With 1914 came the
completion of the enlarged Kiel Canal (exactly as foretold by Fisher
years before); and this, together with the state of the world for and
against the Germans, made the war an absolute certainty at once. The
murder of the heir to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand, was only an
excuse to goad the gallant Serbians into war. Any other would have
done as well if it had only served the German turn.
HYMN BEFORE ACTION
The earth is full of anger,
The seas are dark with wrath,
The Nations in their harness
Go up against our path:
Ere yet we loose the legions--
Ere yet we draw the blade,
Jehovah of the Thunders,
Lord God of Battles, aid!
* * * *
E'en now their vanguard gathers,
E'en now we face the fray--
As Thou didst help our fathers,
Help Thou our host to-day!
Fulfilled of signs and wonders,
In life, in death made clear--
Jehovah of the Thunders,
Lord God of Battles, hear!
--_Rudyard Kipling_.
CHAPTER XXIV
WAR
(1914-1915)
No one who has had a look behind the scenes will ever forget the three
War Wednesdays of 1914, the 22nd and 29th of July and the 5th of
August; for during that dire fortnight the fate of the whole world hung
trembling in the scales of life and death.
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