On August first, the German Ambassador handed a declaration of war to the Russian Foreign Minister. This meant war with France, and hardly had the French Government issued general mobilization orders when the invasion of France began. A day later, Germany demanded of Belgium free passage for her troops, and the French Government proclaimed martial law in France and Algiers. All Continental Europe was now aflame. The German Ambassador had made a strong bid for British neutrality, and Great Britain's reply was noble. After speaking of its friendship with France it concluded with the words: "Whether that friendship involves obligations, let every man look into his own heart and construe that obligation for himself."
On the fourth of August, after Italy had proclaimed her neutrality, England's ultimatum was sent to Germany. When no reply came, the British foreign office announced that a state of war existed between the two countries and Germany gave the British Ambassador his passport. A day later, President Wilson offered the good offices of the United States to bring about a settlement between the warring powers. On the seventh of August, a day after Austria-Hungary had declared war on Russia, Germany announced that jealousy of Germany was the real cause of the war. On the ninth of August, Serbia, in order to get rid of the German Ambassador, declared war on Germany and, finally, war was declared between France and Austria, and Austria and Great Britain. Portugal reported that she was on the side of Great Britain.
Soon Austrian troops were invading Serbia, three to one. On the twenty-seventh of July, the Serbian army had mobilized. It had barely recuperated from the recent war with Bulgaria and, while men were in trim for fighting, the army was ill equipped and to an extent unprepared for a new war. This in itself shows the folly of the accusation that the Serbian Government had encouraged the murder of the Archduke in order to precipitate a war with Austria. An additional bit of evidence in Serbia's favor, if more were needed, was the fact that when the Archduke was murdered, many Serbian officials and other men of importance were at German or Austrian watering-places and had difficulty in getting back to their homes and their duties.