Britain's ability to restrain Germany depended on paying attention and pushing back against dangerous choices. In this interpretation, British inattention left Germany without an effective check during the crisis. The comparison is with parliamentary opposition: both forms of opposition help expose and resist errors before they become policy. With no international police force above the great powers, restraint depended on how those powers responded to one another.
Notable Point · 1:08:05-1:08:55
Britain's inattention weakens the balance of power
Britain could check German escalation only by following the crisis closely and responding to dangerous choices.