It is well known that Edward VII.

made an attempt to exercise a direct influence on the Emperor Francis Joseph to induce him to secede from the Alliance and join the Powers encircling Germany.

It is likewise known that the Emperor Francis Joseph rejected the proposal, and that this decided the fate of Austria-Hungary.

From that day we were no longer the independent masters of our destiny.

Our fate was linked to that of Germany; without being conscious of it, we were carried away by Germany through the Alliance.
I do not mean absolutely to deny that, during the years preceding war, it would still have been possible for Germany to avert it if she had eradicated from European public opinion all suspicion respecting her dream of world dominion, for far be it from me to assert that the Western Powers were eager for war.