Was Germany solely responsible for the outbreak of World War One?
Assess the argument that Germany should be held largely or solely responsible for the outbreak of World War One.
The extent of which Germany should be held responsible for the outbreak of World War one is debatable. One could argue that Germany and her aggressive and competitive nature towards the other European powers, highlighted by the Schlieffen plan, make Germany largely responsible for the outbreak of war. On the other hand, being in the middle of several great powers, it is fair to suggest that Germany was merely protecting itself against encirclement and aggression from others. One could even argue that Germany was merely trying to ‘fit in’ with the rest of Europe by increasing its military might and had neither offensive nor defensive intentions and should therefore not be blamed for the outbreak of war. After all, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the trigger for war, had no influence from Germany although the German reaction might be considered as unnecessary and somewhat aggressive. Either way it is clear that that Germany did have a big part to play in the outbreak of the First World War but whether they should accept the majority of responsibility is questionable.
It is easy to suggest that Germany were primarily responsible for causing the First World War because of many reasons: Their seemingly aggressive nature towards other nations and the Kaiser’s imperial ambitions being the two most primary. The former of these arguments, the aggressive nature of Germany’s foreign policy is demonstrated by the huge increase (142%) in Germany’s defence budget between 1905 -1914. One could further argue that the mere existence of the Schlieffen plan and the fact that Germany had planned for an attack on two fronts, shows that Germany were prepared for war and were not drawn into it. Furthermore, with Tirpitz preferring to postpone the “great fight for one and a half years” in the War Council meeting of December 1912, one can only look at the
The extent of which Germany should be held responsible for the outbreak of World War one is debatable. One could argue that Germany and her aggressive and competitive nature towards the other European powers, highlighted by the Schlieffen plan, make Germany largely responsible for the outbreak of war. On the other hand, being in the middle of several great powers, it is fair to suggest that Germany was merely protecting itself against encirclement and aggression from others. One could even argue that Germany was merely trying to ‘fit in’ with the rest of Europe by increasing its military might and had neither offensive nor defensive intentions and should therefore not be blamed for the outbreak of war. After all, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the trigger for war, had no influence from Germany although the German reaction might be considered as unnecessary and somewhat aggressive. Either way it is clear that that Germany did have a big part to play in the outbreak of the First World War but whether they should accept the majority of responsibility is questionable.
It is easy to suggest that Germany were primarily responsible for causing the First World War because of many reasons: Their seemingly aggressive nature towards other nations and the Kaiser’s imperial ambitions being the two most primary. The former of these arguments, the aggressive nature of Germany’s foreign policy is demonstrated by the huge increase (142%) in Germany’s defence budget between 1905 -1914. One could further argue that the mere existence of the Schlieffen plan and the fact that Germany had planned for an attack on two fronts, shows that Germany were prepared for war and were not drawn into it. Furthermore, with Tirpitz preferring to postpone the “great fight for one and a half years” in the War Council meeting of December 1912, one can only look at the