Village books

On the afternoon of August fourth, I went to see von Jagow to
try and pick up any news. The British Ambassador sat in the
waiting-room of the Foreign Office. Sir Edward told me that he
was there for the purpose of asking for his passports. He spoke
in English, of course, and I am sure that he was overheard by a
man sitting in the room who looked to me like a German newspaper
man, so that I was not surprised when, late in the afternoon,
extra sheets appeared upon the street announcing that the British
Ambassador had asked for his passports and that Great Britain
had declared war.
At this news the rage of the population of Berlin was indescribable.
The Foreign Office had believed, and this belief had percolated
through all classes in the capital, that the English were so
occupied with the Ulster rebellion and unrest in Ireland that
they would not declare war.
[Illustration: CROWDS IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY AWAITING BULLETINS,
AUGUST, 1914.]
[Illustration: THE AMERICAN EMBASSY WAS THE CENTRE OF INTEREST
TO MANY IN THOSE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR.


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