ABSTRACT
S.D. Sazonov arrived yesterday; he looks well and cheerful. He expects to leave for St. Petersburg on Sunday evening. He has sent for Count Benckendorff, and the three of us are noting and discussing all your telegrams about Persia. I must not conceal from you that the affair fi lls me with grave anxiety as to the future of our co-operation with Great Britain, and that this makes me very concerned and disturbed. The events of the past summer have shown to the full the value of the Triple Entente as an important factor in the maintenance of peace and of equilibrium in Europe. For there can now be no doubt, after Sir Edward Grey’s speech and Bethmann Hollweg’s weak reply, that Germany only drew back from her intention of gaining a footing in Morocco because it meant coming into confl ict with France, Great Britain, and ourselves. I quite realize the diffi culty of bringing our action in Persia at the present moment into line with Great Britain’s desires. But
