INVASION!

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 82, 31 December 1917, Page 6

INVASION!

From an authoritative British source Reiiter has received the following exposition of the facts with regard to the latest German statements as to the responsibility for tho war, and distributed by German wireless. After pointing out the fact that it is more than three years after the outbreak of war that the German Government publishes telegrams which it has been constantly challenged to produce, the statement proceeds:— "The apparent object of the publication is to relieve Germany of the charge that 'during the critical days of July, 1914, she suppressed telegrams from Vienna, which if forwarded in time to London would have prevented the outbreak of war.' The only telegram with regard to which this charge has been made is the one dated July 31, Austrian Red Book, No. 51. This telegram is of great importance, because, although the Austrian Government in it refuses their assent to Sir Edward Grey's last proposal for a formuia, they make a fundamental concession, viz.', that they are prepared 'to entertain the proposal of Sir Edward Gre yto negotiate between us and Serbia.'

"This telegram was never comiminicated to London by Berlin. Instead of that, the German Government' sent an ultimatum to St. Petersburg of such a nature that it must inevitably bring about war, and no one was told that Austria was prepared to submit flie dispute with Serbia, which was the origin of the whole difficulty, to arbitration. The new publications do not deal with this point at all, liiid the. charge made remains, as before, unanswered. "The .other telegrams seem also always to obscure the fundamental causes which efisted between Austria and Russia. Thev are. all based on the hypothesis that Russia could stand idly by and watch the conquest of Serbia by Austrian arms. As ene of the new German telegrams says: 'It is not unreasonable to conclude that the Russian Government will not closo its eyes to a recognition cf the fact that after the mobilisation of the Austro-Hun-garian army has begun its military honour requires it to march into Serbia.' As against this the Russian Government always contended that,_ even if they acquiesced in this position it was necessary for them to have at least a part of their army mobilised, for otherwise they would have been asked to stand by unarmed while the Serbian Army was defeated. Serbia occupied, and ' the kingdom thereby definitely brought into the Austro-Hunganan sphere of influence. "It was quite inevitable that Russia could 1 not accept this position, but at the least must herself undertake some mobilisation. This view the Austrian Government seems to havo accepted; they were quite prepared to continue negotiations with Russia- even after mobilisation. It was the German Goveminent which interfered, and threatened war, even if timer were a partial mobilisation of the R.ussian forces: it was the German ■ which thereby forced Russia to, mobilise completely, and then made this an excuse for war." ' Nothing in these telegrams now published (adds Renter) alters this essential point that it was the interference of Germany, and that alone, which— bv saying that mobilisation must bring about war—destroyed the hone of an agreement _ which but for this would have remained.