Was Germany to Blame for WWI?
Germany was mainly to blame for the outbreak of World War 1. Although other countries were partially to blame for there actions, which lead to the outbreak of war; it is clear that they only played a minor role in the eruption of the Great War. In 1904 the rivalry between nations increased to a certain extent; causing countries to expand armies, certain nations to build up alliances and for some to try and increase their empires. Germany was an imperialistic country therefore had lusted after Britain's strong navy and thus leading to copying Britain's production of dreadnoughts. Germany were encircled by land therefore technically had no need for dreadnoughts where as the British were isolated so they had a reason to build dreadnoughts. Germany's hunger for a large army and navy caused tension and jealousy between Britain and other nations. The major cause of the First World War was thought to be militarism and it is clear that Germany played a major role in this and was always in favor of settling their problems though war. The Schilffen Plan also had a certain role in Germany causing the outbreak of WW1. The Kaiser was naïve in his predictions about their attacks. He hypothesised that Russia would take longer to mobilise and that Belgium would accept Germany and let them pass through to France; however Belgium were adamant with the help of Britain backing up Belgium due to their alliance which the Kaiser referred to as a “scarp of