Grishke, the Schliefen Plan was never "published for the world to read" !!

Correction: its approximate content was published and discussed by German and French newspapers. In fact, Britain entering was anticipated and welcomed by many German voices. The famous "scrap" quotation is normally read in the sense of "Of course, that old treaty cannot be the real reason for Britain to enter the war!" - an opinion shared by most. Some say it was about "the kaiser's fleet" - I am not quite convinced; anyway, it must have been planned in "entente cordiale", also with Russian and Belgian diplomacy.

There were surprises on both sides in 1914, but nobody seriously expected Germany to spare Belgium because of its neutrality.

I never wrote that "Britain" wanted war; I wrote that all the governments involved gambled with the option of war, being sufficiently confident to win it, but preferring the other side to cave in. Many of the preparations may have been half-hearted and ill organized (and particularly not aimed at minimizing losses of life - the main point of criticism inside Britain), but preparations they were.

The reason why I offer links to Wikipedia is for elementary facts only. I read the French, English, and German Wikis, all offering different interpretations, and different ancient half-truths.

"Balance of power" (/neutrality) actually meant: let all the others be less powerful than ourselves, and busy with each other. A stable peace is quite a different thing. The efforts for the latter goal were definitely not serious enough to be praised from the present-day point of view. That is the crucial point. I am not arguing about the past, but about Iran etc. of nowadays.