Russian, and
Italian Governments took up--realized that Serbia's seizing the
initiative put an end to all hopes of Greece lending a hand, and they
virtually vetoed the project, as has already been mentioned in Chapter
IV. That, as it turned out, was an unfortunate decision, because it
fatally injured the Serbian prospects of preventing their territory
being overrun before the French and we could intervene effectively,
while it did not secure Greek adhesion. We virtually staked on King
Constantine, and we found too late that our King was a Knave.

Just at this awkward juncture Lord Kitchener instructed me to be
prepared to proceed to Salonika, and all the necessary steps for
starting on the journey were promptly taken; but it was not clear what
capacity I was going in. It seemed a mistake, although one was
naturally heartened at the prospect of activities in a new sphere,
even if these were only to be of a temporary character. But, as it
turned out, the Dardanelles Committee (or the War Council, I am not
sure of the exact date when the Dardanelles Committee deceased)
intervened, wishing me to remain at my post. In view of what
followed, one was well out of intimate contact with the Macedonian
imbroglio on the spot, because, as everybody knows now, the
Franco-British forces arrived too late to save Serbia from reverses
which amounted to an almost overwhelming disaster at the hands of the
great hosts which the Central Powers and Bulgaria threw into the
scale.

We and the French had, judged by results, made a hideous mess of
things between us. The Allies were late at a critical juncture--and in
war that is the unpardonable sin. Sir E. Carson, who had for a brief
period proved himself a tower of strength on the Dardanelles
Committee, resigned from the Cabinet in disgust. Lord Milner,
independent man of affairs at the time, spoke out strongly on the
subject in the House of Lords. But although the opinion of either of
them is well worth having on most questions, and although both know
their own minds, I doubt whether they, either of them, had any clear
idea then as to what ought to have been done to avert the catastrophe,
and I doubt whether they, either of them, have a clear idea now.
Subsequent to May we were confronted with a horribly complex military
and political situation in the Near East (and by that time military
forces were already committed to the Dardanelles venture); because it
was only then that the position of