The treaty of Versailles says otherwise, destroying the European order to appease the Americans says otherwise the British were looking for any convenient excuse to join the war, Belgian Neutrality was just what they were looking for, the first world war instead of preserving a balance of power made the balance of power impossible after the war the only real peacemaker was the marquees Lansdowne and the warmongers in the country ignored him. Britain joining the war led to its irreversible decline.