How German planning misread Britain's 1914 warning

In this interpretation, the British cabinet lacked the votes to enter a continental war simply to support France and Russia. Lloyd George's opposition constrained Asquith, while the naval understanding with France and Belgium's strategic position created specific British interests. Germany was repeatedly warned against moving into the Channel or violating Belgian neutrality. German leaders treated those conditions as cover for inevitable British neutrality and continued with the Schlieffen Plan. British signaling also remained weak because the government did not immediately mobilize the fleet to demonstrate its Channel policy. Belgium's refusal to permit German passage then gave intervention a treaty and national-security basis that the divided cabinet could support.