, Sir Edward Grey, (Paper 1, British "White
Book,") wrote to Sir E. Goschen, British Ambassador at Berlin, a letter
in which he states:

In fact, the more Austria could keep her demand within
reasonable limits, and the stronger the justification she
could produce for making any demand, the more chance there
would be of smoothing things over. _I hated the idea of a war
between any of the great powers_, and that any of them should
be dragged into a war by Servia would be detestable.

On July 24, 1914, the Austrian message to Servia became known to all
countries, and on the same day Sir George Buchanan, British Ambassador
at St. Petersburg, wrote that he had been asked by Mr. Sazonof, Russian
Minister of Foreign Affairs, to meet him at the French Embassy to
discuss matters, as Austria's step clearly meant that war was imminent.
He wrote that Mr. Sazonof expressed himself as follows (British Paper
6):

He hoped that his Majesty's Government would not fail to
_proclaim their solidarity with Russia and France_. The French
Ambassador gave me to understand that France would fulfill all
the obligations entailed by her alliance with Russia, if
necessity arose, besides supporting Russia strongly in any
diplomatic negotiations.

Later, on July 29, 1914, Sir George Buchanan wrote to Sir Edward Grey
(Paper 72, English "White Book") as follows:

I made it clear to his Excellency that, _Russia being
thoroughly in earnest, a general war could not be averted_ if
Servia were attacked by Austria.

Sir George Buchanan would not have said that if he had not been
authorized to do so. He would not have said a "general war could not be
averted if Servia were attacked by Austria"; and by "general war" he
meant, and we all understand he meant, a war between England, France,
and Russia on one side and Germany and Austria on the other.

Servia's reply to the demand of Austria, which was dated July 25, 1914,
not being deemed satisfactory, Austria proceeded to a punitive
expedition against Servia, and she repeatedly asserted and assured all
the other powers that the expedition was merely punitive and that
neither the independence nor the territorial integrity of Servia were at
all involved or in any danger.

But all this had no effect upon Russia. In fact, when Russia was first
informed of the Austrian demand (Annex 4, German "White Book") Minister
of Foreign Affair