1) The British did not save the French in August 1914.  Read the “Guns of August”.  The British commander, Sir John French was back-peddling toward the coast as fast as he could after Mons.  Only direct disobeying of orders by  Smith-Dorrien lead the the stand at Le Cateau  which slowed the advance.  The Bristish fielded less than 100,000 men while the French fieldede close to 1,250,000 men in the month of August battles. 2) Austria-Hungary and Russia in my opinion were more guilty of starting the war than anyone else; however, the Germans had been provoking the rest of Europe ever since Wilhelm became Kaiser.3) The Germans expected a negotiated peace.  The Allies presented them anything but. Another good reference is "Paris 1919" by MacMillan ( I think is the author ).