By Matthew S. Seligmann

Why did the British govt claim battle on Germany in August 1914? was once it simply because Germany posed a danger to British nationwide defense? this present day many trendy historians could argue that this was once no longer the case and million British electorate died needlessly for a inaccurate reason. This ebook counters such revisionist arguments. Matthew Seligmann disputes the recommendation that the British govt both obtained its evidence mistaken in regards to the German chance or perhaps, as a few have claimed, intentionally 'invented' it in an effort to justify an in a different way pointless alignment with France and Russia. through studying the army and naval intelligence checks forwarded from Germany to London through Britain's provider attach?s in Berlin, its 'men at the spot', Spying at the Kaiser in actual fact demonstrates that the British gurus had each cause to be alarmed. From those an important intelligence records, formerly notion to were misplaced, Dr Seligmann exhibits that during the last decade sooner than the 1st global struggle, the British govt was once saved good expert approximately army and naval advancements within the Reich. specifically, the attach?s always warned that German goals to problem Britain posed a true and approaching hazard to nationwide protection. consequently, the ebook concludes that the British government's notion of a German probability earlier than 1914, faraway from being unsuitable or invented, was once rooted in demanding and credible intelligence.

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Extra resources for Spies in Uniform: British Military and Naval Intelligence on the Eve of the First World War

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This combination of great detail and exceptional frankness makes the diary a unique source. From it emerge particulars about the British Embassy, the Foreign Office, the Naval Intelligence Division, and life in Berlin as an attaché that not only would not otherwise exist, but which are not even hinted at elsewhere. While none of the other attachés are known to have written diaries, several of them did produce memoirs. Indeed, one of them, Colonel Waters, whose service in Berlin covered the years from 1900 to 1903, spent his retirement as a prolific author of reminiscences.

Did what applied in 2003 also apply in 1914? Did the British government genuinely believe in a German threat and act accordingly? If they did so, was this because of information received largely or partly from their principal intelligence source, the service attachés? In 1998, it was strongly argued by Niall Ferguson in his rich and thoughtprovoking book The Pity of War, that pre-First World War British policy towards 28 Introduction Germany took the form it did not in response to in-coming information about a German threat, but actually in opposition to the available intelligence.

Introduction 17 contrast to British businessmen, there would be no suspicion of any ulterior or pecuniary motives to their doing so. Finally, unlike the sources for the Secret Service Bureau, the service attachés, being members of the embassy, could compile reports that touched on political matters. The intent to resort to arms, not just the technical specifications of German weapons, was a legitimate area for them to cover. This set of circumstances ensured that there was widespread recognition of the importance of the attachés to both services.

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