‘The First World War was the Third Balkan War before it became the First World War,’ writes Clark. Better to have Russia as a friend and Germany as an enemy than the other way round, British policy-makers reasoned. Russia was our great imperial competitor, and Russian interests in Persia and Afghanistan threatened the security of British India. The impulse behind Britain’s decision to sign up to the Franco-Russian alliance was not fear of Germany, but fear of Russia. He argues convincingly that British admirals never believed that the German surface fleet was capable of challenging their dominance of the seas, and the events of the Great War were to prove them right. 1914-1918: The History Of The First World War by David Stevenson, (Penguin £12.99, ☎ £10.99 inc p&p)
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