Feeling among tradespeople and the wholesale trade that war was bound to come for the last
few years, and the sooner it was over, the better. Strong feeling against Germany, and opinion that her
methods of procedure are mean and crooked. Austria disregarded now.
Price of food in small shops has already risen. Dearth of petrol; taxis besieging
the shops for it.
Territorials and Army reserve called out.
...England sent Germany an ultimatum requiring a satisfactory answer to her request for
Belgium's neutrality to be respected, the time-limit for the answer fixed: August 4 at midnight. Germany
summarily rejected our request, and Great Britain declared that a state of war exists between Great Britain
and Germany as from 11 p.m. on August 4.
Earlier in the day, Belgium announced that Germany had violated her territory near
Aix-la-Chappelle...
