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Did Germany Cause WW1
Did Germany cause World War 1?
Although in the Treaty of Versailles Germany was to accept full responsibility for World War 1 this in not necessarily the case. Many factors have to be taken into account when considering the cause of World War 1. Germany may have been primarily responsible for the war but the other major powers must accept some of the blame for failing to prevent it. The conflict resulting from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinard should have been local and confined but due to a series of factors, militarism, the alliance system, nationalism, this one incident led to the greatest war Europe had ever seen. As a result of underlying hostilities the assassination led to a chain of events that ensured war on a wide scale.
The alliance system developed by Bismarck for defensive purposes was one of the major causes of the war. These alliances however took a more aggressive tone in the hands of Bismarckнs successors. Also Bismarckнs alliance system was too intricate for anybody other than himself to maintain. While he was alive the alliances preserved peace but in the hands of William the 2nd these alliance were destroyed. Bismarckнs policy was to keep France isolated however with William refusing to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. France now had an ally thus resulting in the signing of the Franco-Russian Entente in 1891. In 1904 Britain and France formed a non-military alliance called the Entente Cordial. As a result at the outbreak of war Europe was divided into two armed camps, the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungry and Italy and the Triple Entente was made up of Britain, France, and Russia. These alliances facilitated a political assassination sparking a World War.
Along with the hostile divisions in Europe came the expansion of armies and navies thus leading to an arms race. This arms race was also precipitated by the increase in war budgets after 1900. Attempts to restrict the arms race, like The Hague conference in 1899 and 1907 failed due to mutual suspicion. The great powers also elaborated plans for mass mobilisation. It was thought that a war would be decided in the opening phases and therefore who ever got into the field first and assembled the largest army in the shortest time would have the advantage over itнs rival. When World War 1 began Germany ultimately mobilised eleven million troops, France mobilised twenty percent of her population or 7,800,000 and Russia mobilised sixteen million men (White Heat 7). By 1914 the general staffs in Germany, France, Russia and Austria favoured war. Germany and Britain were involved in a naval race, which caused antagonism between the two powers due to Britainнs pride in her naval fleet and the necessity of it to maintain her Empire. She saw Germanyнs continued expansion as a threat. Sir John Fisher of the British navy suggested that the navy should мCopenhagen the German Fleetо before it was too late (Europe Since 1870 105). Admiral Tirpitz of Germany opposed any plans for naval disarmament. Von Hotzendorf, the Austrian Chief of Staff, had been pushing for a preventative war against Serbia since 1906.
Before World War 1 Europe was in the mind set for war, as I have described above, countries were expanding their armies and making plans for war. One of the most famous plans of war was the Schlieffen plan. This plan devised by General Von Schlieffen was based on mass mobilisation. It was believed that in the event of a war it would take Germany thirty-six hours to mobilise, France forty-eight hours and Russia three weeks (Europe Since 1870 105). The Germans would thus attack France first and then after defeating France go on to attack Russia. From these plans we can see that the Chiefs of Staff in Europe were expecting and planning for a war. The military leaders in Europe played a large role in influencing their governments to go to war.
Jingoism also played a major role in the outbreak of war. Jingoism is extreme or excessive patriotism. The public was prepared for a war they wanted to show how powerful and glorious their country was. By 1914 there was nearly one hundred and eighty books written on the subject of major war in various different languages: Der Weltkreig (1904), depicted a German conflict with Britain. Le Queuxнs The Invasion (1910) sold over a million copies (Reasons for War 2). These books prepared the public for the fears and the excitement of war. There was a sense of pure nationalism running through society, that never again would Europe display this kind of patriotic fervour, the conflict to come would destroy it (The Origins of War 5).
Nationalism was also a cause of World War1. Austriaнs unfair treatment of the minorities in her Empire caused the spread of Balkan nationalism. Serbia had been forced to hand over Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austria to obtain her independence and due to Serbia flourishing as a nation the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina became restless under Austrian rule. Serbia encouraged anti-Austrian feeling which antagonised Austria and led her to annex Bosnia in 1908 breaking an agreement with Russia leading to the Bosnian Crisis. Russiaнs policy of Pan-slavism also caused friction with Austria. Pan-slavism was the idea that all Slav peoples should be мfreedо from Ottoman and Hapsberg control. These antagonisms led to an alliance between Russia and Serbia. There were also wars in the Balkans during the period 1912-13. Austria saw the assassination of the Archduke as the pretext to go to war with Serbia (1914 8). Alliances were formed during this period that would be still evident during World War 1.
It is also thought that the system of government at the time also contributed to war. Capitalists saw the war as an opportunity