§ 2. Mr. JOWETTasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the fact which he made known to the House of Commons on the 3rd August last, namely, that he did not know the 365 terms of the Franco-Russian Alliance, he is willing to make a further statement as to the grounds upon which he refrained from communicating to the French Government the information that France would not be invaded by Germany if her neutrality were guaranteed by Great Britain?
§ Sir E. GREYIf the hon. Gentleman will refer to No. 105 in the British White Paper—the last two sentences of the main paragraph—he will see that, though His Majesty's Government did not know the terms of the Franco-Russian alliance, they did know that the French Government could not contemplate an attitude of neutrality in the event of Russia being attacked by Germany as well as by Austria. The French Government had in fact already stated in advance on 30th July that the proposal actually made by the German Government two days later would be wholly inadmissible. But apart from that I thought it was a matter of common knowledge that these European alliances, whether dual or triple, entailed an obligation on the part of one Power to assist the other, certainly if attacked by two Powers.
§ 34. Mr. JOWETTasked the Prime Minister if the opinion recently expressed by the First Lord of the Admiralty to a "Matin" interviewer, to the effect that should France and Russia withdraw from participation in the European War Great Britain would fight to the bitter end, was published with the authority and sanction of His Majesty's Government?
§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Asquith)My right hon. Friend specially stated in the interview that he could not conceive that such a contingency could arise, and I am in absolute agreement with him. I see no reason to differ from the views he expressed in the interview.