[Sam Gamgee]

And I see WWI as Britain’s attempt to slap down those wily Krauts. Britain couldn’t stand any naval competition from Germany.

[Reily]

That and their centuries old policy of keeping European powers divided and not allowing the dominant land power to dominate and control the cross-channel ports. If Germany had stayed out of Belgium Britain would have had a hard time justifying intervention.

I read a recent WWI book that claims another motivation for getting involved was to give the Army something to do. This book claims the Army was outraged over the Irish Home Rule Bill and was on verge of mutiny or even a coup. First time I have ever read anything about that! One usually thinks of the UK Army as being indifferent toward politics.