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You cannot talk about causal chain of WW1 from British perspective without looking at the whole Causal Chain. Which is assassination of Franz Ferdinand > Austrian Ultimatum Against Serbia on July 23rd > Russia starts secret "partial" mobilization on July 25th > Austria declares war against Serbia on July 28th > Russian full mobilization on July 30th > July 31st German ultimatum for Russia to demobilize, which was not replied > August 1st German mobilization and declaration of war against Russia > August 1st, Britain mobilizes its Navy > August 2nd, Britain guarantees Belgium > August 2nd, Germany asks Belgium for military access, is refused > August 3rd Germany declares war on France as part of Schlieffen plan > August 4th Germany attacks Belgium > August 4th, Britain declares war on Germany
One thing to understand about WW1 mobilization is that it is equivalent of launching ICBMs. Countries had decades to meticulously prepare so they can get their army ready in matter of days. Soldiers need to be concentrated and equipped, trains have to be rerouted etc. If you stop the mobilization it would be as if one side of the nuclear conflict self-destructed their own rockets while the other side has them still in the air, putting themselves into very dangerous position.
I think that the biggest triggers of the war was behavior of Austria and Russia, each in their own way. By the time Britain made their mind in August, it was too late - Russians were in the middle of mobilization almost for a week and dominoes fell. In fact to me it seems that Germans were too timid, if they were more aggressive, they may have pulled it of - if they had one more week against Russians and and mobilized on July 24th/25th. History remembers them as warmongers anyways.
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