but Margot is quite correct.

They are thrilled by violence, by the reality, not just the idea.

Winston's kind of people!

Their own King Alexander stripped and butchered in the Royal bedchamber.

His wife, too.

-Both of them thrown from open windows. -It is the land of the blood feud.

A contested will, pistols are drawn.

An argument over a worthless plot of land, out come the knives.

And the embittered past, always there -

threatening to engorge the present.

Dear God, it sounds just like Ireland.

Please, can we not talk about that?!

-Here, here. -Of course, my dear,

except to say, that if I were Prime Minister instead of you,

I'd have had the leaders of the Ulster Volunteer Force shot by now.

-I do believe she would! -And anyone else

bent on using guns to overturn the decisions

of the British House of Commons.

Bloodshed.

The perfect solution to the Irish problem!

But there will be blood.

You've all let it slide too far.

The only question is, whose?

Thank you, Margot.

You have been keeping your cards close to your chest tonight, Sir Edward.

So,

please,

give me something to take away.

Ireland is not my department, Margot.

I am not talking about that.

Home rule will be resisted by Ulster, and the Tory leadership,

and there will be a horrible civil war, that is obvious.

Now, I want to know about the Sarajevo assassination.

-Should I be worried? -Well, I don't see why.

You see, now I am worried. I can read you like a book.

Well, I do hope I am not so transparent

to foreign diplomats.

So...

what is the Foreign Office plotting?

"Plotting"?

We all know you sit on a mountain of secrets.

Nobody is plotting anything, Margot,

but you have my assurance,

if this country has anything to worry about

you will be the first to be told.

-Edward. -Thank you.

Good night, Winston.

-Yes. -Edward.

Good night, David.

Thank the Lord I am not married to her.

If I had been, I'd be a widower by now.

Sorry, Edward.

Damn careless of me.

But I must say, I do hope it's not the Serbs.

Because if it is Austria won't be happy

until their army has been billeted in Belgrade.

I am not sure.

And then we will have the Russians rattling their sabres.

We don't want a Slav common front developing over this.

I can't imagine Austria would be stupid enough to provoke that.

-Good night, Edward. -Good night.

I am certain you will make us proud if you are called upon.

You are still up, William. That wasn't necessary.

-It's me. -Crowe?

-I was let in by your men. -What is it?

I was right, it was a Serb.

A young student, a fanatic, clearly,

possibly an anarchist, I forget.

Principo, I think.

The details all are here, such as they are.

I thought you would want to know before the morning papers.

Thank you, Crowe.

The Archduke's assassin was Gavrilo Princip,

a Bosnian Serb, and a nonentity,

but a nonentity with a very powerful idea.

Princip believed that Bosnia

should be part of the Kingdom of Serbia

and that it would take violence

to get rid of the province's Austrian overlords,

violence that he and his friends were willing to inflict.

And the victim they chose was this man.

The Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

The heir to the Habsburg throne and the symbol of everything Princip

hated about Austrian rule -

its arrogance, its bullying, and...

Well, the sheer fact that it regarded the Serbs in the province

as an inferior race.

And it was madness for a Habsburg to visit Sarajevo

on this day of all days,

for the 28th was the most important date in the Serb calendar.

A day of holy mourning.

It would be like an English king going, in battle dress,

to Dublin on St Patrick's Day.

An act of self destruction.

Yet this fool might still have escaped.

The young assassins had lost their nerve

and all Princip had seen of the Archduke's car

was a blur as it raced by.

He had retreated to a little cafe

and was no doubt contemplating what might have been.

But then...

by some perverse roll of the dice,

the boy got a second chance.

-Back, back! -It is fine!

The Archduke's driver had got lost in the city's old town

and the car...

Well, this makes me laugh and cry even now,

the car was stuck right outside Princip's coffee house.

These shots, from this boy, they were loud in Sarajevo.

'I promise you, they were even louder in Berlin.

32 DAYS TO WAR

For Austria was our ally

and Franz Ferdinand was our friend.

Good morning.

For most of my colleagues in the Chancellery of the German Reich,

it was as if we ourselves had been shot.

There were very few like me in the Imperial Government.

I count myself a liberal

and liberalism is understood to be a kind of poison here.

I favour making the Fatherland a true democracy, too.

And that, should it ever become known,

would be enough to see me cashiered.

For this is a Prussian institution, still,

not a German one.

And here is the man at the head of it -

the Imperial Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg.

The Kaiser needs to know the title of the book,

not the chapter and verse. This one.

Bethmann-Hollweg had spent a lifetime

in the Prussian civil service.

He was extremely competent

and he knew that the murder in Sarajevo

would affect our Kaiser personally.'

They were friends. They were more than friends.

They were hunting partners.

What became of the antelope population of Bohemia?

One day, perhaps, there are children who'll want to know the answer.

You can tell them it was eliminated

in the course of one glorious weekend

-by the Archduke and our Kaiser. -They achieved that?

It is impossible to kill so many living things

and not effect a bond of some kind.

But Bethmann-Hollweg's special gift was for obedience.

Obedience to the right man.

Obedience to this man...

..Kaiser Wilhelm II.

You all know him.

The eldest grandson of Queen Victoria.

The withered left arm

with which he was yanked into life by a panic-stricken midwife.

The moustache pointing to heaven.

He was often a puzzle to us, though.

No crime greater.

There is no crime greater.

Regicide attacks the apex of civilised life.

When you kill a king

you kill the order in which people find all meaning.

-Your Majesty... -And these Serbs! I hate them!

We all do.

I know it's a sin to hate anybody and we ought not to do it.

But we cannot help hating them!

Tell them about the Browning.

The gun that was shot in Sarajevo.

Yes.

Well.

We don't know for certain, but it might appear...

We know!

The bullet displays markings of the Royal Serbian arsenal.

That's what Vienna is telling us.

It wasn't a deluded boy who fired the gun,

it was the Serbian Government.

It is possible the gun was stolen.

It is fairly well known, I think,

that practically every farm in Serbia

has become a dump for pilfered weapons

since the last Balkan war.

Good, Prince Lichnowsky.

That is what they will want us to think.

What does my Chancellor say?

In terms of Imperial policy, sir,

we first ought to see what line of thinking emerges from Vienna.

In the meantime, we might sound out the Russians,

for the obvious reason that they continue to see themselves

as the "protectors of the Serbian nation".

We know from experience that Russia gets nervous

whenever there is a disturbance in the Balkans...

Do you think that is an appropriate German response,

to wait and see how Russia reacts?

I didn't quite say that, Your Majesty.

It's what you meant!

The Austrians! They're our problem. Isn't that so?

As soon as the corpse is buried, their courage will fail.

And if it fails this time, she is finished.

Every Serb, Croat, Polack, Transylvanian-Romanian-Negro-Gypsy

in the Habsburg Empire, any race with a grievance,

will pick up the gun and point it to the Austrian heart!

We all know this, don't we?

Well, don't we?

That is why, this time, we must give Vienna some backbone.

Serbia must learn to fear the Habsburgs again.

Hear, hear.

We should let Austria know

that whatever she intends to do to the Serbs,

we shall support her.

Won't they still procrastinate?

Not if Bethmann here tells them that our support is conditional

on their taking immediate and decisive action against the Serbs.

Military action?

Of course, military action! But it must be swift!

None of their usual coming and going.

Look at you!

You're all worried about Russia.

Where the hell is Moltke when you need him?

That was not a rhetorical question.

Well, General Moltke is still on vacation in Carlsbad, Your Majesty.

My Chief of Staff didn't think it worthwhile

to break his holiday over this, like the rest of us?

I have an appointment with him in two days' time, Your Majesty.

And for the rest of you.

Stop worrying about Russia.

If there's one man in the world

who detests regicide more than I do, it's the Tsar.

God knows, his family has seen

enough king-killers in its time.

Prince Lichnowsky, if you will.

-You will be returning to London soon? -Tomorrow night, Your Majesty.

Yes, yes, tomorrow, that's right.

You know, Max,

what really matters is what our English cousins will say.

They don't understand that, but we do.

Look at this.

Do you know where this oak comes from?

I suppose it... You're going to tell me it's from England.

Better than that Max. Much better than that.

It's from the quarterdeck of Nelson's Victory.

It's a gift from my grandmother.

You can still smell the salt.

Do you know that Lord Nelson used to get sea-sick?

I can get sea-sick, too.

It's a damn shame for us sailors.

Do you think Sir Edward Grey

will be in a flap over what has happened?

I have always found him to be very calm.

Easy to be, of course,

when you have the deck of cards arranged just as you want it.

That is true, sir.

It is.

And I'm pleased...

you think Edward Grey will be calm.

Austria needs...

to be loved by the other great powers.

She's gravely ill. We all know that.

The best medicine is to get their soldiers

in some foreign capital, just for a short while.

The Serbs are wild animals.

But you can tame them, and then you can order them around.

They have a special talent for servility.

You're my friend, Max.

I picked you for London myself

because I wanted somebody there who would tell me the truth.

Not just what I want to hear.

Well, I believe Grey will look sympathetically

on any Austrian effort to punish the assassins.

But we should be aware

that there is still something in the British mind

that revolts against overweening force.

Against the bully, if you will.

Especially in the Balkans.

It is still the land of Lord Byron, in that respect.

Yes, yes, of course.

They see a large nation oppress a small one and...

it raises a...

protective instinct, I suppose.

Unless Britain herself is the oppressor.

And then they call it paternalism!

There is some truth in that, sir.

The hypocrisy of the English, Max!

I don't know how you endure it.

30 DAY TO WAR

Two days later,

the Kaiser's belligerent thoughts about Serbia,

now written up into smooth prose,

were handed to the Austrian ambassador in Berlin.

Look at him. So smug.

Our respects to Vienna.

Why?

Because he's Hungarian nobility and that's their style?

Or maybe it's the Kaiser's astonishing document in his hand.

"We will back you", it said, "in whatever you choose to do".

We would all come to know the Kaiser's memorandum to Austria

as "the blank cheque".

But that phrase doesn't really do it justice.

It implies a choice.

Whereas we were expecting, even requiring the Austrians

to open hostilities with Serbia.

Of course, the old Emperor in Vienna, Franz Joseph,

worked to his own stroke.

66 years he had sat on his throne.

What was urgency to a man like that?

Our blank cheque was meant to be cashed straightaway.

There was little chance of that.

Nothing happened.

It was as if the Balkans went back to sleep.

No guns were raised, no cannons were wheeled out.

No armies moved.

In my opinion, war's a certainty.

Too many guns in circulation now

to bring politics back into the equation.

-Winston? -Yeah, here's our problem.

About 30,000 German rifles have been landed at Larne,

County Antrim, in the past few months.

Now, we can get no help from the local authorities there,

once those weapons are in the hands of the Ulster Volunteers.

Because the Ulster Volunteers ARE the local authorities?

There's no greater opponent of Irish home rule than the Irish policeman.

The Royal Irish Constabulary.

Unswervingly loyal to Westminster,

until the moment they don't want to be.

Our fairest chance is for me to put more ships into the Irish Sea

to try and intercept the gun running.

But, of course, it's the Nationalists, too, who...

What is it, Edward?

Well, perhaps it's nothing.

Well, it transpires that the assassins -

the Sarajevo assassins - were trained in Belgrade.

-The Black Hand? -Well, that's what they call themselves.

-It's a pantomime name. -Not pantomime blood, unfortunately.

Quite.

Evidently the Black Hand has warned the Serbian secret service,

whose leading officers seem to be terrorists

in all but name.

I don't think the Serbian Prime Minister or his Cabinet

knew anything of Princip

or indeed how far this Black Hand stretches.

The Austrians know all this, presumably?

According to our intercepts, they do.

Well. That's good. Means they've absorbed the shock.

But still no official reaction from Vienna?

-Nothing. -So what do you think is happening?

Well, I imagine that the Austrian and Serb governments

have opened a private channel of communication

and are sorting the problem out between themselves.

But?

But?

I'm expecting you to say what you always say at this moment.

Yes, yes?

What do I always say?

You wear what you imagine is your guileless face

and you tell me that where central Europe is concerned,

it is better to listen to what Berlin is saying than Vienna.

-I do that? -And then you say...

In fact, why don't you say it now while I get my things together?

No, I know the face. You don't have to do that.

Just give me the words.

I probably say something like, "Austria's reached the point

"where she can do nothing in her foreign policy

"without consulting Germany first."

But sometimes I go further than that and say,

"Austrian policy is made in Berlin."

-As you know. -Good.

I'm glad you've got that off your chest.

And you know I have an appointment

on this beautiful summer's afternoon

with the Invincibles,

which not even the appearance of the German Navy in the Channel

would stop me from attending.

Very Francis Drake, Foreign Secretary.

You know, Crowe, you should really take up cricket.

It teaches one an awful lot about life.

Prince Lichnowsky loves it.

The cover drive!

You know, that's the finest sight in cricket.

And in the whole field of sport, Edward?

Quite so. Good to see you back, Max.

I was sorry to miss your innings.

-You mean you blinked? -It was over that quickly?

Clean bowled, I'm afraid.

Hardly saw it.

Your eyes?

No! It was just a very fast ball.

Let's take a walk around the rope.

I've been reassured by the Austrian silence.

-I think that's a good sign, don't you? -I do.

It suggests a very responsible approach,

the Balkans being such a tinderbox.

I agree.

There's two there!

Let's just speculate for a moment, if you don't mind.

What do you think would happen if Austria decided to punish Serbia?

-To punish her? -Teach her a lesson.

Do you believe that Russia would come to the aid of the Serbs?

Well, she might.

And if that happened, would France have to follow Russia and...

Would Britain be bound to follow France?

Yes.

Would Britain be bound to follow France?

Yes...

You're trying to get me to say that if Russia cries help,

a French gendarme and a British bobby will turn up on the doorstep.

You're teasing me, Edward.

I fear you are almost trying to tell me something, Max.

But you do have an understanding with France.

You know we do, just as we have one with Russia.

But nothing that binds you in a crisis?

We are still speculating.

Yes, well, I have nothing to hide.

His Majesty's Government has an obligation to Parliament

not to incur...

secret liabilities abroad, you know that.

I often think we are a little more open

on that score than you are.

I sometimes wonder what your Reichstag doesn't know.

I'll tell you this, no speculation now.

What happened last week

much depends on Austria maintaining its sense of proportion.

It's important that Serb sentiment isn't raised to a point

where Russia finds it impossible to stand aside.

-Good shot. -Edward?

About your eyes?

I told you, it was a very quick ball.

Yes, of course.

But the physician I mentioned in Nuremberg,

the oculist,

he can see you in August when you take your vacation.

The whole thing would be very discreet.

Thank you, Max.

There are some secrets we have to keep.

You know, Edward, we can take this to Parliament,

-share the load. -No, I wouldn't want to do that.

At least not yet.

The Commons has a right to know.

-Of course. -And she will want to know.

For the moment, I would like to keep it within the charmed circle.

"Charmed circle"? I wonder who that might be.

You've sacked the butler, have you, dear?

Foreign Office?

Crowe's cabal in the Foreign Office?

-Just you and Crowe? -Please, Margot.

-One sugar or two. -Two.

Diplomacy, all those silken phrases.

Why don't you just come out and say what you mean for once?

Why don't you say what you mean when you see a friend

wearing a dress you don't like?

She does.

Well, some things are better not said.

-Not even the truth? -Especially the truth.

You never know who will misunderstand it.

Openness.

We hear it from our backbenchers all the time, together with that

other shibboleth, Democratic Foreign Policy.

It wasn't so very long ago that democracy itself sounded risible.

Can you imagine trying to conduct diplomacy under such conditions -

for the clamour of popular passions?

There would be dead bodies everywhere.

We are the surgeons.

We've seen most things, and I'm sorry if this sounds arrogant,

we know how to use the knives.

Do you have any chalk with you?

This stuff doesn't seem to work properly.

-I... I... -Of course you don't.

It would be too strange if you did. Thank you for coming, Crowe.

I've taken the liberty of ordering up a rather superb Elbling.

He's odd, isn't he? Your boss.

He's never been to Germany in all his time

as Foreign Secretary.

Not really. He hasn't been to Austria or Russia either.

He says it allows him to keep an open mind

-and to play the ball, not the man. -Whatever that means.

Sporting metaphors will be the death of us one day.

I must confess I have never understood

the British obsession with sport.

Pursuing a rolling ball

teaches you nothing apart from how to pursue a rolling ball.

You should be in no doubt, Crowe,

there are some very important people

who admire what you have done at the Foreign Office.

It can't have been easy to educate the old guard about Germany.

-There was a terrible blind spot there. -I am not popular.

I'll bet you're not.

No mandarin

likes to be told they've been hoodwinked by a rogue.

Sir Edward though, is a fair man.

-There is no grudge there. -He is supremely fair.

He truly believes in the role of honour in diplomacy.

That's one thing a rogue can never forgive,

outwit them by stealth or by deceit

and they will grin and bear it, they might even admire you.

But defeat them by acting honourably and they will burn for revenge.

That's something cricket doesn't teach you.

I think I'm correct in saying that I'm the only

member of the entire Government who has spent some time with the Kaiser.

Most probably.

He looks on war as a child looks on war.

He never got past the tin soldier stage,

uniforms, naval signals, regimental colours,

of actual warfare he knows nothing and fears the worst.

So we should treat him like a child?

In a manner of speaking, yes.

The only gesture he will understand from Britain is the raised hand.

That's what I think.

You must have told Sir Edward this yourself?

Politics is a curious business, isn't it?

Who's strong? Who's weak and whatnot?

I think it's better it comes from someone who doesn't constitute a threat...

28 DAYS TO WAR

Where the hell is General Moltke when you need him?

That's what the Kaiser had asked his men in Berlin.

Well, here he was.

-General? -In Carlsbad.

A storm from Berlin!

Taking the cure.

You want a towel?

-No. Thank you. -Someone get him one.

Every bit the Chief of the General Staff...

..even out of uniform.

And I will tell you something about this uniform.

The Chief of Staff is not a hereditary position in Germany,

but Moltke's uncle had worn it before him.

And in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870,

the uncle had led the German army

that crushed France and occupied Paris...

What did the nephew think of that?

An example to follow?

A burden to carry -

Both?

The Kaiser thinks the Russians will stand back

and let the Austrian army enjoy the whore houses

in Belgrade for a couple of weeks, doesn't he?

He wants a victory without paying a price.

Just a small victory - in a local war.

But it can't happen. The Russians aren't that stupid.

And let's stop pretending the Austrians

are going to solve our problems for us.

I agree.

If we really wish to change the balance of power in the Balkans

we ought to think about what kind of price we are prepared to pay.

The German army isn't just there for decoration.

So will you come back to Berlin?

If I do that, everything will speed up.

-Precisely. -But I don't want things to speed up,

I want them to slow down.

The longer things drag on with Serbia,

the more agitated the Russians will get.

With the Russians agitated,

the less belligerent we shall appear in the weeks to come.

I'm staying here for a while.

-Harder! -Not so hard.

28 DAYS TO WAR

27 DAYS TO WAR

26 DAYS TO WAR

25 DAYS TO WAR

24 DAYS TO WAR

23 DAYS TO WAR

22 DAYS TO WAR

21 DAYS TO WAR

21 DAYS TO WAR

You can't send your ultimatum

because your soldiers are wanted at the harvest?

What happened to the idea of farmers doing the harvest?

So the middle of August - five weeks?

You will be ready in five weeks' time, brilliant!

Do you think there's any chance

the Serbs might discover what we're up to by then?

And the Russians?

Will they still be seething at the regicide in a month's time?

Or will they be Serbia's gallant protector again?

Do not sit down!

This is Austria's last chance.

So please, explain to your Emperor,

using your own words,

that unless action is taken against Belgrade in the next week

it will be too late.

Too late forever. You won't get another chance.

It's like taking care of a pony.

Quick to take offence, slow to act.

Isn't that always the way with people

who stand on their dignity?

The same with nations.

Since the Archduke's assassination

a whole three weeks had passed

before the Habsburg Emperor

finally got round to composing his ultimatum to Serbia.

But don't be fooled by this pathetic quadrille.

Austria was in no haste,

but weak and decadent as she was,

her vindictiveness was... amazing.

In Berlin we waited...

We cursed the Austrians for their stupor.

And then...

This!

It's inept. They might as well have just invaded.

This makes them look unreasonable.

Unreasonable?

What Austria wanted from Serbia was complete humiliation!

In a police cell in faraway Sarajevo,

the Austrians already had the Archduke's assassin Gavrilo Princip -

he and his wretched comrades still dreaming of a greater Serbia.

And the boys had confessed to receiving shooting lessons

and a case of revolvers in Belgrade -

but now Austria blamed

the entire Serb nation for their operation

and its list of demands on the Serbian Government

was so extreme that, in meeting them,

the Serbs would have completely surrendered their sovereignty.

This is an astonishing ultimatum.

-It is. -So much for Fermanagh and Tyrone.

I wouldn't take your eyes off Ireland, gentlemen.

I'm happy to. Such a dreary bog.

I'd bet on an Irish war before I would a Balkan one...

-Sadly. -But the Austrian ultimatum

has been purposely designed to be rejected surely?

It probably has. But that doesn't mean it will be.

So, you have cause for hope?

I know Serbia is in no shape to fight a war.

Nor I understand is Russia.

Then they have no alternative but to negotiate.

Just keep them supplied with tea until Sir Edward's ready.

And don't... don't let them speak to each other.

How...how do I do that?

We'd gathered the principal ambassadors

at the Foreign Office.

Prince Lichnowsky you know.

Count Benckendorff - German name,

but the ambassador for Russia.

And the Times reader is Count Mensdorff of Austria.

They're all cousins.

That's worth saying again...

The three cousins are here.

Who would you like to see first?

Austria - I suppose.

Count Mensdorff, if you'd like to come this way.

What is this country - Servia?

My government, after a thorough police investigation

into the murder of our Archduke Franz Ferdinand

and his consort,

have sifted through the accumulated evidence...

Yes, yes, what I want to know is what you think of this ultimatum.

"The Serb government should suppress any newspaper

"which creates anti-Austrian feeling.

"It must outlaw all pan-Serbian cultural societies.

"It must rewrite its school textbooks to eliminate any negative

"references to the Habsburg monarchy."

What an extraordinary thing to demand

of an independent country.

Don't you agree?

It's as though you imagine Serbia to be a little province

in your own empire.

I don't think that there is that assumption.

Do you know what I said to Crowe here when I read this thing two hours ago?

You said it was the most formidable document

ever addressed by one state to another.

Was that before or after I fell off my chair?

It's designed to be rejected, isn't it?

No, it is. Let's not act like children today.

No government wishing to maintain its sovereignty

could agree to these terms.

There would be a revolution.

They'd be overthrown by their own people. Is that what you want?

-We have no opinion on these... -Because if it is,

you'll be dealing with someone far worse in Belgrade.

You'll get someone in charge who actually does hate you.

Point five.

Yes. Point five.

How will that be achieved?

You demand the right for...

your own state officials to take an active role

in policing anti-Austrian feeling in Serbia.

There are many police forces co-operating

over national boundaries these days.

Give me strength.

You've also given us 48 hours -

well, that's 18 hours now - to use our influence

and help Serbia move towards

some of these demands.

I have been instructed to ask you

what position Britain would take

if a conflict would break out between Austria and Serbia.

There is a strong feeling in this country

that Serbia shouldn't be humiliated.

There's considerable admiration for her.

-There is. -Is there?

But, you know, I would very happily let

you and the Serbs sort this mess out between the two of you.

But I can't do that

because we both know there is a danger that Russia will be drawn in

and the British interest would become involved.

To join forces with Russia?

To mediate, you fool!

Diplomacy is a branch of manners.

That man has none.

Russia is outraged by this, Sir Edward.

We have our dignity too.

And Serbia is a friend of ours.

We can't let her be put on the end of an Austrian chain.

I think that's a slightly fanciful image, Count Benckendorff.

My government hopes you will support us

-as our trusted ally. -It's quite true.

We have co-operated well in recent years, especially in Asia,

and that has been gratifying.

But Afghanistan is not the Balkans.

What are you saying?

I'm saying I'm just warning you

that nobody in England much cares about Serbia.

It would infuriate the British people to know that even a single mule of ours

had been sacrificed for a country

most of them cannot place on a map.

That is outrageous.

I'm not saying it's commendable, I'm just outlining our difficulty.

-Do you think this? -He agrees with me.

The other thing, my dear Count.

Please.

I would urge Russia to steady its own horses.

I mean, Austria has put Serbia in an impossible position,

I appreciate that.

But it will be easier for me to play the mediator

if you are not already locked into their quarrel.

You do understand that?

I'll get Prince Lichnowsky.

I can't stay in here any longer. I need air.

Good idea. We can use the garden.

Actually, I'd like to see the prince alone.

You really didn't know?

I discovered its contents at exactly the same time as you did.

Because I thought you were testing me at the cricket.

No-one in Germany knew what was in the ultimatum,

but a few people did know there'd be one.

I see.

And did Germany encourage Austria

to be militant in drawing up that ultimatum?

I can't answer that, Edward.

Because you don't know?

I can't answer that either.

Ah, what do you think the Kaiser will think when he reads it?

He's currently on holiday, isn't he?

Yes, he is.

He's definitely on holiday.

-I believe he gets back... -Yeah, no matter.

But you say you were as ignorant of the actual contents of the ultimatum as we were?

So, tell me,

man to man,

now you've seen it, what do you think?

What I think of it is probably what you think of it.

I think the Germans are playing with us.

I realise that.

So why don't we send out a signal that we are not to be played with?

I meant I realise that's what you think.

What, I'm wrong?

There's this curious defect somewhere, Crowe.

-In me? -In the way you operate.

You're always so eager to hold Germany

to an inappropriate moral standard.

Perhaps it comes from being an intellectual.

-Or perhaps because I was born in Germany? -I didn't say that.

-You're thinking it. -No, I'm not.

But like all abstract thinkers,

you have your idée fixe, your obsession.

We can't afford obsessions.

We've developed a sophisticated diplomatic machine over the years.

It's not perfect but it keeps the peace.

Villains get caught in its moving parts,

those who don't abide by the rules get spat out.

Well, you know this.

At least you used to.

Since this morning,

we have but one task -

to get the interested nations

talking to each other.

Those with poisonous motives will be exposed,

the machine will be greased - by me, by others -

and it will operate as it did before.

-You look well, Moltke. -£20.

Carlsbad has worked its magic.

The Kaiser will be excited about the Austrian ultimatum.

Yes, I think he will be.

Because he won't know what it means.

Well, he's finally getting his little Balkan war.

Yes, he'll get that.

He'll sit there contemplating that harmless little acorn of his,

but acorns have a habit of growing.

The little Balkan war will not remain

a little Balkan war forever.

The problem with our Kaiser is

that he only ever plans one move ahead.

Well, he's absolutely certain that the Russians will not come to the aid of Serbia.

And he's right,

but they will mobilise their army

and that will be enough.

But why on earth would they do that?

I will leave them with no other choice.

It's not like you to sulk, Crowe.

I am not sulking.

And now you're offended.

No, I'm not.

You'll feel better tomorrow

when the hysteria subsides

and the Balkans becomes boring again.

For that matter, oh, so will I.

And Germany?

Look, 20 minutes of sunshine left.

My favourite part of the day.

-Good night. -Good night, Foreign Secretary.

Early night for once, unlike you, I'm afraid.

Nice to see you're fitting in.

-Lovely evening. -Sir.

22nd JULY

13 DAYS TO WAR

"One Week in July"

Is this it? This is it, Foreign Secretary.

-Crowe's already here? -He arrived 20 minutes ago, sir.

For God's sake.

Sorry your weekend has been ruined, sir.

Well, yours too, Alec.

Austria's mad.

I should issue a communique saying just that.

Good afternoon, Foreign Secretary.

"Britain says Austria mad."

"Official!"

I was embarrassed to read the Serb note.

It was like seeing a servant cringe.

It was submissive.

Serbia has agreed to practically every demand Austria makes of her.

And gets this in return!

It's a grotesque diplomatic exchange, Foreign Secretary.

What does Austria want? I mean, what does she want?

It is sometimes better to forget everything we think we know

and look instead at what is staring us in the face.

Austria doesn't want to talk. She wants a war in the Balkans.

I want to speak to that idiot Mensdorff.

Get the Austrian Ambassador.

Yes, sir.

I tell you, it's not often you see the Foreign Office in disarray

but it was this day.

Four weeks ago, we discovered that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand,

heir to the Austrian throne,

had been assassinated while on a visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia.

The assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was a Serb nationalist

who believed that acts of terror

would drive the Austrians out of the Balkans.

But... student fanatic?

A nonentity?

Is this important enough to disturb

-the Foreign Secretary? -No.

What position would Britain take

if a conflict would break out between Austria and Serbia?

Well, I suppose it doesn't take much to set the Balkans on fire.

In Berlin, it was frantic too.

Austria was our ally

and Franz Ferdinand was a personal friend of our Kaiser.

There's no crime greater.

The Habsburg Empire had been crumbling for years

and now the Kaiser said that had to stop.

Serbia must learn to fear the Habsburgs again.

The Kaiser told our Austrian friends

to punish the Serbs.

They sent a long list of demands instead.

We got them in London. What extreme demands they were.

This is an astonishing ultimatum.

It was obvious to everybody

that Serbia could not meet those demands.

That in fact, they were designed to be rejected.

But then, Serbia did meet them,

only to find that the Austrians were still not satisfied.

And that's why the Austrian ambassador had been summoned

summoned to the Foreign Office this morning.

You ought to be wearing body armour.

I want an explanation.

Austria is unhappy with the Serbian response

to our list of demands and therefore has issued an ultimatum.

I said I want an explanation, not a reiteration of the absurd

sequence of events of the last 12 hours.

Austria is unhappy. That is the explanation.

Were you surprised by the compliance of the Serbian government?

But we don't see it as a compliance.

They will extradite any government official

you wish to charge in connection with the assassination.

Censor their newspapers, overhaul their school curriculum,

punish anyone who denigrates your royal family.

Do you want me to go on?

We see these things more like...

-cosmetic. -But you asked for them!

And you didn't expect them to comply, did you?

Let me remind you

of how post-Napoleonic diplomacy works.

Are you listening?

I am all ears.

We statesmen,

we occasionally conceal things from each other,

we dissemble, we act hypocritically

when consistency or sincerity

would be either dangerous or hurtful.

We don't always tell the whole truth, but we don't exactly lie.

But what we've never done

is pretend the other fellow is a fool.

Or that black is white when everyone can see that it isn't.

Because if we did that, the whole system,

the concert that has kept the peace in Europe,

kept even the superannuated Austrian Empire afloat...

would begin to break down.

We don't regard it as compliance.

You must have loved the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

-We did. -I mean, really loved him.

He was the heir to our throne.

Heir to the throne! He was despised in Vienna.

His poor Czech wife even more so.

They treated her like a waitress.

Look, I'm serious. They did.

I thought you said the Serbs had bent over backwards.

Vienna wants humiliation.

And bending over backwards isn't humiliating?

You should try it one day, Winston.

And if I were you, I'd start watching Russia now.

Humiliating little Serbia is one thing.

Humiliating her protector is quite another.

She's right about that.

Be careful of Winston. He's smelling blood.

Why is Vienna suddenly unafraid of Russia?

-That is the question. -I disagree.

With what?

I think it's the wrong question.

-You don't want to hear my answer. -Yes.

I know your answer.

Which is that Austria is acting as if Russia doesn't exist,

because she's already taken out an insurance policy in Berlin.

An insurance policy?

You think Austria and Germany are in cahoots over this?

Your evidence?

Winston, I can see what Edward's getting at.

We don't yet know what the Germans think of this latest development

and it's always been a point of principle in this country

not to reduce everything to the workings of the alliances.

That way the logic of war always gets the upper hand.

It's my sense that Austria

cannot see beyond her quarrel with Serbia.

It's what happens to great powers when they shrink.

The world shrinks with them

and then they cease to think about consequences.

You don't believe that Austria's alliance

with Germany means anything?

Don't be obtuse, Winston. No-one has said that.

I would like to propose a round-table conference

here in London,

to be attended by the ambassadors of the disinterested parties.

If we start talking,

Austria will be forced to join the conversation.

How many days do we have before Austria

actually declares war?

Well, that depends on the state of their army

and how well they've digested this year's conscripts.

Perhaps, well, four days, maybe a week.

It's crucial for Germany to be involved in any conference.

Unthinkable without her.

You can manage that?

I believe so. We have more than a few carrots to offer.

There should be a stick too.

You will discover tomorrow morning that Winston Churchill

has ordered the entire fleet to remain at Spithead.

-I see. -It's a precautionary thing.

I mean, the ships are there already for the Grand Naval Review,

as you know.

They just haven't gone home.

You don't have to threaten us into a conference, Edward.

I know that.

Germany is open to the idea

of a collective solution to the Balkan problem.

It is an opportunity, I think,

for Britain and Germany to cooperate at last.

Austria will have to suspend its military operations first.

-Naturally. -But if... when that happens,

I will be prepared to host

a peace conference straightaway.

And I will inform my government straightaway.

-Thank you. -I ought to say, Max,

there is an opinion amongst us that a possible reason

for Austria's reckless behaviour

is the tacit support she enjoys from Germany.

I can see how the impression

might have arisen amongst some of you.

Vienna may have got used to us backing them

and perhaps that has made them

-as they are. Reckless.

Your superior said so.

And I will admit that possibility, but of course,

that is quite a different thing from saying she receives our encouragement.

What is it?

I admire Prince Lichnowsky and I think he's sincere.

I know that sentence. It's always followed by its opposite.

Come on, Crowe.

Tell me why I shouldn't place my faith in Lichnowsky.

I'm not sure Berlin listens to him.

He was listened to.

Lichnowsky had Edward Grey's confidence, after all.

But was he respected?

-Yes, please? -Excuse me, sir...

Not by our Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg.

From our ambassador in London, sir.

This has just arrived?

Yes, sir, seven minutes ago.

They agreed on so little.

-Get me the Foreign Minister. -Yes, sir.

Of course, it's a perfectly reasonable proposal.

Grey is a reasonable man. If I were in his position,

I would propose an international tribunal, too.

Perhaps we should accept.

Say that again?

We should accept.

Would you like to explain to the Kaiser when he gets back from his holiday tomorrow,

what has happened to his plan?

"Not a crashing military victory

"for our Austrian ally, Your Majesty,

"but a diplomatic triumph

"for Sir Edward Grey and the British."

No, I would not want to be the one to say that.

And that's why it will not be said.

We must therefore reject Edward Grey's offer.

Something to the effect that Austria would find it...

Insupportable?

"Humiliating".

It would be humiliating for a great power like Austria

to be subjected to the decisions of an international tribunal.

But what if the Austrians agree to Grey's proposal?

They won't.

You seem very sure.

We won't let them.

But tell Lichnowsky we are sympathetic to the idea.

He'll want to cultivate it anyway.

We can use him to get the English off our backs

for 48 hours or so.

And the Kaiser?

There is no proposal from Britain.

There never has been.

28 th JULY

8 DAYS TO WAR

Kaiser Wilhelm knew nothing of the diplomatic events

of the past two weeks.

He'd been on his vacation...

..looking at the Norwegian fjords.

The world he expected to return to

was one in which Serbia

had been handsomely crushed by Austria

while our most feared enemy, Russia,

stood staring at a brilliant fait accompli.

Of course, none of that had happened.

Did you know that Norwegians

read more than any other people in the world?

I have heard something of the sort, Your Majesty.

Of course you have. You know everything.

I didn't know it, though.

It was very disappointing.

-Norway, Your Majesty? -Norway?

Why do you want to talk about Norway?

Austria! That's disappointing.

The Austrian army is still not in Belgrade.

-Completely disappointing! -Not yet, Your Majesty.

"Not yet".

I am assured by the Austrian Ambassador...

In fact, they decided to mobilise their army yesterday

so it's little wonder they're "not yet" in Belgrade.

The day before yesterday, Your Majesty, but very late indeed, sir.

-Later than we expected. -Later than I wanted!

What did I tell him, Jagow, before I took my vacation?

You were there.

You said you wanted things to happen quickly.

A quick, clean war.

Over before the Russians know it's even begun.

-Yes? -Yes, you did say that, Your Majesty.

And now the Russians will get all agitated,

which I think I expressly said I did not want.

And this morning I arrive back in Berlin

to discover that the British have their navy on high alert.

Brilliant!

I will resign.

No, you won't!

You've cooked this broth. You will eat it.

What is especially humiliating

is that the Serbs are now laughing at us.

You've seen their reply to the Austrian note?

I'd appreciate it if you left me to finish my breakfast.

Now, in the days following Austria's rejection

of the Serbian reply,

we found ourselves asking,

"What will Russia do? What will Russia do?"

-Foreign Secretary? -Not now!

What is it? And why have you not come to me?

What?

Russia, our absolutist ally, was a perennial mystery to us.

We'd been friends with Russia since 1907

and that was a good thing in Asia.

It stopped us bickering about India and Afghanistan.

-But in Europe? Ready.

-That's it, sir. -What is it?

Well, it meant we were now underwriting the decisions

of a very erratic ally.

It's the Russian army.

The Tsar appears to have ordered a section of it to mobilise

in the southern districts facing the Austrian Empire.

What in God's name has he done that for?

I don't know.

It's, it's not been confirmed yet, of course.

Well, I just have to hope your sources

are as wretched as they usually are.

It's a precautionary thing, I'm sure.

At any rate, it will take four weeks to come to fruition.

But they've just wrecked my peace conference.

Well, perhaps you won't need it.

Nothing will bring Austria to her senses quicker

than Britain supporting its Russian ally.

How much more belligerent do you think the Tsar will become

if he imagines the Royal Navy

and a British Expeditionary Force

-are at his disposal? -But, Foreign Secretary,

it's the effect on Germany that's the relevant thing.

-Germany wants to take part in my conference. -We don't need a conference.

The quickest way to influence Austria is to frighten Germany.

The best way to frighten Germany is to support Russia!

The key to this problem is to cut across international rivalries,

not reinforce them.

I'm seeing the Russian Ambassador in...

It's a quarter to six.

Right, well, now, in actual fact.

He's getting the deluxe treatment.

I'm taking him to see the Prime Minister.

Good! But I think you should know the man on the Russia desk

is saying that you don't take their concerns seriously.

I'm not here to please the Russian desk.

They're turning into bloody Russians in there, by the way.

-I'm an elected politician. -I know that.

And I answer to Parliament.

Of course. But do not alienate Russia over this, sir.

If we fail to bend a little towards her here,

she will make things difficult for us in India.

Of course, the thing about our Russian alliance,

the awkward thing,

was that it tied us to this man - Tsar Nicholas II.

No-one ever knew what he was going to say next.

He was whimsical and unpredictable,

as powerful men often are,

answering only to God,

but capable of acting like God, too.

Now, the man in charge of his war machine

was General Vladimir Sukhomlinov.

Enfilade fire from this direction!

Here he is, re-enacting the 1812 Battle of Borodino.

And it was here that Kutuzov deployed the guards.

All part of the young prince's tuition, you understand,

and the royal family's general entertainment,

and this woman, who hates the Battle of Borodino,

is General Sukhomlinov's young wife.

No, Alexei. That's the infantry.

You never find horses in a trench.

This man now had 13 army corps

moving towards the Austrian Empire.

And this was not a pleasant thought for us in London,

for we are talking one million, one hundred thousand men.

We had to show our support for the Serbs.

There would be a rebellion in Russia if we didn't.

Rubbish! We both know that's not true, Count Benckendorff.

Are you saying that the Russian does not care at all

about his Serb brother?

I'm saying most Russians will have more luck

locating Serbia on a map, with a blindfold and a pin.

Count, let's not forget how we got here.

Austria's case against your Serb friends

is that they provide a safe haven for Bosnian terrorists.

Well, we all deplore that, I think.

We do have a little difficulty understanding

why Russia has felt it necessary to mobilise her army.

It's the same thing as you did yesterday

-with the Royal Navy! -It's not the same thing at all!

But it is! This is NOT a mobilization.

In our administrative departments it is called

"a period preparatory to war".

Are you impressed with those apostrophes, Edward?

Edward is not impressed.

You see, Count, playing with the word

cannot alter the fact that, quite soon,

you will have over one million men at arms

moving towards the Austrian frontier.

You object to us "mobilising" an army that will take ten days

to assume a proper war footing?

-Not four weeks? -There is an old idea,

William Gladstone's idea.

It says that our two countries sit on the edges of Europe

and if we should ever fall out...

The lands in between should fall under the dominion of Germany.

You need only affirm your friendship to Russia - tonight -

and you will see the Austrians pull in their horns.

And the Germans, too.

We know also that our two empires

are drawing ever closer together in Asia.

Soon, it is likely that our cartographers

shall collide not far from the North West Frontier of India.

It would be a shame, would it not,

if our grenadiers collided, too?

When you are so close together,

and you are not friends,

it is very difficult to avoid friction.

Now that sounded almost like a threat.

Those were your Foreign Secretary's words to me,

not five years ago.

Which is why we became friends.

And why now, we have to help each other!

Foreign Secretary.

Prime Minister.

He said, "ten days".

We in Berlin were shocked by the Russian mobilization, too.

That had not been in the Kaiser's plan.

But his Chief of Staff, General Moltke?

I don't think Moltke was shocked.

The Tsar has mobilised his southern army districts.

That's technically 1.1 million men,

perhaps a little less, knowing Ivan.

You can always count on 10%

being curled up in a ditch with the vodka bottle, huh?

But big numbers, nonetheless. More than Austria can handle.

-So a stalemate? -Well, that depends on what we do.

Think of it from my point of view. I'm paid to be suspicious.

So, then, how am I meant to know that these Russian troops

are destined for the Austrian border?

How can I be sure that these troops aren't being sent here,

or here, or here, to our borders?

-Well, I suppose in this... -I can't!

So are we not entitled to mobilise an army, too?

For defensive purposes?

Well, I would rather think the Kaiser

would wish to retain that prerogative.

It would be an excellent thing

if Russia could be encouraged to move to a general mobilization.

Get all her men in the field.

We will see it one day, whether we like it or not.

Rather it happens now than in five or ten years' time,

when the scales tip towards Russia.

Think of all this double track railway line

laid through Poland, coming our way.

Theirs is a partial mobilization, Not a general one.

But a general one wouldn't be difficult to provoke, would it?

I always expected to lose your magic powers

when we deprive you of those.

We do! We are at your mercy now.

There can't be a powerful Russia

and a powerful Germany on the same continent!

One has to submit.

But let me give you a statistic.

Something that will reduce this monstrous Cossack to human size.

At the present moment the Russian Empire has possession of 4,000 machine guns.

The German Empire has 24,000.

We know why we have so many precious weapons of war.

Because we are industrious and we are prudent.

But why does Russia have so few?

Once you know the answer to that question,

you have stopped fearing the Cossack.

The reason why Russia lacks machine guns

is that General Sukhomlinov's pretty young wife

adores Fabergé eggs.

-Where is he going with this? -I don't know.

So, old Sukhomlinov,

who is famously uxorious,

finds that to love his wife is to empty his wallet.

And that is why the old general

took a back-hander from Vickers of England,

to supply all of Russia's machine guns.

But Vickers' machine guns are three times

the price of those produced in Moscow.

Here's another statistic.

We have 381 batteries of heavy artillery.

They have 60!

And their forts?

They are not forts. They are museums!

And don't tell me about the Russian "steam roller", gentlemen.

It doesn't exist! It's a fantasy.

But...

But be careful.

Eventually, old Suko will be put out to grass

and will be replaced by a modernizer with a modest wife.

If that happens tomorrow,

it is likely that, by 1917, Russia will have parity with us.

Imagine that!

Imagine a Balkan crisis where they,

not we, have the whip hand.

Gentlemen.

It's us or them.

The Teuton or the Slav. We all know it.

Through no machinations of our own, we are now being offered the chance

by very reasonable terms,

to settle that account once and for ever.

On Russia, I have similar thoughts to you.

I've often said we overestimate their strength.

So it was like listening to my own voice in there.

I make no claims to originality.

But you failed to mention the French.

The French alliance with Russia. Isn't that the key?

A Russian entry into a Balkan war

would mean a French entry into a Balkan war.

And at that point, we wouldn't be calling it "Balkan war" any more.

I've just told you why you shouldn't fear Russia.

I'm too in need of dinner right now

to tell you why you shouldn't fear France.

It's not a question of fear, of course.

You will manage France, if the time comes.

I'm sure of that.

It is important we maintain the European equipoise.

You do agree with that?

As you say.

We have a political system in Germany

where power is concentrated at the top.

One of the tragedies of July 1914

was that the man at the very top

always seemed to be reacting to yesterday's news.

While Moltke's mind

was turning towards a general war with Russia,

the Kaiser was still trying to control

Austria's local war with Serbia.

Every cause for war has vanished.

-Your Majesty? -Every cause.

Gone!

What do you call this?

It's the Serb reply to the Austrian demands.

They agreed to everything. Everything. A total capitulation!

-I thought you said... -What?

What did I say?

I was under the impression you had read

the Serb reply before we met at breakfast yesterday.

Why on earth would you think that?

It was in front of you on the breakfast table.

This whole thing wouldn't be such a mess

if Austria had simply...

if things had been done

as I said they should be done!

You've had the time, Bethmann.

Do we change course, Your Majesty?

No.

Get Austria into Belgrade!

They can hold the city until the Serbs

do all those things

they now say they are willing to do!

-Yes, sir. -But it must be done immediately!

Yes, sir.

Message to Vienna.

Yes, sir.

I take the liberty...

of submitting for the consideration of Your Imperial Majesty...

No. No, no, no, no.

The indulgence of Your Imperial Majesty...

Franz Josef, the Austrian Emperor,

signing a declaration of war against Serbia.

Look at his face.

He might be signing an ordinance

to permit electric street-lighting in distant Budapest

or lifting a ban on linen trading in Krakow.

What he's actually doing

is signing his own death warrant

and that of his dynasty.

The Kaiser had finally got

his little Balkan war.

That evening the first Austrian bombs fell on Belgrade.

The Serbian government has left Belgrade, apparently.

-To avoid capture. -I see.

Of course we're still waiting to hear officially from the Austrian embassy.

So the international conference...

It's dead.

Yes, I suppose so.

Can't imagine how that happened.

I thought we had... an agreement.

You've been played Edward.

And very clever play.

-You have to admire Berlin. -Berlin?

They've used Prince Lichnowsky like a sewer.

A conduit to send all their shit our way.

Don't feel sorry for yourself. You've only lost one wicket.

The game's still trembling in the balance.

Yes. That's true.

Do remember that affability is not a strategy Edward.

Now's the time to put British power into the scales.

No more pretending we're just the umpire.

I'll see myself out.

6 DAYS TO WAR

You told me Berlin was going to put its weight behind a peace conference.

But, Edward, that was before we realised

that the Russians were mobilising their army.

Against Austria, not Germany.

I'm told they have enough troops to worry us both.

They fear your mobilization too, of course.

But Germany has not mobilised.

Yes, yes.

But they fear the speed with which you can...

Therefore they are obliged to act now

-for fear of being overwhelmed later. -I understand the point.

Crowe, could I have a moment alone with Prince Lichnowsky?

You're shaken by this too. I can tell.

What do we do, Max?

I believe that once the Austrians have captured Belgrade

the Kaiser will want diplomacy to take over.

I feel I have been misled once by Germany.

I can appreciate that. But it's not by design.

Please believe me.

Very well.

Once Austria has crossed the Danube,

let the Kaiser propose a plan for mediation.

You know, I am not jealous about my role in this

-or precious about ownership. -I know you're not.

No, we are happy to fall in with whatever he suggests.

We could call it "The German Peace Plan".

That would be... very helpful to His Majesty.

We are friends, aren't we?

Most certainly we are friends.

So, I am telling you this because we are friends

and I wouldn't want our intimacy to lead you astray.

If France is drawn into this conflict...

France?

As Russia's ally, it is possible.

Unlikely, for a Balkan question.

But still possible. And if France is drawn in,

it may be difficult for Britain to

He will warn his government.

Britain in earnest.

Mediation must succeed.

"Britain in earnest."

Of course that alarmed the Kaiser.

He thought of his cousin, Tsar Nicholas of Russia.'

Knees up!

And wondered if the two of them

might not stop their respective military machines.

Halt!

What a sad dialogue they embarked on.

-Salute! -Dear, Nicky,

we have a common interest as sovereigns

to ensure

that all persons morally responsible for the murder...

Dear, Willy,

the indignation in Russia,

fully shared by me,

is enormous.

I foresee a time when I shall be forced to take

extreme measures which will lead to war.

Dear, Nicky, the whole

weight of the decision lies solely on your shoulders now...

Dear, Willy,

I shall be overwhelmed by pressure to go to war,

I appeal to you to help me.

-Dear, Nicky. -Dear, Willy.

And on it went.

Two sovereigns living in a world of make believe.

That evening Russia moved to full mobilization

and all her reservists were called up.

That night Moltke sent a cable to Vienna.

Proceed to full mobilization. Do not fear Russia.

But Bethmann sent one to the Austrians too.

To open hostilities with Russia, he said, would be a serious error.

Sincerely, so on and so on.

Two conflicting voices. Whose would be louder?

We knew nothing about those two telegrams, of course.

But the full Russian mobilization we did know about.

We also knew that it meant France

was now in danger of being drawn into the conflict.

5 DAYS TO WAR

France has arrived!

I always expect him to dance in.

I rather doubt he'll be in the mood for that.

This was France in the shape of Ambassador Paul Cambon.

Gallic on the surface.

Gallic to the core.

But there were many in the foreign office

who joked that Monsieur Cambon was representing Russia too.

For in 1892 the impossible had happened.

Republican France, home to the Revolution,

had signed a treaty with Tsarist Russia,

the symbol of despotic tyranny.

Why had they done this?

Fear!

Fear that they might be overwhelmed again by the German army.

The foreign secretary will see you now, Your Excellency.

So now, if Russia went to war

it was likely that France would do so too.

If France follows Russia into a Balkan war

it will be difficult for Britain to follow France.

I know that sounds blunt.

But I think it's important to be clear.

So there's no room for misunderstanding later.

Germany, happily, will postpone its own mobilization

until we have absolutely exhausted efforts at mediation.

But in the light of Russia's actions,

we are asking rather a lot of them I feel.

It does sound blunt.

For a moment there I thought you'd taken a vow of silence, Paul.

There is a war party in Germany.

-He knows it. -I know it too.

But if France throws the fat in the fire by following Russia,

it will simply encourage that war party.

Don't you think?

How easy it is to be complacent about Germany

when you are protected by the Channel.

My dear fellow, it's not the Channel that protects us.

It's the Navy.

Theirs is no ordinary mobilization, of course.

-The Russian railway system... -Is prehistoric.

It would be quicker to get their men to the front in horse and cart.

And therefore there is no need for us to panic.

Who panics here?

I'm saying we should not be hasty.

The French will be. It's their nature.

But France has not mobilised.

On the contrary, I received a piece of information today...

which I wish to share with you.

On an initiative from the French foreign ministry

to eliminate potential sources of friction

all French military personnel

have retreated ten kilometres from the Franco-German frontier,

-as from this morning. -They're getting some practice in.

Shut up!

-The French have not mobilised. -Not yet.

So, you are asking us

to threaten someone in advance of them possibly threatening us?

Yes. Yes, I am.

What are you planning?

Either Germany fills her lungs or she dies.

This is the law of nations.

International life is a constant struggle to breathe.

-You want to invade France? -And then we'll deal with the Russians.

Is this vanity?

It won't be like your uncle's day Moltke.

I thought as a military man you might have noticed

the line of concrete forts they've built since 1870.

Toul, Moulainville, Douaumont...

Very good Bethmann. You should set this to music.

-..Verdun. -Verdun.

Oui, oui, pas oublier Verdun.

Are we just to ignore these fortifications?

Pretend they are not there? They do not exist?

We could spare France, of course,

and concentrate on Russia.

But Paris would have to agree to certain conditions.

Those, I've already outlined to our friends in London.

You're talking to London?

They will receive my note tomorrow morning.

5 DAYS TO WAR

4 DAYS TO WAR

Thank you.

Quite incredible.

Germany is practically asking for the keys to France.

If France agrees to remain neutral

in the event of a German-Russian war

it gets as its reward from Germany, what?

The German occupation of the fortresses of Verdun and Toul

for the duration of that war!

They don't seem to know the difference between a threat and a bribe.

It's intended to provoke a French mobilization.

-Not convinced. -It is, Edward.

It would be like them telling us

"We won't attack you, but Winston here must allow

"German sailors to take command of the Royal Navy."

You all keep saying "they" or "them".

How do you know it's not the work of just one man?

And rogues have loud voices.

Doesn't mean they speak for everyone.

I beg your pardon?

I think we must share this with the Cabinet.

They will be waiting, Winston.

The German proposal is inept. Of course it is.

-But the principle... -But the principle behind it

-is not a bad one. -What is this principle,

Mr. Chancellor? That we stuff our ally?

Very good, Winston.

But the principle that Mr. Burns here is talking about

is one of separating any war in the east

from any likely conflict in the west.

Building a cavity wall between the two.

The sensible thing would be to send France

a signal that we do not share her enthusiasm for war.

That we rein her in.

Or leave her high and dry?

France is our, our... our ally,

we do have certain obligations.

We have an "understanding" with her.

That's putting it rather mildly, Lord Morley.

It is an "understanding".

That's the way the Foreign Secretary described the Entente Cordiale

when it was first dreamt up.

But exactly what this "understanding" entails we

around this table don't quite know.

There's nothing that you're concealing from us

is there, Sir Edward?

Please...

Sir Edward is still in cabinet.

But I could have some tea brought for you.

Thank you.

Have you been waiting long?

Only since 1870.

For two years, Your Majesty,

if we all adjust our diet a little.

That's with grain from our own fields.

We may acquire fields elsewhere, of course.

You mean in Russia.

Russia... eventually.

He's talking about France.

I wonder, Your Majesty, do you know how many ministers of war

the French Republic has had in the last 43 years?

I will not guess.

But I am sure my chancellor here will know the answer.

-42. -That is correct.

42 ministers of war in 43 years.

And they wonder why their army is a rabble.

-But it isn't. -Bethmann Hollweg the soldier.

Your Majesty, he wants to declare war on France!

I don't want to.

But I think a war between us is bound to happen.

He wants to. And I will tell you this -

Britain will not stay neutral in a war that takes in France!

Britain is not capable of getting involved.

-She cannot spare the troops. -He means Ireland.

She will risk how many divisions on the Continent?

Four? Five?

They would get swept up in the general rout.

This is irresponsible talk.

Gentlemen, it's a beautiful summer's evening...

and I think we deserve some refreshments.

You have to say it would teach the British a thing or two.

Well, if you insist on making war on the Continent then...

don't just send a few outriders, do it properly.

I would ask the Cabinet for authorisation

to move to a full mobilization of the Royal Navy.

-Do that and I go! -Oh, John...

I'm sorry, Prime Minister, but that is gunboat diplomacy.

Any fool can make an heroic gesture,

but let's not confuse that with, with a bid for peace.

-Hear, hear. -Liberalism's

has got to mean something more intelligent

than pulling the gun out every time you're in a quarrel.

It's an accompaniment, John, to what I'm doing.

We'll keep on talking.

I would offer my resignation, too, Prime Minister.

And I.

Prime Minister,

you will not take the Liberal Party with you into a European war.

But can I suggest this?

We have evidently lost control of what is taking place

between Austria and Russia.

But we are still capable of influencing

what is happening between Germany and France.

That is where our peacemaking efforts should now be.

Sir Edward?

I should like to make

a telephone call to the German Ambassador.

Your Excellency, Sir Edward is on the Number Ten telephone

and would like to speak with you.

You must promise not to attack France.

That is key...

in the event of a Russian-German conflict breaking out.

Do you understand?

And we will undertake to guarantee...

..that Britain and France will not attack Germany in return.

The French have agreed to this?

-What? -July.

-The French have...? -That is correct.

Then I will take responsibility for saying now

that the German government will respond positively,

pleasurably to your initiative.

Sir Edward?

Sir Edward Grey's proposal...

is to be commended...

for guaranteeing the security...

..of our border with France.

What did you say to Germany?

You have sold us, I can tell.

Crowe, please, will you join us?

I have not sold you. It is simply this.

The Cabinet feels Britain has no interest

in what is essentially an Austro-Russian dispute in the east.

France, of course has her alliance with Russia,

the provisions of which we know nothing about

and we cannot allow ourselves to be the tail to Russia's comet.

-You have sold us! -We haven't.

Each day we delay our mobilization

we lose the equivalent of 25 km of French territory

-if war does break about. -Well, I appreciate France's restraint

and would urge her to continue on that course.

How many French lives will it take to get each of those 25km back?

-Paul... -Are you going to wait

until France is violated before you act?

You must make your own decision

and not reckon on British assistance.

We, for our part,

will continue to explore peace initiatives with Germany.

This evening the word "honour"

will be struck from the English dictionary.

I thought he would be a little more pliable.

He's distraught, of course.

I think the French will back down.

I think they'll see sense.

Can I ask you, sir...

what precisely did you say to Prince Lichnowsky on the telephone?

I...

I told him...

I'm not entirely sure, Crowe.

That's rather awkward.

Everyone thinks I have the power

to invent new facts

when the old ones become dangerous.

They think if they tell me their predicament,

it will disappear.

To them you are Great Britain.

You hold immense power.

I am also just Edward Grey.

The Kaiser ordered the mobilization of our army

against Russia that evening.

And then, France also mobilised.

If the iron dice roll, may God help us.

Trains must leave every 90 seconds.

No delays. No excuses.

A million of our soldiers would soon be on the move.

And I would be one of them.

We think we are good at this. Let us prove it.

But then suddenly, out of the clear blue sky,

came Edward Grey's peace plan.

The one he proposed on the telephone to Prince Lichnowsky.

It arrived in Berlin just 23 minutes

'after the Kaiser had signed our mobilization papers.'

Open those doors...

-and bring champagne. -What is it?

-The best champagne. -What is it?

Gentleman, I just received word

from Prince Lichnowsky in London.

"French and..."

Chancellor, you represent the civilian arm of Germany.

You read it.

"French and British neutrality guaranteed

"if Germany refrains from attacking France."

Only Russia is left in the field.

I have 25,000 trains in motion.

-Will Russia back down now also? -She might well do that.

25,000 trains are moving westwards.

They don't have brakes?

Our forward units are about to enter Luxembourg.

Then stop them, Moltke, and deploy the entire army to the east!

-I can't, it's too late. -It's a command, you half-wit.

Stop them and turn the army to the east.

Let's go!

-To England. -To Sir Edward Grey.

It will be complete chaos!

The whole world will be thrown into chaos!

The army.

You said the whole world. It's just the army.

It is simple, Moltke.

Applaud this man's superb diplomacy...

..and then begin shifting your men to the east.

We'll discuss reservations once you've finished.

Well, on with it, mobilise yourself first.

This isn't leadership.

You might start by getting those Luxembourg patrols back

-before they do some damage. -It isn't.

Even with that absurd marshal's batten in your hand.

-Moltke! -Your one good hand.

When do wars start?

When a declaration is signed?

Or when an embassy is closed?

Or do we delude ourselves that these formalities

are what count?'-

I know this.

'Our fellows were not meant to be in Luxembourg

on August 1st.

We had not declared an argument with that country,

let alone declared a war.

Yet, at seven in the evening

a detachment of the 69th Infantry Regiment

crossed over into Luxembourg.

They were under the command of a Lieutenant Feldmann,

who'd been told to seize the town's telegraph office.

No casualties were suffered that day

unless you count Private Mayer with his sprained ankle.

But this strange little engagement was the curtain-raiser

to an all-out war on the Western Front.

Or it would have been,

had Sir Edward Grey's peace plan

not reached Berlin just in time.

Feldmann was told to come home.

The war in the west had been cancelled.

Scheisse.

Dear Georgie,

having just received the glorious communication from your Government

offering French neutrality under guarantee of Great Britain,

I am delighted to convey my own government's enthusiasm

for the proposal.

1st AUGUST

4 DAYS TO WAR

3 DAYS TO WAR

"One Long Weekend"

-Your Majesty. -Your Majesty.

French neutrality.

Guaranteed.

How did you manage that?

I didn't, Your Majesty.

Well, the Kaiser thinks you did.

Did my cousin just dream it?

It is likely a mistake was made

during my telephone conversation with Prince Lichnowsky yesterday.

The German ambassador misheard you?

-Possibly. -Or you misled him?

It hardly matters which, Your Majesty.

The point the Kaiser is now holding the wrong end

-of a very big stick. -One you handed to him.

Certainly, it has landed us all in a...

most awkward spot.

So, you would now like me to disabuse the Kaiser?

We can arrange for a telegram

to be sent to your cousin in the next 20 minutes.

Before that happens,

let me just ask the obvious question.

We haven't, by some enormous stroke of luck, stumbled upon a formula

that would actually keep the peace in western Europe?

Not with the French

being in complete ignorance of what is being offered.

-And they...? -And they will never agree

to neutrality

while their Russian ally is being threatened by Germany.

I see.

I will tell the Kaiser there's been a...

misunderstanding.

"Misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?!"

What does that mean?

It's such a British explanation. You tell me what it means.

-I... -It's Edward Grey isn't it?

He's a deceitful cur!

I forget sometimes that the English language doesn't distinguish

between "duplicity" and "diplomacy".

"Misunderstanding?" What, "We've changed our minds?!"

-I'm not sure that... -Get me Moltke!

-Sir, please... -Get me Moltke!

I've been made a fool of.

And I am disgusted by that.

Shake my hand.

My good hand.

The English are liars.

Now you can do as you will.

SUNDAY, 2ND AUGUST

72 HOURS TO WAR

Have you had breakfast, sir?

I don't think so.

Might I arrange some for you?

How long do you imagine the railway platforms are at Duern?

An awful lot of German troop trains

appear to be leaving Cologne...

..and heading towards Duern.

It makes no sense.

For four weeks now,

ever since the assassination of Franz Ferdinand...

we, in Europe, have been living with the Balkan crisis.

Serbia and its Russian ally

raged against Austria and its German one.

Now, "When isn't the Balkans in crisis?" you might think.

-It's Bosnia, Foreign Secretary. -I think that might wait.

Rain is wet,

the sun dries you out,

and the Balkans is a trouble spot.

These are facts of nature.

In Berlin at first,

our Kaiser had been keen to stoke the fires in the Balkans.

He thought this might give

our Russian neighbour a nasty burn.

A quick, clean war,

over before the Russians know it's even begun!

So, it took the special genius of General Moltke

to turn a local conflict into an international crisis.

Moltke wasn't interested in a small war in the Balkans.

Can't be a powerful Russia

and a powerful Germany on the same continent.

One has to submit!

He wanted something much bigger.

He wants to declare war on France.

And that was when things began to change in London.

No longer were we bystanders.

We had an alliance with France.

Are you going to wait until France is violated before you act?

The Cabinet had no appetite for war, though,

and told the Foreign Secretary to make sure

the Balkan crisis didn't spread to the West.

And, so, Sir Edward used the telephone

to broker some kind of agreement with the German ambassador.

Sir Edward?

But... telephones, you know?

Things get scrambled, don't they? And, therefore, last night...

To England.

..the Kaiser gratefully accepted a peace plan from London

that didn't actually exist.

Hence the misunderstanding.

I won't deny it, there was a little bit of panic here

in the Foreign Office,

not least because the morning papers were reporting

that a torrent of capital and gold had flowed out of the country

over the last few days.

Chin up, Muriel.

Come on, everyone. Busy day.

And that's why the Governor of the Bank of England,

Sir Walter Cunliffe...

-Crowe. -Good to see you again.

..along with Lloyd George, the Chancellor,

had come to the Foreign Office to persuade Sir Edward

that it would be fatal to join the fray.

It's important the Foreign Secretary knows that if he gets us involved

in a continental war, it will wreck the British economy.

There will be a degree of commercial disruption, of course.

-The economy will be wrecked. -That's your opinion.

It's the opinion of the Bank of England. And the whole of the City.

There, David. The whole of the City!

Over £1 million worth of gold left London on Thursday!

To be fair, Walter,

that's the German financial houses repatriating their capital.

But we are vulnerable to that.

This is the whole point, we are a trading nation.

-We are? -Our best policy

would be to let the French and Germans go to war, if they need to.

We could stay out

and be the honest broker, literally.

You want us to be the honest broker?

You're making it sound like a crime, Sir Edward.

Do you know Eyre Crowe here? Yes, of course you do.

So you know he's an exceptionally knowledgeable fellow,

and he tells me that in the entire history of mankind,

there is not a single instance

where financiers have not panicked

at the prospect of a war. Isn't that so, Crowe?

The Peloponnesian War...

Yes, apart from the Peloponnesian War.

So, you see, Sir Walter, I have this odd situation.

Up in Trafalgar Square right now,

I'm being told by Keir Hardie and the Socialists

that a European war would mark the end of civilisation.

And here...

I have a great banker of Threadneedle Street

-telling me the same thing. -I didn't mention civilisation.

True enough, you didn't.

I suppose that's where the Socialists have the moral edge.

But I am not a hopeless dreamer like they are,

so, excuse me if I take offence at that.

I am giving you some practical common sense.

So, you'd like me to announce

to the world that Great Britain can't afford to fight?

That's your common sense?

-Now you're twisting... -Nothing would more readily put an end

to our great power status than me saying that.

Have you ever seen Keir Hardie?

Are you asking me because I'm Scottish?

No, I saw him once when I was a wee boy.

My father took me to see him speak in Kirkcudbright.

Is your father a socialist?

You'll have to ask him yourself, Muriel.

Of course, in Britain,

the socialist movement was very small, still.

But that wasn't true here in Germany.

Here they counted.

The Chancellor is running a little late this morning.

-I could organise some refreshments. -No, thank you.

They had power in the Reichstag.

If the socialist deputies decide to vote against

the Imperial War Budget, well, there'll be no war

because there'll be no money to fight one.

Why don't you just arrest all these Socialists?

The Kaiser wouldn't mind.

The Kaiser has personally never met a socialist,

which is a miraculous thing in itself,

given that there are six million of them in this country.

-Even so. -Even so?

Remove their leaders and the rest will do

as you want them to do.

The days of running Germany

like a house of correction are over, Moltke.

These men outside are not our slaves.

They're the cream of their class,

and, as inconceivable as you may find it,

they will vote for your war credits if you reason with them.

I doubt it.

They fear and detest the Tsar, as all their kind do.

But they are not German patriots.

They will be

when you tell them about the Cossacks.

Half of them are Jewish, after all.

Tell me, because I really don't understand.

Tell you what?

I know you don't want a war with France.

You could use these socialists to stop one.

Why don't you?

Because the cure would be worse than the disease.

Can you imagine what would happen to Imperial Germany -

to me, not just you -

if word got out that the Socialist Democratic Party

had a veto on our ability to make war?

I hate them, every bit as much as you hate them.

More, probably, because I know them.

They are disloyal, they are selfish, and they are dangerous.

But a war will tame them.

Eventually, with some luck,

it will exterminate socialism in Germany forever.

Thank you so much for coming, gentlemen.

Ambassador.

How many of your countrymen know that you secretly

committed them to defending the French channel ports

from naval attack by Germany?

What you have there is, of course,

rather awkward for me at the present moment.

Yes, it is.

But it is in no sense a binding contract.

Just an informal arrangement we once had.

An informal arrangement we once had?

I cannot go one inch beyond what the Cabinet authorises.

If I do, I am gone, and that document means nothing.

If you do not act on our confidential agreement,

you will have the German Navy in the English Channel by the end of the week.

And you will have to explain to your people

why there is no French Navy there to oppose them.

In 20 minutes, there is a meeting of the Cabinet.

I will endeavour to describe...

-Your obligation to France. -..the French predicament.

They've just voted.

We have a majority...

..in favour of the war credits.

Madness.

They could have saved us.

-John. -Winston.

Lord Morley.

What bombs are you young gentlemen going to throw at us today?

When you think of the great Cabinet meetings of the 20th century,

those that have been, those which are yet to come,

can there ever have been one

so fraught with meaning as this one?

Viscount Morley had first seen office in 1886

under his hero, William Gladstone.

And because he opposed anything which strengthened the state

against the individual, he opposed war.

So did John Burns, on pacifist grounds.

Burns, hero of the London Dock strike of '89,

was the first working man ever to take a seat at the Cabinet table.

Was he conscious of the fact?

So, I told him,

"I'm not the decorator, I am a legislator."

Was he conscious of anything else?

And then there was David Lloyd George.

Lloyd George was the prize.

Did you get any sense this morning

of which way David is moving?

None at all.

A man who made his name opposing our last war

against the Boers in South Africa.

We want to play this carefully. We don't want to antagonise him.

He was a politician who was loved by millions of people.

We have, as you know, because I have never concealed this

from the Cabinet, certain obligations towards our French ally.

Now, these obligations do not commit us to war

simply because one of the parties to the agreement has taken up arms.

Should France, say, find itself in a war with Spain,

we would not be obliged to follow.

Do not treat us like fools, Sir Edward.

You can say Germany.

Yes, yes, well, in this specific instance, of course

we're talking about Germany.

But my general point

is that Parliament need not be fettered

by a clause in a treaty she had no hand in making.

-And nor will it. -Hear, hear.

But I will tell this Cabinet now,

because now for the first time it has become relevant,

that our 1912 agreement with France...

-1904. -No, Chancellor,

the Foreign Secretary is referring to its renewal in 1912.

It was minuted at the time and mentioned in this room.

The 1912 renewal is a document I drew up with Monsieur Cambon,

which allowed us to divide certain operational responsibilities

between the French and Royal Navies.

In this agreement, the French were assigned the Mediterranean,

and we agreed to secure the Channel.

The advantage of this agreement is obvious, but the disadvantage,

as Monsieur Cambon is now very anxious to point out,

is that it leaves the Atlantic and Channel coasts of France

completely unprotected by battleships.

Or would do so if we failed to join in a war

that Germany was waging on France.

You mean the French are relying on us to protect their ports?

In a sense, yes.

There's no escaping it. It is an unfortunate situation.

Our agreement with France

has all the obligations of a formal alliance.

-No, it doesn't! -But it does, gentlemen.

-Think of it from the point of honour. -Edward Grey's honour! Not ours!

I hope they are the same.

The French agreement has all the obligations of a formal alliance,

but none of its advantages. That is to say it contains no deterrent

to any power thinking of attacking France.

How could it? The agreement was secret.

If only the Germans had known about this promise of yours

-to Ambassador Cambon! -They probably do.

It's just us poor devils that have been kept in the dark.

Well, in fairness we've done well out of the agreement, too.

It certainly doesn't feel that way.

Oh, it has released us from having to patrol the Mediterranean, David.

No, the PM is right.

I could have asked for money for more dreadnoughts to patrol

-the Mediterranean ourselves... -Hear, hear.

..and not leave it to the French, but I know what John Burns here

-would have said to that. -I know your game.

You can't play it, though.

Since Sir Edward has been Foreign Secretary

he has assured Parliament on several occasions that this government

has incurred no firm commitments to France.

Indeed he has been proud, as we all have,

that Great Britain has avoided those entanglements

with foreign powers which could lead us,

almost blind-folded, into war.

Now he appears to be telling us

that we do not possess the full liberty

of our own decision-making after all,

and that is a very serious thing.

One could almost say he has misled us.

You have misled yourselves.

You all knew where the Anglo-French agreement was heading

but none of you opened a conversation around this table.

You did not want to know

because you did not want the responsibility.

You left Sir Edward with all of that,

which might be called good judgment,

but to bemoan it now is a kind of cowardice.

How dare you!

Some of what Winston says may be true.

Even a blunderbuss does occasionally hit its target.

But that does not answer the wider question

of why we should follow France

into a war brought about because her Russian allies

decided to mobilise its entire army

against such feeble Austrian opposition of all things.

There's no sense of proportion there.

The boy bloody scouts could defeat the Austrian army.

-That's a ridiculous comment. -No, well, John comes from Battersea

and they have some pretty ferocious boy scouts down there.

But Russia? Gentlemen,

please, are we to be led into a war by the Tsar?

Let us not forget we are talking about the land

of the pogrom of the Siberian exile.

-It's rhetoric. -Rhetoric!

10 days ago, over 100 working men were cut down

on the streets of St Petersburg

for the crime of joining a trade union.

Wouldn't you be better off in Trafalgar Square

with the Labour lot, howling this rot

from an upturned soap box?

You should get back to the Tory party.

That is quite enough!

We are here to talk about the French predicament.

And what this government intends to do about it.

I will say this, Prime Minister -

I will accept some of the Cabinet's misgivings

about the way the French negotiations have been handled...

..by me. They were done in good faith,

I assure you, but I will resign from the Cabinet this afternoon

if it prevents me from signalling Britain's intentions

to protect French ports

in the event of a German naval attack on the Channel.

If that happens, this government will be at an end.

Why?

Because I, and I suspect some others, will resign with him.

And then you'll have the Tories in.

Rubbish. They'll too busy gunrunning to Ulster.

No, John, I assure you they will be able to form a government

and they will have no qualms about taking this country

-into a European war. -With conscription.

Those are the stakes, gentlemen.

Please think upon them when you answer this question.

Does Sir Edward have your authorisation

to inform Monsieur Cambon

that we will honour our naval agreement with the French?

Those who say yes?

Those who say no?

And one abstention.

Sir Edward, you may proceed.

In that case, Prime Minister,

I tender my resignation.

I implore you to reconsider, John.

I'm from the people, Edward, and I must speak for them

because their voices are never heard

in the counsels of government.

That is why you should stay with us.

But the people don't want war.

That's why I'm having no part in taking us into one.

But most people aren't like you.

They're more like Winston.

I don't think that's true.

But it's a pity if it is.

Well, it's held for now, Edward,

but if we push them any further the Cabinet will divide.

I know.

And if that happens the nation will divide, too.

What are you going to David?

You're the most important man amongst us.

No, you are.

The millions of our fellow countrymen who wait to hear

what David Lloyd George says before they make up their own minds.

-I don't yet know. -You will have to decide,

and quickly.

I'm not sure I have the stomach for another peace campaign.

No-one will ask you to mount those platforms again.

You did your bit over South Africa,

let the younger men take up the burden this time.

But I tell you this, it will be a glorious thing for them

to know that Lloyd George is on their side.

We have been mislead, David. The whole country has.

It certainly looks that way.

Grey has run this nation's foreign policy

without a single reference to parliament,

and now he expects us to pull his chestnuts out of the fire.

I will likely resign from the government...

if we enter this war.

Is the Fatherland in danger?

It is.

-Can we fight on two fronts? -Easier than on one.

Say that again.

It is easier for us to fight on two fronts than on one.

This is what I hate in you, Moltke, your sophistry.

Keep it simple, Moltke, hm?

If we fight on one front against Russia,

we must improvise and that is always bad.

And all the time we will be watching over our shoulder for France.

If we fight on two fronts,

we enact a plan we have been working on for nine years.

The Schlieffen Plan.

Yes.

I thought the dust had settled on that.

We just keep blowing it away.

The Schlieffen Plan is always being updated, Your Majesty.

90% of our army will be thrown at France,

according to a strict timetable,

while the rest hold the Russians off, a relatively easy task

in the first six weeks of war.

-Six weeks? -Yes, six weeks.

The time it will take to knock out France.

Then everything will be turned towards Russia.

The trains have already been ordered.

Six weeks to defeat France?

Our scouting parties will first see Paris

40 days into the war.

Imagine those fortunate few.

I know what you're going to say next.

You're planning to go through Belgium.

Isn't that so?

-A lovely idea, Your Majesty. -Lovely?

Your Majesty,

the great powers guarantee Belgium independence

not because we love each other, but because we fear each other.

-That's natural, of course. -Natural?

It's also efficient.

Respecting Belgian neutrality

is what keeps us and the French from garrotting each other.

And I am custodian of a treaty with the King of Belgium.

Which, tragically, you shall have to break.

Either Belgium steps aside or she is annihilated.

Or, we keep our treaty with Belgium

and expose Germany to annihilation.

Success alone will justify what we do.

How would we begin to explain

our violation of Belgian independence?

Something has already been arranged on that.

Five days before, our ambassador in Brussels had received

a mysterious package from Berlin.

"Do not open this telegram", an accompanying note said,

"and only open it if, and when, you receive a further instruction from Berlin."

Can you get me a whiskey, please?

They have all been considerably lengthened in the last five years.

I'm sorry. Are you finishing a conversation with someone else

or starting one with me?

Those north-western German railway platforms

-that you mentioned this morning. -I mentioned those to you?

Well, you were thinking out loud, I was there.

So, I asked a friend at the Board of Trade

to check his files.

The station platforms at Dueren are now half a mile long.

That's an awful lot of German holidaymakers

suddenly very keen to see the delights of Belgium.

Well Done.

Belgium.

Prepare for the deluge.

We have guaranteed Belgium's neutrality.

Well done.

In perpetuity with Britain and France.

Haven't you seen how things are working here?

That treaty is just a scrap of paper.

The last ever battle in history to be fought in Belgium

would be Waterloo.

That was the epic idea contained in the treaty

signed by the Great Powers in 1839.

But, evidently,

it was not an idea that meant much to General Moltke.

Now is the time!

-Sir Edward. -I know.

Yes, the German ambassador arrived some time ago.

And the French ambassador is also here.

-Any more? -And I must

-have a moment with you also. -Later.

Sir Edward, forgive me for barging in like this, but...

Yes, indeed. Unexpected.

I do apologise, Prince Lichnowsky,

but I feel I should fulfil my appointment

with the French ambassador.

You've done the right thing.

And what of a British expeditionary force?

Just two divisions on their way to France

would have a tremendous moral effect

-on our people. -Paul!

And a deterrent effect on Germany too.

Yeah, I know that's not a serious suggestion.

But it is.

Germany will declare war on France in the next 24 hours.

All France knows it.

The one thing that might stop them is you.

You credit Britain with too much power, Paul,

and it has made you irresponsible.

It is you who can stop it.

You alone.

The power is yours.

Whom did I say was next?

Sir, before you see Prince Lichnowsky,

you must see this. Please.

Are you sure?

I'm 100% sure about the recent lengthening

of the railway platforms,

and I'm 95% sure that German troops

are heading towards the Belgian border.

But can we be certain they intend to cross into Belgium?

Might there not be an innocent explanation for all this activity?

Certainly there might.

I can't think what it would be. But...

Well, why don't I just ask him?

Of course, after last night,

we can't afford a second misunderstanding.

I take full responsibility for that.

Please don't. I rather think we egged each other on.

The damn telephone, too.

The thing was invented to make fools of us.

-It's not created difficulties for you? -None.

-Yourself? -I don't know.

No, I don't think so.

May I ask you an awkward question?

If I may reserve the option of pretending I didn't hear it.

What would you say

if I told you I have certain reasons to believe

that someone in Germany...

..someone in a high command,

is contemplating an invasion of Belgium?

I would say that is impossible.

We have a treaty with Belgium, as you do.

But Belgium is a back door to Paris.

Belgium is a sovereign country.

It is the back door to Paris.

It is also a back door to Berlin.

Belgium makes us all honest.

It makes the French honest, it makes Germany honest.

To violate Belgian sovereignty would be madness.

2nd AUGUST

2nd AUGUST 8pm

BELGIAN GOVERNMENT, BRUSSELS

We have received reports in the last 24 hours

of French troops along the Givet-Namur road...

..and therefore,

in the light of this violation of your territory,

and of the 1839 treaty,

we are obliged to request of the Belgian government

free access for our own troops

to engage the French.

You have 12 hours to respond.

-This will be our casus belli. -It might be.

It's an immaculate one, too.

No oil reserves, no coaling stations, no gold fields.

Just poor little Belgium at the mercy of the German juggernaut.

Even the radicals will be filled with indignation.

If Germany invades.

The legal situation is not altogether clear.

We would probably still need an official request for assistance

from the Belgian government to avoid breaching the same treaty.

We cannot be more Belgian than the Belgians.

Surely they will ask for our help.

I have no idea.

It's possible the Belgian army will simply fire a token shot

and then line the roads while the German army passes through.

"If we are to be crushed" said the Belgian King,

"let us be crushed gloriously."

That night his Government had resolved

"to repel every attack on its right."

And King Albert himself composed a personal appeal to the Kaiser,

translated by his German wife.

BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY

48 HOURS TO WAR

But there was no cry for help directed to London.

Not yet.

And I'll be honest with you.

Not one man here wanted it to come.

What would they say if they truly knew

what was happening to their world?

Tell me, Winston,

what does it take to lead a democracy into war?

I do not know. It's never been done before.

We would be the first, in Europe at any rate.

It means seeking the approval of those who are going to die in it,

I suppose.

Our forebears never had that problem.

And we record their names now.

Of those who fall, I mean.

It makes it so personal.

Have you told your parents?

I haven't had the time.

You ought to.

I'm their only son, Muriel.

They'd be horrified if they knew

that I was thinking of volunteering.

But they'll have to know eventually.

No, not necessarily. It may still blow over.

It might not come to war.

So, Germany has requested free movement of her troops

across Belgium and so far, Belgium has refused to give it,

and has not asked for our assistance and may never do so.

So, we are where we were.

Except one power has signalled its intention

to break a venerable treaty.

What was that shrug for? Do these things not matter?

Words on paper, composed long ago.

Words have to mean something.

Otherwise, all that remains is the cannon.

And let us think of France.

I know you don't want to, but consider her position.

Cowardice won't save her now.

She is about to be overwhelmed by the might of the German Army,

whether she fights or not.

Words do have to mean something, of course they do.

But let us not pretend

that our own ill-chosen words

would not have awesome consequences

for millions of our countrymen.

We can fill this room with noble thoughts

about treaties honoured and solemn promises kept.

We can flatter ourselves that we are the custodians of international law

and that Germany is a nation of brigands.

But think, think, gentlemen,

think of the consequences that would flow from such high-mindedness.

We have not fought a European war for several generations

and, necessarily, we've forgotten what it is like to do so,

and this makes us brave and frivolous.

How does an army of several million men

defeat another army of several million men

with all the metal they have these days at their disposal?

None of us knows, not even the generals, although they pretend to.

If the European nations come to blows tonight,

or in the next few days,

I foresee a calamity lasting years.

It will be a war without victors,

which is the worst war imaginable,

because the immense expense of blood

will, in the end, be for nothing.

Edward?

That's why I understand the temptation of neutrality.

We're human beings

and therefore, the temptation's almost irresistible.

But our friend here

talks as though there will be no calamity

if we stood aside and let Belgian pleas for help,

should they come, fall on deaf ears.

Well...

what about the political calamity?

And what about the moral calamity?

What would happen to our good name?

Who would ever trust us again?

We would have sacrificed every friend

and every interest simply to preserve ourselves.

And what would lay before us

when that European war had ended?

A scarred continent, to be sure,

with all the human destruction. our friend has foretold -

not Englishmen, it is true,

but our neighbours.

And this too -

we would face a continent

under the dominion of a solitary power.

And that a military one, dedicated to blood and iron.

We have an obligation to France,

unwritten perhaps,

also to Belgium - very much written.

Does that not mean something?

Let every man here search his own heart

and decide for himself whether he feels the pull of those obligations.

I do.

I will presently go to the House of Commons

and make the case for supporting our allies

if it should come to war.

Then I should resign.

What can I expect if I stay on?

Everlasting quarrels with Winston, certainly,

but also, with respect...

..I would be putting my name to a policy that is fundamentally wrong.

It's sad, but...

..this government is folding.

Now I have four resignations.

Beauchamp and Simon joined John Burns earlier this morning.

David Lloyd George.

What is your policy?

I would impress on Germany the importance of Belgian neutrality.

And if Germany is not impressed?

And Belgium fails to ask for our help,

would you commit to war for the sake of France?

No.

You'll need half an hour to yourself, Edward?

-Before you address the House. -Yes, I would appreciate that.

Sir Edward! Sir Edward!

I have just been instructed by my government to inform you

that the German fleet will not operate in the English Channel

if Britain remains neutral.

Isn't that encouraging?

Is there not something there for you?

Not really.

What if Germany were to abide

by her treaty obligations to Belgium?

Would Britain then agree to neutrality?

-No. -No?!

Max, I have no idea if you were authorised to ask that question,

I rather suspect you were not,

but even if you were,

I would still be required to say, "No".

But that is irrational.

My dear friend, I rather think it is you

who is no longer seeing things clearly.

I'm offering you a formula... to save us.

You're asking Britain to reward Germany

with a free hand against France

merely for fulfilling its legal and moral obligations to Belgium.

I cannot do that. Anyway,

how do I know you will abide by your agreement?

-I... -No, no, no, not you -

your chiefs.

They could still march through Belgium tomorrow

and wreck Britain's relations with France

forever

by publishing the text of some agreement struck between you and me.

Then, for God's sake, state the conditions

under which Britain will remain neutral.

-I will not do that either. -Please help me.

There must be something you can insist on.

That you do not go to war with France.

Germany will declare war on France this afternoon.

Will you go through Belgium?

I don't know.

Perhaps a corner will be clipped, I don't know.

You'll excuse me.

I have an address to make to the House of Commons.

Soon after Grey's address,

Germany declared war on France.

Some pretext was invented -

a French aerial attack on Nuremberg, I think.

It wasn't true -

certainly, nobody in Nuremberg saw it.

Sir, I've the latest despatches from Berlin and Brussels.

Come here for a moment, and look at this.

I've always loved this sight on a summer's evening.

I find it inexpressibly consoling.

And I want it to last forever.

You'll be told there isn't a better time to be young

and that you are the envy of those too old to fight.

Perhaps that's true.

Perhaps.

You know, the lamps are going out all over Europe.

We may not see them lit again in our lifetime.

TUESDAY 4th AUGUST

17 HOURS TO WAR

By mid-morning, our 34th Brigade

had crossed the border into Belgium.

And King Albert of Belgium asked his parliament,

"Are we still committed to our independence?"

"Yes, yes!", came the reply.

The King of the Belgians then made his appeal

to all the guarantors of Belgian neutrality.

These are the translations, two copies of each, please, Muriel.

Is this it, do you think?

We heard it at midday.

-David. -Prime Minister.

I do not think that we are prepared for war.

The Governor of the Bank of England assures me

that we will be very quickly bankrupt

as a nation if we take up arms against Germany.

And although he exaggerates somewhat, he is undoubtedly correct

in saying that, as a mercantile nation,

we shall suffer more than most

because of the agonies to international trade.

I believe also there are some people in this country,

possibly even around this table,

who will have been delighted by the Kaiser's decision

to violate Belgian sovereignty this morning

for the simple reason that it coats their own selfish enthusiasm

for war with a moral gloss.

However...

..I differ from my now departed colleagues.

I am genuinely frightened

by the prospect of a rampant Germany

sitting in Brussels and Paris and on the Channel coast.

Do I care for Belgium?

I fear for her, certainly.

She is a small nation like my own -

and she has rights, which cannot be eradicated

just because the eradicator is strong.

Do I care for the principle

that international law ought to mean something?

Yes, I do.

There ought to be more of it, not less.

The German invasion of Belgium has changed everything for me.

The only sensible thing now

is for this government

to send an ultimatum to the aggressors in Berlin.

Is there anyone who disagrees with that last sentence?

Well, there will be no opposition from the Conservatives

or the Irish Nationalists,

I very much hope there will no opposition from our own people.

-Just one thing, Prime Minister. -Yes.

Do you not think we ought to consult the Dominion governments

before we issue an ultimatum? The Australians and the Canadians

will have their own thoughts on this, I'm quite certain.

There is no constitutional need.

They will see it as we see it.

You did the right thing.

None of us will survive this war.

Politically, I mean.

Within the hour, the British government had drafted its ultimatum

to the Kaiser demanding the complete withdrawal

of all German troops from Belgium

by midnight.

5 HOURS TO WAR

4 HOURS TO WAR

That was midnight, Berlin time.

But the mind of our government was made up.

What we are doing to Belgium, we have been forced to do.

Necessity knows no law.

Good - necessity knows no law. That is right.

If we think like magistrates, we are dead.

The British think like magistrates.

Legalism, not justice.

They care nothing for Belgium or the treaty.

They only care for power.

And how they hate it

when we show our appetite to be equal with theirs.

What do you say, Bethmann?

Our army must hack its way through Belgium.

I believe it was Rousseau who said,

"It is a sort of folly to remain wise

"in the midst of those who are mad." '

And on those 37 days,

Germany was short of that kind of folly.

Can you take it next door?

I hear you've decided to join the Royal Field Artillery.

I have, sir.

I think I'll be losing a lot of my young men.

Thank you.

Have you received orders to report to your regiment yet?

-Not yet, sir. -But you will.

I expect so, sir, yes.

It's not a bad life, the soldiering life.

Yes, sir.

But I don't think you'll fall in love with it.

I've never seen myself as a soldier, like some boys do.

I always hoped that, under my stewardship,

we would see Germany

turn into a state with an army,

rather than the other way around.

The Prime Minister is in there.

-And Winston... -Of course.

You carry this burden alone.

Yes.

You once criticised me for that.

"Too many secrets," you said.

It's how the game is played, I understand that.

But it is too punishing for one man.

All your successes - we know virtually nothing about,

they must remain private.

Otherwise, they are not successes at all.

But your failures...

they become common property, they belong to the world.

There is surely no hiding place from all the scorn

and vilification that follow.

I suppose that there comes a time in a war diplomacy

when nothing is left standing except principle?

Perhaps I should have travelled more.

Officially, you mean?

Officially, personally, both.

I've never once set foot in Germany.

I don't think that matters.

I could have taken my own measure of the place.

That's what the Foreign Office is for.

The world dissected by experts in every field,

its vital organs displayed and explained.

Now, all those organs are failing.

What will it be like, do you think?

I haven't given it much thought.

-Not the military side of things. -Well, you've lacked the time.

I've lacked the experience too.

We all lack that.

Except Winston.

Did he ever told you about his charge

with the 21st Lancers at the Battle of Omdurman?

I think he did tell me about it once.

What?

I think perhaps this war will be a little different.

Ours became the war of the spade.

The first trenches were dug in the Marne Valley

at the end of August 1914.

There was no "40-day war".

No triumphant gallop to Paris,

just a murderous and terrifying stalemate.

And, of course, the war spread.

It spread to the Middle East,

to Asia, to Africa - and beyond.

It became the First World War.

By 1918, four Empires were in ruins

and four royal dynasties ended.

The face of our continent was changed by revolution.

And death, it seemed, could never claim too many.

It was always hungry for more.

10 million died.

It's too many for the mind to conceive.

Every single one of them mourned by people who loved them

and missed them,

with grief consuming half the world.

Here's a funny thing.

Austria and Russia,

whose quarrel in the Balkans had taken everybody else to the edge,

they were the last to declare war on each other.

And when they did...

..nobody really noticed.

General Helmut von Moltke resigned

after failing to take Paris in the Autumn of 1914.

Winston Churchill was removec as First Lord of the Admiralty

in 1915, following the disastrous Battle of Gallipoli.

Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg was also forced to resign

following a Reichstag revolt.

Sir Eyre Crowe remained at the Foreign Office

and represented Great Britain at Paris Peace Conference

of 1919.

Prince Max Lichnowsky blamed his oun Government

for leading Europe to war.

He was expelled from the Prussian House of Lords.

David Lloyd George replaced Asquith

as Prime Minister in 1916.

Kaiser Wilhelm II was deposed in 1918.

Sir Edward Grey left the House of Commons

and became Ambassador to the United States.

He died in 1933.