in 1908, as well as receiving the French Legion of Honour. Bertie's career coincided with that of Sir Edward Grey at the Foreign Office, his immediate superior, and the wider fortunes of the Liberal governments of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith. There are a large number of extant official letters marked "very confidential" that prove an intensive ongoing diplomacy on behalf of the Entente in the protracted period that preceded the First World War. As early as 1906 there were discussions about the possibility of a German invasion of France, yet always the proviso that it was in doubt, "that matters might be brought to a point in which a pacific issue would be difficult." However, giving a positive assurance to France might be dependent on the circumstances. Bertie negotiated closely with Théophile Delcassé the foreign minister "toute occasion de concerter avec le Gouvernement Francais," warning them of the revulsion for war in France. He was careful always not to "cause offence to Germany" which characterised the effects of a diplomatic round shuttling between capital cities. David Owen argues that this placed too great a reliance on the Admiralty and War Office to promise unequivocal support of a British Expeditionary Force. It was his view that Germany would try to dissuade France from our friendship. He was of the school that believed that reductions in Naval estimates would not appease German preparations for aggression. When Clemenceau became Prime Minister in France he pledged never to break the agreements (rompre des accords) with Britain. Bertie was concerned about the integrity of secret diplomatic lines of communication and the prompt arrival of dispatches. He was not present at the leaders meeting at the embassy on 7 April 1907; which was a worry for the francophile ambassador. One dispatch of April 1911 was so sensitive that it has since been destroyed by archivists: but it is clear that under Asquith, military leaders questioned Grey's competence; one of these critics was Bertie. His military attache, Colonel Fairholme, clearly believed the French would outflank a German army on the frontier, which greatly exercised Bertie's mind "respecting strategical problems." Bertie had played his part in diffusing the crises off the coast of Morocco, but down the coast in Portugal, the German influence was greater. Grey refused to pressure Lisbon to sell their colonies, leaving the Germans to fill the diplomatic vacuum. However, the newly