ABSTRACT
The Russian invitation to the second Hague Conference had followed tentative proposals from the United States; these proposals in their turn had arisen out of preliminary discussions at a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held at St. Louis in 1904. The Prime Minister was known to have set great hopes upon the success of the Conference, though Grey, who was in closer touch with the realities of European politics, was never very optimistic. Grey commented on the Emperor’s remarks to the British Ambassador. Grey pointed out the difference between the British and German views of the ‘force required for defensive purposes’, and the British claim to possess for defensive purposes a predominant navy. Yet the British Government was suggesting that Germany should recognize for good and all British predominance at sea, and leave the German navy powerless before the fleets of its rivals.
