Great Britain Map 1914. Facing war with France and Russia Germany attempted to quickly defeat France first by moving through neutral Belgium. Asquith 5 April 1908 5 December 1916.
However the violation of Belgiums neutrality prompted Britain to join the war on the side of the French. On July 28 Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia starting the First World War. Great Britain was with its Empire the most powerful of the major belligerents the most politically and socially stable and the best able to endure the strains of the war.
The Oxford History of the British Empire.
The British were chiefly concerned with the protection of their trade routes. Click on map for more detail. P624 27 Great Britain and the Partition of Africa 18701914 Source. The Germans hoped that mines and submarine attacks would gradually destroy Great.
