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‘Find a reason to go to war with Germany’: Shocking letter documents how King George V urged his foreign secretary to justify conflict two days before outbreak of First World War
‘Find a reason to go to war with Germany’: Shocking letter documents how King George V urged his foreign secretary to justify conflict two days before outbreak of First World War
- A letter documents a meeting between King George V and Edward Grey
- The King urged his foreign secretary to find a reason for war with Germany
- King George V, revealed what had taken place to Sir Cecil Graves in 1933
- Sir Edward’s great-great-nephew Adrian Graves uncovered the information
PUBLISHED: 12:27 GMT, 26 July 2014 | UPDATED: 17:00 GMT, 26 July 2014
A secret letter which documents a private meeting between King George V urging his Foreign Secretary Edward Grey to go to war with Germany two days before the outbreak of the First World War has been unearthed.
The incredible note, sent during one of the most difficult times in British history has been made public for the first time, by Adrian Graves, Sir Edward’s great-great-nephew and grandson of Sir Cecil Graves.
King George V, who had stayed away from making public declarations about Europe as his hands were tied as a constitutional monarch, said it was ‘absolutely essential’ Britain go to war in order to prevent Germany from achieving ‘complete domination of this country’.
Private meeting: King George V, left, met and urged his Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, right, to go to war with Germany two days before the First World War
However when his Foreign Secretary Sir Edward said that the cabinet hadn’t found a justifiable reason to enter the conflict, the King replied: ‘You have got to find a reason, Grey.’
Adrian Graves inherited Sir Cecil’s papers which he kept in their original Asprey case next to his fishing tackle but had never looked at them.
He told The Telegraph: ‘My grandfather was involved in the First World War – he was one of the first to be captured, at the Battle of Mons, and later awarded the Military Cross. The case contained some of his records and papers relating to the war and his captivity.
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‘I decided to look through through them as the centenary of August 4 was coming up, and I came across an envelope. Written on the front were the words, ‘Interview with King’. I had never known it was there,’
But they held a treasure-trove of information.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2706589/Find-reason-war-Germany-Shocking-letter-documents-King-George-V-urged-foreign-secretary-justify-conflict-two-days-outbreak-First-World-War.html#ixzz38f1EwvqY
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