Hidden History: The Secret Origins of the First World War.

by Gerry Docherty

  With dramatic simplicity, the Secret Elite turned Edwardian Britain from the rigid isolation of Victoria’s reign to a country that embraced new ‘friendships’ and ‘alliances’ that suited their intentions in the twentieth century. They clearly identified Germany as the enemy at the Empire’s gate and understood immediately that, on its own, Britain could not destroy her as a continental power. King Edward VII proved his worth as the pre-eminent ambassador by moving around the continent in apparent innocence, establishing personal connections with royal families, distributing honours with gay abandon and canvassing on Britain’s behalf to ensure that Germany was surrounded by nations that enjoyed his patronage. Simultaneously, initial steps were made to reorganise and restructure the armed forces to radically improve their readiness for war. In this task, the Secret Elite were represented by Lord Esher, whose influence on the army and its future appointments was disproportionate to his constitutional right. But what hold did an unwritten constitution have on a subversive cabal that operated in conjunction with the king, well hidden from public knowledge? Even at that early stage, they understood the need to control foreign policy and the preparations for war, and to that purpose ensured the permanent membership of their unelected representative, Lord Esher, to the Committee of Imperial Defence. Reconstruction was under way.

  SUMMARY: CHAPTER 3 – THE EDWARD CONSPIRACY – FIRST STEPS AND NEW BEGINNINGS

  The Secret Elite viewed German economic, industrial and commercial success as a direct threat to their global ambitions and believed that war was the only means by which they could be stopped.

  Britain could not engage in a war against Germany on her own and needed allies to provide the military manpower.

  Four lessons had been learned from the Boer War. Foreign policy had to be sustained no matter which political party was in office; the British Army needed a complete overhaul to make it fit for purpose; the Royal Navy had to maintain all its historic advantages; the general public had to be turned against Germany.

  Britain’s era of splendid isolation was brought to an end through an Anglo-Japanese treaty in 1902.

  The Secret Elite looked to Britain’s old adversaries, France and Russia, as long-term potential allies, and King Edward VII emerged as their diplomatic champion.

  Edward was a natural Francophile whose playboy image served to screen his unconstitutional involvement in foreign affairs.

  Edward travelled all over Europe promoting the Secret Elite’s plan, and he was the architect of the Entente Cordiale of 1904.

  Belgian diplomats accurately reported that the king’s actions as de facto foreign secretary undermined Germany, but they did not know that he was acting on behalf of the Secret Elite.

  Lord Esher was appointed to the South African War Commission to analyse the reasons why the army had performed so poorly, and on the back of that and his close relationship with King Edward VII he became integral to army reconstruction.

  Esher was also a member of the secretive Committee of Imperial Defence set up to advise the prime minister on matters of defence, including foreign policy.

  Eager to keep control of this exclusive committee, Esher had himself appointed as a permanent member. Thus the Secret Elite dominated the reconstruction and realignment of the army and foreign policy from the start of the twentieth century.

  CHAPTER 4

  Testing Warmer Waters

  THE ENTENTE CORDIALE WAS HAILED as proof positive of a new era of Anglo-French mutual understanding and friendship that would finally bury age-old antagonisms between the two. It did, but that was never its prime purpose. Pursuit of global dominance was at the core of every action taken by the Secret Elite, and the creation of alliances with France, followed some years later by Russia, were first and foremost arrangements of strategic necessity. Their large armies were required for the eventual destruction of Germany. Additionally, the secret terms hidden in the unpublished parts of the alliance were mutually approved to increase the power and influence of Germany’s enemies, and push the Berlin government towards a possible war.

  The entente heralded the end of disputes between Britain and France over North Africa and both declared that they had ‘no intention of altering the political status’ of Egypt or Morocco,1 a sure sign that they meant exactly the opposite. The Times, the first organ of Secret Elite propaganda,2 hailed the signing as ‘the surest pledge of universal peace’ and praised the part played by King Edward in bringing Anglo-French cordiality to a new level.3 Old claims and counterclaims were to be put aside and French President Loubet and Foreign Minister Delcassé were presented as distinguished statesmen who deserved the gratitude of their fellow countrymen.4

  The Entente Cordiale was not as it seemed. Top-secret codicils, hidden within its published articles, signed on that very same day, 8 April 1904, concealed the double-dealing upon which the entente had been settled. The secret clauses effectively guaranteed British control of Egypt in return for French control over Morocco. Britain had earlier promised to leave Egypt as soon as its financial affairs were in order, but such an open-ended promise meant nothing. The great financial houses in London – Rothschilds and Barings – had secured vast concessions by restructuring Egyptian finances.5 They held large commercial interests there, and unfettered control of Egypt was a cash cow for these British bankers. Thanks to the Rothschilds, not only did the British government own most of the shares in the Suez Canal but it also acted as the strategic and commercial gatekeeper to the Gulf, the Middle East and India through the canal. Britain essentially controlled the entrance to the Mediterranean at Gibraltar and its exit at Suez. Do not imagine that strengthening the capacity to shut down the Mediterranean was a chance happening.

  Hidden from parliaments and people alike, Britain agreed that France could take control of Morocco once they had effectively overthrown the sultan. In plain English, it was a carve-up. This paved the way for the annexation of Morocco by France with assured diplomatic support from Britain.6 Other nations, countries on whom King Edward had recently showered honours, were sucked into the Mediterranean vortex by casual gifts of territories they did not own.

  Italy’s goodwill was secured by the promise of Tripoli. Spurred on by Britain, Italy agreed to the eventual French possession of Morocco in exchange for their acceptance of Italy’s claims to the Tripoli-Cyrenaica area of northern Libya. In addition, Italy secretly promised to remain neutral if France was attacked by either Germany or Austria-Hungary.7 The French reciprocated with a similar commitment should Italy be attacked. It was a pact of strict and mutual neutrality that in effect made a nonsense of Italy’s commitment to any aggressive stance that the Triple Alliance might take.8

  Relations between Britain and Italy had historically been amicable, and even within the context of the Triple Alliance, Italy had insisted that a clause be included recognising the fact that on no account would she go to war against Britain. With Kitchener and his army encamped literally next door in Egypt, Italy could never have moved into Tripoli without Britain’s approval. Inside the Foreign Office, Secret Elite agents considered Italian royalty and government ministers who had been courted assiduously by King Edward as sympathetic allies. Edward’s determination to prise them away from the Triple Alliance had begun in earnest.

  King Alfonso’s Spain was also held to be more than sympathetic to Britain and France. Edward VII’s investment in the Spanish monarchy continued to bear fruit, and in colluding with France and Britain, Spain was assured a considerable part of Morocco’s Mediterranean coast. Having surrendered any British interests in Morocco by deed of the entente, the Secret Elite chose Spain as the perfect surrogate replacement. Their most experienced diplomat, Sir Arthur Nicolson, was moved from Tangier to Madrid in 1904, and his presence guaranteed their involvement in all that followed.

  Hidden behind the public announcements, the secret articles became the opening gambit in the Secret Elite’s move to systematically provoke Germany. While they were prepared to concede minor points ov
er Newfoundland, Siam and West Africa, secret articles accompanying the treaty centred on Britain’s control and assumed rights in Egypt, and France’s own imperial plans for Morocco. It was designed to insult and antagonise Germany, whose rights and responsibilities in Morocco were every bit as strong as those of Britain or France. The major powers had jointly signed a mutually advantageous agreement in 1880 at Madrid, stating that Moroccan independence should be ‘protected’. Britain, France and Germany, acting in unison, had promised that free trade with the country would be honoured. It was not some altruistic decision. They were simply a group of foreign exploiters happy to share the spoils of a weaker nation. But Germany was bound to react when the secret agreements of the entente came into play. She had a treaty with Morocco, kept a diplomatic representative in Tangier, had considerable growing commercial interests in the country and had cooperated fully with Britain in resisting any previous French attempts to claim a privileged position there.9 Furthermore, she had no intention of allowing France and Britain to exclude her from the Mediterranean by a diplomatic agreement to which she had not been made party.

  How did the perpetrators expect Germany to react? The Secret Elite network controlled the world’s finest diplomatic and commercial spy rings and were well aware of the effect that their decisions would have. The diplomatic service was the best-informed and most proactive arm of British foreign policy, and they knew that Germany would learn the details of the secret arrangements. Germany was being deliberately put to the test.

  News of the entente was first greeted by the German government with temperate approval. On 12 April, the German chancellor, Bernhard von Bülow, was questioned about it in the Reichstag. At that point in time he had no knowledge of the secret clauses and talked in terms of its benefit to world peace:

  Our interests there are commercial and we are especially interested that calm and order should prevail in Morocco. We must protect our commercial interests there but have no reason to fear that they will be set aside or infringed by any Power.10

  Both the press and politicians in Germany accepted that a peaceful understanding between Britain and France was of benefit to everyone in Europe. Relations between Britain and Germany appeared to be harmonious. On the face of it, they had no reason to be concerned.

  The French government took advantage of Britain’s approval by acting as if it had some special governance over Morocco. Behind a mask of apparent good intent, a Franco-Spanish declaration of October 1904 stated publicly that they remained ‘firmly attached to the integrity of the Moorish Empire under the sovereignty of the sultan’. It was a lie, an act of studied hypocrisy, because in yet another secret codicil they callously agreed to partition Morocco between them.11 France and Spain intended to share the spoils of the country with Britain’s full approval. On 6 October, the French ambassador in London, Paul Cambon, advised the British foreign secretary: ‘Delcassé requests you to be good enough to keep the Convention entirely secret.’ Lansdowne made it perfectly clear that the ‘confidential nature’ of the conspiracy would be ‘duly respected’.12 Delcassé was a man close to the heart of the Secret Elite, and his agreement with Spain to carve up Morocco was conducted with their consent. Secret Elite fingerprints touched every corner of this deal, but the question to be asked was: from whom were these actions being kept secret?

  The answer is the British and French public, whose natural aversion to secret treaties was well understood. For sure, Germany would learn of them. There were too many indiscreet diplomats in Madrid and St Petersburg for Germany not to learn the truth within a relatively short period.13 Diplomatic secrets rarely lasted long, and the Secret Elite knew, indeed hoped, that it would provoke a very angry German reaction, which would then be rejected as German propaganda against the entente.

  Fortified by the entente and British collusion, the French could not stop themselves taking advantage of the fact that they already occupied Algeria and sought to expand their colonial stranglehold in northern Africa.14 On 11 January 1905, the French ambassador at Tangier was ordered to submit a programme of unacceptable ‘reforms’ to the sultan. The Moroccan leader refused to bow to their demands and had no option other than to turn to Germany for support and advice.15 Understandably, Germany had no intention of allowing Morocco’s independence to be undermined by anyone. At the behest of the German chancellor, Kaiser Wilhelm, who had been enjoying a scheduled Mediterranean cruise for reasons of his health, reluctantly visited Tangier on 31 March 1905 to declare his support for the sultan.16 According to the New York Times, Tangier was ‘garlanded with flowers’ and so much was spent on flags and bunting that ‘no one could doubt that it meant more than merely a courteous welcome’.17

  Though he spent only two hours there, the political significance of his message reverberated far longer. Kaiser Wilhelm made two fairly straightforward statements. The first asserted German commercial rights in Morocco and the second insisted that the sovereignty of the sultan and the integrity of Morocco must remain intact. Morocco’s independence had never been questioned any more than the independence of Persia or Russia or of the United States.18 An agreement, secret or otherwise, between Britain and France carried no authority to change that.

  When the kaiser visited Tangier, he already knew about the secret articles attached to the entente and of the ‘secret’ Franco-Spanish Convention. He knew that deals had purposefully been concealed, and he was also aware that a series of ‘reforms’ had been prepared for the sultan’s acceptance that were absolutely incompatible with Morocco’s independence.19 The German government declared that no one country should attempt to take control of Morocco, and, with dignified diplomatic propriety, the kaiser called for an international conference to resolve the matter. Von Bülow warned the international community that France might assume a protectorate over Morocco and expel other commercial competitors just as it had previously done in Tunis.20 The sultan agreed with the kaiser’s reasoned approach and invited interested parties to a conference in Tangier.

  All hell was let loose in the British and French newspapers. Germany and the kaiser were ridiculed and vilified. The Secret Elite unleashed their outraged press to denounce the kaiser with unrestrained violence.21 He was accused of deliberately attempting to destroy the entente as a prelude to making war on France. Wild claims of evil German intent poured out in a torrent of sheer vitriol, and any voice of reason was ‘assailed as that of a traitor or a coward’.22

  By creating the Moroccan Crisis, the Secret Elite successfully generated a fear and manufactured a menace where none existed. A British general election was in the offing, and a change of government seemed certain. Europe at peace with itself was the very last circumstance under which the Secret Elite wanted the incoming Liberal government to take office. That could have been a disaster. The public wanted the radical Liberals to cut spending on the navy and army immediately and redistribute the money to further social reform. Secret Elite ambition might have been thwarted by an incoming Liberal government, but serious steps that will be explained in detail later were already in place to protect their plans. The timing of the Moroccan Crisis was perfect. Just as the elections of January 1906 got under way, the international crisis generated alarm and created a climate of fear. Nothing more assuredly protects spending on armaments than a climate of fear.

  And what had actually happened? Britain, France and Spain had acted without any international sanction.23 There was no precedent in international law to justify their unwarranted intervention in Morocco. In France, Foreign Minister Delcassé was determined to stand his ground. He refused point-blank to accept a conference and depicted the kaiser’s reasonable request as a challenge to the entente itself. His allies in the British and French press took up Delcassé’s claim and grossly misrepresented the German position. There was talk of war. Serious talk. Foreign Secretary Lansdowne secretly approved initial conversations between British and French military staff about preparations for war with Germany. The Belgian military staff was also
included in direct talks with their British counterparts at this juncture. Hold on to this thought: Belgium was involved in secret military plans for a possible war of aggression against an unsuspecting Germany but almost a decade later would be presented as the innocent victim of German aggression.

  King Edward was reported to have told French ministers ‘that in case of need’ Britain would intervene on the side of France.24 Should you find it fanciful that Britain could have gone to war, consider the view of the president of the United States. After a private meeting with the British ambassador in May 1905, Roosevelt was left with the impression that the British government was ‘anxious to see Germany humiliated’ and ‘quite willing to face the possibility of a war’.25 One month later, in a letter to the German ambassador in Washington, Roosevelt wrote:

  I felt that if a war were to break out, whatever might happen to France, England would profit immensely, while Germany would lose her colonies and perhaps her fleet. Such being the case, I did not feel that anything I might say would carry any weight with England.26

  Undoubtedly, Delcassé believed that he would have British support if it came to war with Germany,27 but the French foreign minister pressed too hard. Prime Minister Rouvier greatly appreciated the private counsels he had with King Edward but shrank from the prospect of a war predicated on his refusal to take part in a conference. When it became apparent that all that the kaiser wanted was an international conference, and that the majority of the French parliament was in favour of such an accommodation, the clamour and outrage from the Secret Elite’s press redoubled and moved swiftly to support Delcassé. As the Liberal MP E.D. Morel observed: ‘the powerful occult influences which move behind the scenes and mould public opinion did their utmost to counteract the more moderate sections of French public life’.28