KAISER AND KINGS
EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR RECALLED AN OFFER CURTLY REFUSED Australian and N.Z. Press Association Reed. 11.53 a.m. LONDON, Thursday. There are three specially illuminating passages in Evelyn Graham’s biography of King Albert of Belgium. The writer reveals that King Albert at Potsdam in 1913 tried to persuade the Kaiser that he was mistaken in thinking that war with France was inevitable. The Kaiser said: “I am never mistaken.” King Albert, on August 4, 1914, personally telegraphed King George asking him to safeguard the integrity of Belgium. King George, who was lunching at the time, quietly said: “We must help.” The writer expresses the opinion that that was the commencement of the war, as far as Britain was concerned. The Kaiser, when Liege was captured, secretly asked on what terms King Albert would cease to oppose the Germans, and pledged his personal honour that any pact would be carried out. King Albert curtly refused:—“Even if I were tempted to consider your proposal, your assurance would make me hesitate.”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNAK19291018.2.112
Bibliographic details
Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 797, 18 October 1929, Page 11
Word Count
171KAISER AND KINGS Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 797, 18 October 1929, Page 11
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