The Road to The Great War: Britain's Fateful Choice (Part 4)

大战之路:英国的命运选择(第四部分)

The Rest Is History

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2024-07-22

55 分钟
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On the 24th of July 1914, in London, the Liberal British Cabinet met to hear the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, read them the Ultimatum handed to Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire the day before. The world held its breath, awaiting Serbia’s response. With Germany determined to stand by Austria, and the French against them, focus now turned turned to Britain. Historically a German ally despite their naval race in 1913, it had recently adopted a policy of “splendid isolation”, its enormous empire having in some ways been something of a millstone, forcing them into protective alliances with other powers with which they may not otherwise have aligned. Regardless, the cabinet’s response to the Ultimatum was one of unanimous shock, with Sir Grey himself - a man of languid superiority - especially worried by the situation simmering in Europe. How, then, would Britain and the other great powers of Europe respond to the Ultimatum? And graver still, what would Serbia do? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the entangled web of European diplomacy in 1914, the British reaction to Austria’s Ultimatum, and the fascinating, comical and often deeply impressive cast of characters operating matters behind the scenes, as the countdown to war begun. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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  • The discussion had reached its inconclusive end and the cabinet was about to separate when the quiet, grave tones of Sir Edward Greys voice were heard reading a document which had just been brought to him from the Foreign Office.

  • It was the austrian note to Serbia.

  • We were all very tired.

  • But gradually, as the phrases and sentences followed one another, impressions of a wholly different character began to form.

  • In my mind.

  • This note was clearly an ultimatum.

  • But it was an ultimatum such as had never been penned in modern times.

  • As the reading proceeded, it seemed absolutely impossible that any state in the world could accept it, or that any acceptance, however abject, would satisfy the aggressor.

  • The parishes of Fermanagh and Tyrone faded back into the mists and squalls of Ireland, and a strange light began immediately by perceptible gradations to fall and to grow upon the map of Europe.

  • So that Dominic was Winston Churchill, of course, writing in the world crisis, which is a book largely about himself, I think, isn't it?

  • It?

  • Isn't it?

  • On the cabinet meeting held in London, the capital of the United Kingdom and of the British Empire on the 24 July 1914.

  • And Churchill there is describing the moment that the british foreign secretary, and absolutely a personal hero of mine, Sir Edward Grey, reads the austrian ultimatum to Serbia, to his colleagues in the liberal government and people who heard our last episode, we ended with the world literally holding its breath, literally.

  • Literally, as it waited for Serbia's reply to this very, very kind of strict and stern austrian ultimatum, and with the Russians and the French having pledged that they will hold firm against any sense of uppediness from Austria and more particularly from Germany.

  • But I think we've had far too much focus on continental powers so far.