To What Extent Was Germany Responsible for Causing World War 1?
To what extent was Germany responsible for causing World War One?
To what extent was Germany responsible for causing World War One?
In August, 1914, 6 million men mobilised for war on the European continent. It was the bloodiest war that had been fought yet in history due to huge advances in weapons and technology. This question of who was to blame for the war has been debated many times by many historians. Germany was responsible for its beginning to some extent but that extent can be argued.
Germany, on 28th June 1919, was forced to take all of the blame and responsibility for World War One, at the Treaty of Versailles. However, I believe this was very wrong, because the start of “The Great War” was due to several reasons and so the responsibility of the war cannot be placed squarely on the shoulders of Germany. On the other hand, a strong argument can be placed that it was due to Germany’s aggression which made the war happen sooner. I say this made the war happen sooner because a war was inevitable. There were several underlying, long-term reasons for this as well as the triggers that occurred in the early 20th century. Until 1914, there had been 40 years of peace in Europe. However, it had been an armed peace; all of the major powers sought better security by having bigger armies and better armaments than their rivals. Peace was only maintained by the threat of war. Due to the loss of the Franco-Prussian war, the French were scared of German military might and so, they formed an alliance with the Russian Empire who also feared German power. Tensions between the Franco-Russian alliance and the German-Austro-Hungarian alliance soon became a fixed feature of European international relations. This can, to some extent, be seen as Germany’s fault. One of these underlying, long-term causes of World War 1 was nationalism, the belief that your country was more superior/better than others. Many of the European superpowers
To what extent was Germany responsible for causing World War One?
In August, 1914, 6 million men mobilised for war on the European continent. It was the bloodiest war that had been fought yet in history due to huge advances in weapons and technology. This question of who was to blame for the war has been debated many times by many historians. Germany was responsible for its beginning to some extent but that extent can be argued.
Germany, on 28th June 1919, was forced to take all of the blame and responsibility for World War One, at the Treaty of Versailles. However, I believe this was very wrong, because the start of “The Great War” was due to several reasons and so the responsibility of the war cannot be placed squarely on the shoulders of Germany. On the other hand, a strong argument can be placed that it was due to Germany’s aggression which made the war happen sooner. I say this made the war happen sooner because a war was inevitable. There were several underlying, long-term reasons for this as well as the triggers that occurred in the early 20th century. Until 1914, there had been 40 years of peace in Europe. However, it had been an armed peace; all of the major powers sought better security by having bigger armies and better armaments than their rivals. Peace was only maintained by the threat of war. Due to the loss of the Franco-Prussian war, the French were scared of German military might and so, they formed an alliance with the Russian Empire who also feared German power. Tensions between the Franco-Russian alliance and the German-Austro-Hungarian alliance soon became a fixed feature of European international relations. This can, to some extent, be seen as Germany’s fault. One of these underlying, long-term causes of World War 1 was nationalism, the belief that your country was more superior/better than others. Many of the European superpowers