Serbia wished to unite all Slavs in the Balkans including the Slavs belonging to the Austro-Hungary Emperor. Russia was a protector of the Slavs with interests in the Balkans and it was intimidated by the Austrians, so Russia declared full mobilization of its troops on 30 July 1914. Consequently, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August and on 3 August on France. Britain, despite much diplomatic pressure, had so far given no commitment to France or to Russia, the two countries with which it had signed ententes. After failing in several attempts at mediation, Grey had tried to persuade the cabinet that Britain would face a 'miserable and ignoble future' if it did not join in a conflict which could result in German domination of the continent and the high seas. But when Germany invaded Belgium, as Britain pledged since 1839 to uphold Belgium's independence and neutrality, Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. When Poincare' (President of France) refused to withdraw support for Russia, Germany also declared war on France (3 August) and privately expressed his relief that the blame for a war which France had not sought could clearly be placed on Germany: 'Never before had a declaration of war been welcomed with such satisfaction'(4).
The examination of the background to the events of July-August 1914 led to many issues: The Alliance System - Many countries went to war because they had entered into defensive military alliances which they felt bound to honour. The first of these was the Triple Alliance, forged by an earlier German Clancellor, Otto von Bismarck. Germany had inflicted a decisive defeat on France in 1871 in the last of the wars which created the German Empire. Bismack wanted to prevent the French from taking revenge for this defeat and for Germany's annexation of their valuable provinces, Alsace and Lorraine. Thus he negotiated treaties with Austria (1879) and Italy (1882).