Let us glance at British political chronology for a moment. King Edward
VII, the chief factor in the Entente, the moving spirit in England's
foreign alliances, had been dead a year. In December, 1905, the Liberal
party had come into power. In April, 1908, Mr. H. H. Asquith became
Prime Minister. In 1910, Anglo-German relations were apparently
improving; in July, 1910, Mr. Asquith spoke of them in the House of
Commons as "of the most cordial character. I look forward to increasing
warmth and fervour and intimacy in these relations year by year." The
great question was, then, in 1911, whether the Liberal Government would
actually, when it came down to the pinch, stick by its secret covenant
with France. Were the new Liberals, were Mr. Asquith, Lord Haldane, Sir
E. Grey, Mr. Lloyd George, true-blue Liberal imperialists, or were they
not? Could France and Russia safely trust them to continue the Foreign
Office policy that Lord Lansdowne had bequeathed to Sir E. Grey; or,
when the emergency came, would they stand from under? After all, there
_had_ been a Campbell-Bannerman; there was no doubt of that; and one, at
least, of the new Liberals, Mr. Lloyd George, had a bad anti-imperialist
record in the South African war.
The Agadir incident elicited a satisfactory answer to these questions.
The Liberal Government was dependable. However suspiciously the members
of the Liberal Cabinet might talk, they were good staunch imperialists
at heart. They were, as the theologians say, "sound on the essentials."
Baron Greindl wrote, 6 December, 1911:
The Entente Cordiale was founded, not on the positive basis of
defence of common interests, but on the negative one of hatred of
the German Empire.... Sir Edward Grey adopts this tradition without
reservation. He imagines that it is in conformity with English
interests.... A revision of Great Britain's policy is all the less
to be looked for, as ever since the Liberal Ministry took office,
and more especially during the last few months, English foreign
policy has been guided by the ideas with which King Edward VII
inspired it.