#59: 3 August 1914 III - House on Fire
When Diplomacy Fails Podcast12 Maj 2025

#59: 3 August 1914 III - House on Fire

Finally, Sir Edward Grey was ready to make his case to the House of Commons. Parliament had been starved of news for a week, and the press had done their best to fill in the gaps, but the whole country was desperate for an update. What would the government do if the rumours were true, and Germany had invaded France? Was neutrality on the table? And what of Belgium, who was protected by a treaty? How would Grey rally the House to his side, and did it even matter if he could not, since the Cabinet had already been convinced of the need to act thanks to various pressures?


Grey was tasked with answering many of these questions, but there were many that he did not answer, and a surprising amount that he did not say. In this episode we give Grey's speech in the Commons - and the subsequent reactions - their proper attention. In a day suffused with monumental, watershed moments, not limited to Germany's declaration of war on France, Grey's speech represented the public culmination of a struggle which had gone on in private for several weeks. His seventy minute speech set the tone for what was to come, and effectively spelled out that Britain was bound to transform this European war into a world war.


Support the July Crisis series, join the conversation, and find out more through these links:

  1. Do you want ad-free episodes with scripts attached, and bonus content? Support us on Patreon and you can suggest July Crisis episodes!
  2. Join our Facebook group as we make our way through this fascinating series!
  3. Click here to see our July Crisis workspace in Perlego, you'll find every source you need!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avsnitt(744)

American Revolution by American History Tellers Teaser

American Revolution by American History Tellers Teaser

Those crazy folks over at Wondery have a podcast called American History Tellers, which you can find and subscribe to here.In this teaser, you can get a preview of what AHT has coming - namely, a six ...

12 Juli 201810min

Korean War #27: Avengers Assemble

Korean War #27: Avengers Assemble

Apologies for the birdsongs in advance... We've got a real treat for you in the latest episode of the Korean War guys, as niche diplomacy and underrated tales become our prime focus. Here we examine t...

8 Juli 201844min

30YearsWar: 17th Century Warfare Episode 5

30YearsWar: 17th Century Warfare Episode 5

Our series on 17th century warfare continues with a look at how French armies were constituted, and how their attitudes towards certain tactics changed. We begin with an examination of the massive inc...

6 Juli 201837min

Korean War #26: United We Stand

Korean War #26: United We Stand

Within this episode we continue to surge ahead with our narrative of the Korean War through the lens of that body. We look at how it coped with the progress of the North Koreans throughout the summer,...

1 Juli 201840min

Korean War #25: The Tangle of War

Korean War #25: The Tangle of War

Paul Kendrick's Korean War PodcastThis is in some sense a two-pronged episode, where we look first of all at the days between 27-30 June 1950, and explain how the Truman administration managed to mani...

24 Juni 201836min

Korean War #24: UNprecedented

Korean War #24: UNprecedented

UNprecedented - get it, because UN = United Nations, and it's unprecedented because it's never happened before?! I'm a genius! Episode 24: UNprecedented looks at the role of the United Nations, which ...

19 Juni 201841min

Korean War #23: What Lies Beneath

Korean War #23: What Lies Beneath

The Korean War is back with a bang!Episode 23: What Lies Beneath takes us to the halls of Washington, where as we saw in the last episode, the US was surprisingly slow to respond to the North Korean i...

17 Juni 201841min

30YearsWar: 17th Century Warfare Episode 4

30YearsWar: 17th Century Warfare Episode 4

In our latest episode of 17th Century Warfare, we put the Military Revolution to the test, by applying a key aspect of it - the trace italienne system - to 17th century France! Expect talk of fortress...

12 Juni 201838min

Populärt inom Historia

kod-katastrof
massmordarpodden
historiska-brott
motiv
p3-historia
historiepodden-se
olosta-mord
rss-historiska-brottslingar
rss-seriemordarpodden
historianu-med-urban-lindstedt
rss-historien-om
rss-massmordarpodden
mannen-utan-spar
obskyr-historia
vetenskapsradion-historia
militarhistoriepodden
krigshistoriepodden
palmemordet
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
bedragare