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"a accepté la proposition anglaise qui implique un arrêt"des préparatifs militaires de toutes les Puissances").Germany 's attitude proves that she wants war. —
History could not be treated with a lighter heart.
It is here to be admitted that Austria-Hungary showed adisposition to yield, and thereby held out the hope that peace wouldbe preserved. But the French Circular note conceals the factthat this inclination had to be ascribed to German influence;while the French Minister for Foreign Affairs even went so faras to declare in the Chamber of Deputies on the 4 th of Augustthat Germany (between the 24 th and the 31 st of July whenshe sent her ultimatum to Russia under the pretext (!) of thelatter having issued orders for a general mobilisation) had nopositive share in the conciliatory efforts of the Triple Entente!(Yellow Book No. 159.)
It must be denied that Russia had accepted the English proposal to stop the military preparations of all the Powers, andthereby made Germanys Ultimatum appear unfounded. The Eng-lish proposal (Blue Book No. 103) did not, from the beginninginclude the condition that all military preparations were to bestopped; Sir Edward Grey had merely expressed the earnesthope that, if his suggestion were accepted, it might be agreedto suspend further military preparations on all sides. Besides,Russia has never accepted the English proposal, neither before norafter the presentation of the German ultimatum. M. Viviani'sCircular note (Yellow Book No. 120) which speaks of Russia having accepted the English proposal (in paragraph 4), merely saysthat the Russian Government are "ready to enter into negotiations"on the basis of the English proposal" (". . . prêt à entrer en"négociations sur la base de la proposition anglaise"). Thereis indeed a difference between the acceptance proper of a pro-posal and the readiness to enter into negotiations on its contentBut in reality Russia 's Minister for Foreign Affairs has not evengone as far as to declare himself ready to negotiate; on thecontrary, he has made a counter-proposal to the English Ambassadorwhich was differing very materially from the English one.
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