On what date did Britain declare war on Germany following an " unsatisfactory reply " to the British ultimatum that Belgium must be kept neutral ?
Riezler went to write in his diary that Bethmann Hollweg painted a “ devastating picture ” with Russia building rail - roads in Congress Poland that allow Russia to mobilize faster once the Great Military Programme was finished in 1917 , and that an Austro - Serbian war would probably cause a world war , “ ... which would lead to an overthrow of the existing order ” , but since the “ existing order was lifeless and void of ideas ” , such a war could only be welcomed as a blessing to Germany .