Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July while royal and diplomatic channels still searched for a settlement. British naval precautions came too late and were not displayed clearly enough to alter German calculations. By the time Grey made Britain's red lines over Belgium and the Channel explicit, the Schlieffen Plan's route through Belgium and Russian general mobilization had made escalation extremely difficult to arrest. Fixed mobilization timetables converted diplomatic delay into shrinking military choices.
Chapter · 1:28:20-1:35:36
Mobilization overtakes diplomacy
After Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, late British naval precautions could not keep pace with continental mobilization plans.