European History Essay
Final Exam Was Germany to blame for World War 1? Germany was in fact to blame for World War 1. Although there were other countries that were partially to blame for there actions. But it was clear that they played the minor role and Germany played the major one. In 1904 there was a rivalry between nations that increased to a certain extent that caused armies to expand. Certain nations also tried to build alliances. Germany was an imperialistic country therefore they had lusted after Britains’s strong navy and thus leading to copying Britain’s production of dreadnoughts. Germany was circled by land so they did not have any need for the dreadnoughts. Britain was isolated so they did in fact have a reason to have dreadnoughts. Germanys hunger for wanting a strong large army and navy caused tension between Britain and other nations. The major cause of World War One was militarism and it was clear that Germany played a major role in this and was always in favor of settling their problems through war. That was their favorite way to settle things. They always seemed to settle things through war. The Schlieffen Plan also had a role in Germany causing the outbreak of World War One. The Kaiser predicted that Russia would take longer to mobilize and that Belgium would accept Germany and let them pass through to France. However, Belgium wer adamant with the help of Britain backing up Belgium due to their alliance. Kaiser thought that is was “trash”
This was a plan that took advantage of unexpected differencs in the three countries' speed in preparing for war. It was the Germans plan to concentrate on the troops in the west and quickly defeating the French, then rushing those troops by rail to the east to face the Russians before they had time to mobilize fully. This plan was created by Alfred von Schliefen. Helmuth von Moltke is the person who did use it for World War One though.
Germany's quest for power