File No. 763.72/115
The Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page ) to the Secretary of State
American Embassy,
London , August 5, 1914, 2 a.m.
[Received August 4, 11:59 p.m.]
London , August 5, 1914, 2 a.m.
[Received August 4, 11:59 p.m.]
[Telegram]
269. It is everywhere understood that war with Germany begins at midnight to-night although no formal declaration will be made till to-morrow morning.
Rumors reach me from apparently trustworthy sources, which however now unconfirmed, that a large English force will be landed in Belgium between midnight and to-morrow morning and that the French and English fleets have united in the North Sea and that a naval battle with the German fleet is expected at any time.
American Ambassador