ABSTRACT
As first lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill was at the centre of the Liberal government’s decision-making during the July crisis. The July crisis unfolded quickly. Britain’s preoccupation for most of the month was Ireland, where civil war threatened to break out over the government’s introduction of Home Rule. This issue was foremost in the minds of Churchill and Grey when they met on the evening of 21 July and the first lord warned his wife, Clementine, the following day that Irish troubles “will make Europe take unfortunate views of the British situation”. Most studies of the July crisis ignore or only briefly mention the Royal Navy’s preparations, despite it being the “Senior Service” amongst Britain’s armed forces and the world’s largest fleet; and despite the importance of such preparations as diplomatic signals of British intentions. Ironically, Churchill might have agreed with some of his critics’ remarks. His own emotional excitement during the crisis troubled him.
