Salisbury, she remained, at his advice, outside the circle of continental
entanglements and rejoiced in what was known as a policy of "Splendid
Isolation." It was, of course, a selfish policy. It rested on sound
geographical grounds, because, making use of the fortunate accident that
Great Britain is an island, it suggested that she could pursue her own
commercial career and, thanks to the English Channel, let the whole of the
rest of the world go hang. Such a position could not possibly last, partly
because Great Britain is not only an island, but also an empire scattered
over the seven seas; partly because we could not remain alien from those
social and economic interests which necessarily link our career with
continental nations. So we became part of the continental system, and it
became necessary for us to choose friends and partners and mark off other
peoples as our enemies. It might have been possible a certain number of
years ago for us to join the Triple Alliance. At one time Prince Bülow
seemed anxious that we should do so, and Mr. Chamberlain on our side was
by no means unwilling. But gradually we discovered that Germany was
intensely jealous of us as a colonial power and as a great sea-power, and
for this reason, as well as for others, we preferred to compose our
ancient differences with France and promote an understanding between
English and French as the nearest of neighbours and the most convenient of
allies. Observe, however, that every step in the process was a challenge,
and a challenge which the rival aimed at could not possibly ignore. The
conclusion of the French Entente Cordiale in 1904, the launching of the
_Dreadnought_ in 1906, the formation of the Russian agreement in 1907, and
certain changes which we made in our own army were obviously intended as
warnings to Germany that we were dangerous people to attack.[5] Germany
naturally sought reprisals in her fashion, and gradually Europe was
transformed into a huge armed camp, divided into two powerful
organisations which necessarily watched each other with no friendly gaze.