Britain's ministers had to decide how to answer the German plan: Asquith, Lloyd George, Churchill, Grey, and McKenna all brought different priorities to the crisis. Britain had built the fleet to deter war and had kept the Entente short of an alliance, but German ships and troop transports in the Channel would create an immediate crisis. The local stopping force would be pre-dreadnoughts, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and other Channel units rather than the main Grand Fleet. Britain could monitor or protest, but its ultimate choice would be non-intervention or a huge battle before its strongest force could concentrate.
Chapter · 34:01-43:52
Britain's Channel dilemma before the Grand Fleet arrives
The British choice turns on cabinet politics, the Entente's ambiguity, and the thin immediate force available in the Channel.