Chapter 45

Sunday 2 August 1914

The German Army occupies Luxembourg as a preliminary step to the invasion of Belgium and then France.

On the platform at the top of the Eiffel Tower, French soldiers have mounted a lookout for German aircraft.

At three o’clock in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, a solemn ceremony takes place. In front of six thousand people dressed in gala costumes, the Tsar takes the gospel in his right hand. He takes the same oath that his ancestor took in 1812 just before going out to face Napoleon’s Grande Armée: ‘Officers of my guard here present, I salute and bless in you all my army. Solemnly I swear that I will not conclude peace as long as there is one enemy on the soil of our country.’ A wave of cheering that lasts ten minutes shakes the hall.

Now, even though it was probably the last thing he wanted, it is game on for the Tsar in the Group of Death.

The British Cabinet, sitting around the long table with its covering of green baize, is being pushed for a decision by Sir Edward Grey. He argues that Britain has ‘both moral obligations of honour and substantial obligations of policy in taking sides with France.’ He tells his colleagues that if Britain remains neutral, he will resign. The meeting, which began at eleven, is still sitting at a quarter to two. Eventually Grey is authorised to tell the French Ambassador that if the German fleet comes into the Channel, the British fleet will give France all the protection it can muster.

The Cabinet meeting resumes at 6:30 p.m. Grey, pushing again, gets agreement that if the Germans violate Belgian neutrality, Britain will take action.

After the meeting, Grey promises the French Ambassador that the Royal Navy will protect France’s coast from German attack. The Ambassador is delighted, reporting to his people that he now feels Britain will enter the war. ‘In truth,’ he writes, ‘a great country does not wage war by halves. Once it decided to fight the war at sea it would necessarily be led into fighting it on land as well.’

That evening, Grey is dining when a red dispatch box comes in from the Foreign Office. It contains the news that, since six o’clock this morning, German troop trains have been leaving Cologne station at the rate of one every three or four minutes. They are headed not south-west towards France but towards Aixla-Chapelle, the direction of Belgium.

In addition, the Germans have given the Belgians an ultimatum that German troops should be allowed to pass through Belgium to counter ‘the threat of a French invasion.’ The Belgians are given twelve hours to reply. King Albert of Belgium refuses the German request to violate his country’s neutrality.

Clara writes in her diary, ‘If I were to say no to this now, I would be saying no to the only opportunity for love I will get in this lifetime. There won’t be another.’

Then she adds, ‘I wonder whether Henry will try nasty things involving the children.’

Finally, she writes, ‘I have set my face to doing this and the decision is now made, the door is closed, the Rubicon has been crossed.’

Clara finds that when she is feeling very, very small, writing in her diary helps. When she does it she feels like the Clara of the time before she met Henry, the Clara of when she is with James.