Germany Ww1 Responsible Essay Research Paper Was

Germany: Ww1 Responsible. Essay, Research Paper

Was Germany Responsible for Starting the First World War.

Introduction

The question of Germany’s responsibility in initiating the first World War is one that has raised many differences of opinion among historians who have attempted to address the issue.

Holger H. Herwig, in his quest to answer this question has concluded;

“…The greatest measure of responsibility, however, remains with Germany. Planners, both civilian and military, were all too eager to resolve their perceived diplomatic encirclement by use of force — “now or never,” as Kaiser Wilhelm II put it.”

(Herwig, H. H., The Outbreak of World War I, 1991 )

Harry Elmer Barnes, an American scholar, expressing his discontent with the treaty of Versailles wrote;

“…. In estimating the order of guilt of the various countries we may safely say that the only direct and immediate responsibility for the World War falls upon Serbia, France and Russia, with the guilt about equally divided.”

(Barnes, H. E., Who Started the First World War., 1989)

Other Historians tend to be less inclined to any one side, in favour of a position where every one is to be blamed almost equally;

“The unthinkable happened because in each of the Great States, leaders did certain things that inflamed the crisis, or failed to do things that might have eased it. All shared in some degree the responsibility for the general failure.”

(Marshall, S. L. A., World War One, 1985, page 25.)

The vast array of opinions make it incumbent that the issue be studied with delicate care and based on a systematic framework. Where as it is possible to study the immediate causes of the Great War, it is necessary that that these causes be looked at in the wider perspective of the dominant political atmosphere surrounding the whole of Europe at the time, as well as the historical factors that lead to the creation of this atmosphere. This is crucial, since on the International scene material actions often follow political decisions and not the other way round.

It was not possible for the war to come about without the influence of a host of extremely dangerous political ideas that comprised the international public opinion controlling the relation of the European nations with each other.

“Among the causes of the war were rising nationalist sentiment (manifested both in the chauvinism of the great European powers and in the unrest among the subject peoples of the multinational European empires), colonial and economic rivalries, the formation of hostile alliance systems, and arms races, all of which contributed to the growing sense of international tension during the pre-war years.”

(Ramsey RD. The New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopaedia – Release 6 – (World War 1))

Nationalism

The principle of nationalism did not rank high in the agenda of the 1815 Congress of Vienna. Germany and Italy were left as divided states, but strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, France was left seething over the loss of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany. It was natural for the French to have a desire to regain this territory.

Nationalism also posed a problem for Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, areas that comprised of many conflicting national groups. The desire of many of the Slavs in the southern provinces to join neighbouring Serbia had intensified friction among the empire’s Germanic, Magyar, and Slavic peoples. The Austrians nevertheless hoped to increase their strength and territory in the Balkans at the expense of the disintegrating Ottoman Empire, thereby antagonising Russia, which also hoped to absorb much of the Ottoman territory.

Imperialism

Furthermore, the prominence of Capitalism lead to economic and imperial competition amongst the European nations. Great Britain, Germany and France needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. After 1870, the European nations greatly accelerated the acquisition of colonies in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Between 1895 and 1905 imperialistic expansion reached its climax. This colonial rivalry had many implications.

Colonial rivalry led to the straining of relationships among the European nations. All the European powers except Austria and Russia had colonies in Africa, a natural consequence of which was many clashes between France, Britain, Germany and Italy. As examples, France rivalled with Germany over Morocco and with Italy over Tunis. France and Britain nearly came to war over their rivalry in the Sudan in 1898.

A result of the colonial rivalry was an intensification of the arms race. The tensions and rivalries among the European nations induced them into thinking that their interests would be vitally at stake unless they were well capable of militarily dealing with their rivals. This mode of thinking saw a highly escalated arms race from 1871 onwards. The race was particularly serious between 1900 and 1914, as the international situation became much worse than before. There was a significant rise in the army and naval estimates of the European powers in these years. From 1910 to 1914 France increased her defence expenditure by 10%, Brit

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