How far was Germany to blame for causing war?
This essay will discuss that Germany didn’t take full responsibility for causing World War 1 and that Austria, Italy, Britain, Russia and France took part in the responsibility as well. Germany was only partly to blame for causing World War 1. All of the big nations in Europe before World War 1 displayed militarism, nationalism and imperialism. All had strong military alliances. This essay will demonstrate that all the nations were guilty in causing the war.
The six main countries in Europe: Germany, Austria, Russia, France, Britain and Italy were proud of their armies and war. For instance, Germany, in 1871, seized Alsace-Lorraine from France after winning the Franco-Prussian War. To protect herself, Germany formed an alliance with Austria and Russia: The Dreikaiserbund. Germany and Austria also had an alliance with Italy, the Triple Alliance. However, Britain refused to take sides. Therefore, Germany and France here are responsible for causing war because Germany had too much pride in her country because she won the Franco-Prussian War and France hated Germany for seizing Alsace-Lorraine. This is linked to the idea of alliances because Germany had to form alliances to protect the nation.
All of the countries had to form alliances to stay safe. For example, going back before World War 1 started, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, aged 51, who was heir to the Austro Hungarian Empire decided to visit Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia, with his wife Sophie, to make an inspection of the Austro-Hungarian troops there. The inspection was scheduled to the 28th of June 1914. A Serbian terrorist group called the Black Hand had decided that the Archduke should be assassinated. Seven young men who were trained in bomb throwing were stationed along the rate that Franz Ferdinand’s car would follow from the City Hall to the inspection. The first two terrorists were unable to throw their grenades because the streets were too crowded and the car was too fast. The third terrorist, a young man called Cabrinovic, threw a grenade at the car but forgot the bomb took 10 seconds to explode so the car behind the Archduke exploded instead. The Archduke and his wife weren’t hurt, but 12 of their attendants were. Cabrinovic jumped into a 4inch river and got caught by the police. The rest of the Black Hand went to hide in the park and were afraid Cabrinovic would tell the police where they were. After a while, Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand, decided to get a sandwich nearby at a nearby sandwich shop in Franz Josef Street at a dead end.
All of the countries needed to form alliances to stay on the safe side. Germany, Austria and Italy were the Triple Alliance and Britain, Russia and France were the Triple Entente. For confirmation, in 1890 when Wilhelm II became Kaiser of Germany, Austria and Russia were arguing over who should control the Balkans- the area of Europe bordering Turkey. Turkey ruled this area for centuries, but was becoming too weak to hold on to them. She was known as the ‘Sick Man of Europe’. The argument between Austria and Russia meant that the Dreikaiserbund was falling apart. Germany rejected the Russians and sided instead with Austria and Italy: The Triple Alliance. After Germany sided with Austria, Russia formed an alliance with France in 1894. This meant Germany had enemies both in the West (France) and in the East (Russia).
The prospect of ‘war on two fronts’ was very scary; Germany would lose any minute unless she tries to form an alliance with Britain, so that France and Russia were more likely to leave Germany alone. Britain was the only major country in Europe without allies, so Germany demanded a high price for her friendship. Therefore, Britain should sign an alliance with not only Germany, but with Italy and Austria because if she didn’t and war started, she would lose badly. Britain refused to do so and instead reached the ‘Entente Cordiale’ with France in 1904. This alarmed Germany because France was now an ally with both Britain and Russia. That shows that because one country formed an alliance with another, all the countries formed alliances with other countries and that meant war could start any minute. This shows that all the countries here, were guilty of causing World War 1.
Germany was not happy about Britain refusing the offer of the Kaiser’s alliance. For example, in 1908, Daily Telegraph interviewed the Kaiser. He presented himself as a friend of England but got mad when he remembered the times that Britain had refused the offer of his alliance so he described the British as ‘Mad as March Hares’. Because of that, Britain will more likely want to start a war with Germany, as the Kaiser insulted the British. Germany, here is guilty of partly causing World War