WAS GERMANY REALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FIRST WORLD WAR?
Causes, crises, and who is really to blame.
Recently, we had a discussion in my history class about who was really responsible for WWI and we compared the opinion we formed from our background knowledge to the opinion that we developed after having learned more about the topic and the causes or events that led to WWI.
Before learning about WWI, I really didn’t know very much about it and I thought that it started because some royal person was shot and then everybody got really worked up about it. And then I actually read the history textbook and the material provided by my teacher. What I found really shocking was how after the end of the war, Germany was forced to accept sole blame for WWI under the “war guilt” clause of the Treaty of Versailles. By the way, the Treaty of Versailles was intended to ensure that WWI would indeed be “the war to end all war”. To me, it looks like they were begging for another war.
Anyways, what do I think now? Who was actually responsible for the war? Well, now I think that Germany was not solely responsible for the start of WWI (the other countries who were involved in the war also contributed to starting it) but Germany definitely played a role in building up the tensions in Europe. Germany displayed an aggressive expansionist attitude throughout the years leading up to the war and this attitude contributed to making the “spark” (the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria) burst into a “flame”. The Naval Crisis, the Berlin-Baghdad Railway, the Moroccan Crises, Germany’s involvement with Austria-Hungary, and the Schlieffen Plan all demonstrate Germany’s aggressive foreign policy and how it contributed to the start of the war. However, the Industrial Revolution, the attitudes of France and Russia, the pre-existing alliance systems in Europe, and the Balkan Wars also played a part in instigating the Great War.
MILITARISM
Militarism (the policy of building up armed forces and weaponry and threatening military aggression) was a huge cause of the tensions in Europe. In 1900, Britain still had the most powerful navy, but Germany had the largest army in Europe. In order for Britain to sustain its naval supremacy, it began to construct new, sophisticated warships (called dreadnoughts) in 1906. In response Germany began its own expansion of its navy. This started the Naval Crisis, a deadly arms race between the British and the Germans which only increased European hostilities. This process of German militarization upset the balance of power that had previously existed in Europe.
BERLIN-BAGHDAD RAILWAY
The German construction of the Berlin-Baghdad Railway through the Balkans also worsened the diplomatic relations in Europe at the time. This was because the Russians felt threatened by the railway as they were afraid it would cut off Russian access to the Mediterranean Sea (which was necessary in order to maintain their Warm Water Policy). Furthermore, the British weren’t happy about Germany’s increasing influence and their new prominence in the industrial field, especially since the Germans were trying to expand their economic base through the new railway.
MOROCCAN CRISES
The two Moroccan Crises also served to demonstrate the aggressive attitude of Germany and how it interfered in the affairs of other European nations. During the First Moroccan Crisis (1905), Germany tested the Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) by having the Kaiser make a speech, in the Moroccan part of Tangiers, in which he declared that Morocco should remain independent. This angered the French because France wanted Morocco to complete her North African Empire. The Triple Entente was strengthened during this situation because Britain supported France and it was decided that France be given free rein in Morocco. The Second Moroccan Crisis (1911) also made war seem imminent since it culminated in Britain warning Germany that the British fleet was prepared for war. In both of these instances, Germany backed down; however, it was evident that if German expansionist attitudes continued, war would be difficult to avoid.
ASSASSINATION AND AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
In addition, after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Germany offered a “blank cheque” of support to Austria-Hungary, encouraging Austria-Hungary to start a war against Serbia. Germany advised Austria-Hungary to issue unacceptable demands to Serbia in order to start a local war in the Balkans. Involving Serbia (a Slavic country) in a war also dragged Russia (a mainly Slavic country) into the war since Russia saw itself as the protector of other Slavs. This was done in order to bring the Russians in as the aggressors and so that Germany would have a greater reason to get involved in what may have seemed like a regional conflict. Once this war had been started, Germany issued an ultimatum to France, giving France only 16 hours to establish neutrality or enter the war. This ultimatum rushed France into the war and escalated the dispute to larger proportions. Therefore, Germany’s pushy actions and aggressive involvement in the dispute undeniably contributed to the start of WWI.
SCHLIEFFEN PLAN
Furthermore, Germany decided to attack France through Belgium, utilizing the Schlieffen Plan, despite Belgium’s neutrality and the likelihood of Britain entering the war on account of the invasion of Belgium. Also, the fact that the Schlieffen Plan had originally been developed in 1905 demonstrated that Germany had aggressive expansionist plans (i.e. to take over France) even long before the start of WWI.
So, after learning about all of these events I was definitely convinced that Germany had played a significant role in the start of WWI. Germany had taken advantage of the tense situation in the Balkans to start a continental war that would give them the opportunity to attempt to expand their boundaries and dominate Europe. However, I still don’t think that Germany should be solely blamed for the war. And here’s why…
IMPERIALISM & THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
During the 19th century, the industrial revolution took place. In this time, there was a huge shift from small, independent shops to large factories. This completely changed the face of Europe in terms of economies, politics, and diplomacy. The factories required stable sources of raw materials and secure markets to which European countries could sell the goods. Therefore, European countries began to need economic control of foreign lands in order to remain prosperous and powerful. Germany was one of the many countries that were caught up in these enormous changes; they were a rising industrial superpower and they were trying to create their own colonial empire in order to support their growing needs. All the great powers were involved in empire building, so I think that it’s only fair that Germany be involved as well. However, the Triple Entente didn’t like what they viewed as a threat and they felt that the balance of power in Europe was upset. This contributed to the tense atmosphere leading up to the war.
THE ALLIANCES
I think that the Alliance system established in Europe at the time (Triple Entente vs. Triple Alliance) also contributed to the outbreak of war since the alliances involved all of the nations that had pledged allegiance to each other in any conflict affecting one of them. This made the situation in Europe much more critical and I think it made it inevitable for any local wars to occur without war rapidly spreading all across Europe.
THE BOSNIAN CRISIS (1908-09) AND THE BALKAN WARS (1912-13)
The Bosnian Crisis also contributed to the start of WWI because it created tensions between Austria-Hungary and Russia, causing Russia to get friendlier with Britain and France. In addition, it was the start of stressed relations between Serbia and Austria-Hungary that eventually sparked the start of the war. The Balkan Wars also hinted to the start of WWI due to the outbreak of conflict and the forced settlement imposed on victorious Balkan states by the Great Powers. It was during these wars that Serbia began to be seen as a direct threat to Austria-Hungary. Perhaps if this conflict had not taken place, then Germany and other nations would not have had a “valid reason” to engage in war and a world war would not have taken place.
RUSSIAN AND FRENCH AGGRESSION, AUSTRIA-HUNGARIAN INCOMPETENCE
I think that Russia and France also contributed to starting WWI because of their reactions to Germany’s aggression. If Russia had decided not to support Serbia and France had answered Germany’s ultimatum with a declaration of neutrality, then maybe the war wouldn’t have lasted as long or had such a deep impact since fewer nations would have been involved. Austria-Hungary was also to blame for WWI because of how much they let Germany push them around and control their decisions in regard to the situation with Serbia and the Balkans in general.
So, as you can see from the things discussed above, Germany did, undeniably, contribute to the start of WWI. However there were so many other factors involved and so many other nations at fault that I think it is unjust for all of the blame to have been laid on the Germans. All of the events above are significant because they demonstrate how a number of smaller events can build on to each other, eventually causing a catastrophe large enough to affect people all across the globe.
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT WHO IS TO BLAME FOR WWI?
Well, first of all, I think it’s important to at least know what the causes of WWI were considering the fact that it is such an important event in history and it has shaped much of the 20th century in terms of foreign diplomacy, wars, economies, and society. I also think that it’s necessary to understand how many consequences can come about from blaming a whole nation for something that was not entirely their fault. I mean, the fact that Germany was forced to accept full blame for WWI in the Treaty of Versailles led to an uneasy peace that exploded later on into WWII because of the wrongs Germans felt had been done to them. And then WWII branched off into other conflicts, such as the Cold War. I’m not saying that these things could have been avoided just by not laying all of the blame on Germany, but maybe WWII would not have been a world war. Maybe it could’ve been contained as something smaller and less disastrous. In any case, learning about who or what really caused WWI and understanding the importance of being fair in our accusations is crucial to averting future world conflicts and to properly comprehending how historical events have affected us.
Written: Friday, September 20th, 2013
