Britain declares war on Germany
Submitted by admin on Mon, 2016-07-04 15:03On 4 August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. The British Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, had given Germany an ultimatum to withdraw its forces from Belgium by midnight of 3 August. Following the events in Sarajevo, and the consequent declaration of war on Russia, Germany had set in motion the Schlieffen Plan that doomed Belgium to invasion as a means of attacking France. Britain had guaranteed Belgium’s neutrality in treaties dating back to 1839.
The German response to the ultimatum was unsatisfactory and Britain declared war.