Was Germany primarily responsible for the outbreak of World War One?

In 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by the terrorist group who called themselves the
black hand, this led to many drastic events during the months of august and July with it being named
the July Crisis before finally the start of WW1, many historians blame all sorts of different reasons for
the outbreak of this war primarily though resolving around Germany and its expansionist aims or
collective responsibility and every countries part made to start this war. Overall there are many
factors which claim either argument to be correct such as Germany’s actions during the July crisis and
how they pressured Austria to act while there is also the argument that France and Russia wanted
war for their own gains.

Many historians believe that it was in fact Germany who were primarily responsible for the
outbreak of WW1 due to many different factors such as the blank cheque, this was the agreement
that Germany would support Austria-Hungary in its battle against Serbia.This was caused by the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a member of the Serbian terrorist group the Black Hand. 1
“The emperor Francis Joseph may, however, rest assured that his majesty will faithfully stand by
Austria-Hungary” This supports Fischer’s ideas about Germany’s pro-war ideals and their plans to
expand their empire. The blank cheque was issued despite Germany knowing that this war with
Serbia could not be contained yet she still supported Austria, this supports Fischer’s ideas that
Germany was pushing for war in order to become a great world power. 2 “we demand our place in
the sun” This tells us how Germany had very aggressive plans for war and were actively seeking it out,
the use of the word “demand” shows us how Germany is willing to take any actions necessary in
order to get what they want, even if that means snuffing out other powers. Germany not only pushed
for Austria to go to war with Serbia but also had a clear set of aims for war clearly discussed long
before war even broke out as can be evidenced by the “schlieffen plan”, the plan that Germany would
attack France after tensions led to Russia mobilising her forces against Germany. However it was this
attack on Belgium that brought the UK into the war and thus started WW1.

As well as Germany influencing its current events to lead to war she also had many long term
plans for expansion as is evidenced by their aggressive foreign policy under Weltpolitik. Weltpolitik
was the culmination of different foreign policy ideas, and Germany’s overall plans to expand her
empire and get themselves more on the map, this can be evidenced by Berhand Von stating 3 “We
must demand that German missionaries, merchants, goods, as well as the German flag and German
vessels be treated with the same respect in China that other powers enjoy.” This highlights how
Germany was aiming to be more recognisable as a world power and and get their “place In the sun”.
Not only did Germany have long term plans but they also angered France and Britain with the First
Moroccan Crisis. This was when the kaiser Wilhelm of Germany declares his support for the sultan of
Morocco, he did this not due to any particular need for anything from Morocco, but instead to disrupt
the Entente Cordiale, this outraged France and Britain strengthening their alliance against Germany.
In retaliation to this France occupied the Moroccan city of Fez causing anger from Germany further
increasing tensions. While this shows us that France did provoke Germany by mobilising in Fez leading
to an increase of tension, Germany did take the first strike in attacking France and Britain with the
first Moroccan crisis leading to Germany being more responsible for the outbreak of WW1.

1 von Bethmann-Hollweg, July 6th 1914

2 Bernhard von Bülow 1897
3 Bernhard von Bülow 1897
 Although there is much evidence to blame Germany for WW1 many historians instead put it down
to collective responsibility such as Russia’s mobilisation against Germany, Russia in response to
Germany’s support for for Austria-Hungary with the blank cheque started to mobilise against
Germany as is evidenced by the Willy Nicky telegrams 4 “The military measures which have now
come into force were decided five days ago for reasons of defence on account of Austria’s
preparations” Russia knew that if they started to mobilise that a war would be inevitable however still
chose to move their army against Germany’s eastern front thus forcing Germany’s hand as they were
being encircled by both France and Russia thus causing them to declare war on Russia due to a lack of
any other options. It was also shown by the telegrams that Germany was not looking for war 5 “I
therefore suggest that it would be quite possible for Russia to remain a spectator of the
Austro-Serbian conflict without involving Europe in the most horrible war she has ever witnessed” This
highlights how Germany was of the opinion, at least as war was approaching that it was something to
try prevent not fuel. Not only was Russia to blame but also Austria as they gave Serbia demands
which were completely outrageous such as allowing their police forces to conduct investigations in
Serbia, this completely forced Serbia into war as no country would in the write mind allow a potential
enemies military into their cities, Austria knew this as well and refused to budge on the demands
leading to them declaring war on Serbia on 28th July 1914 starting the events leading to WW1. As well
as this France was also very much to blame as well for the outbreak of WW1. This can be seen with
France stating that they would aid Russia if Germany mobilized against them, however Russia
mobilized long before Germany and Austria yet France still aided Russia even ignoring neutrality
claims from Germany and Britain. This can be further supported by France’s desire for Alsace-Lorraine
and Russia wanting the Balkans as war breaking out would allow them both to gain these territories
through negotiations. The alliance between France, Russia and Britain or the Triple Entente was also a
major contributing factor to the start of WW1 as they completely encircled Germany on almost every
front building up tensions. This made Germany feel extremely threatened as the only ally they had
was Austria-Hungary while 3 of the major powers were gunning for them. Due to Germany supporting
the Boer’s in the Boer war and seeking out expansion of her navy and empire Britain and France were
brought much closer together against Germany only increasing her isolation leading to Wilhelm
making many rash, irrational and confusing decisions as his paranoia increased. This could of easily
been avoided if France and Britain were far less aggressive against Germany and her expansion as
they clearly stated that 6 “In short, we do not want to put anyone in our shadow” This shows us that
Germany did not intend to attack or threat any of the major powers but instead expand around them
not through them, however despite this France and Britain still took hostile measures against this
thus leading to Wilhelm feeling encircled and out of options.

Overall there is much evidence both in favour of collective responsibility and Germany being
solely to blame with the blank cheque and the schlieffen plan highlighting how Germany was ready
for war and trying to go about getting it through the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia,
However there is also much evidence that it was in fact a collective responsibility with many countries
playing there part in starting war with France’s Free Hand, as well as this France was gunning for
Alsace-Lorraine while Russia wanted the Balkans and a war with Germany would allow them both to
achieve their goals. Ultimately though it was Germany’s aggressive foreign policy and pushing for war
that led to WW1 occurring due to them pressuring war to start while creating tension with their
growing navy and roping Britain into the war by attacking Belgium. Lastly, it was Germany’s plan to

4 Tsar Nicholas 30th July 1914

5 Kaiser Wilhelm ii 29th July 1914
6 Bernhard von Bülow 1897
knock Britain completely out of the picture with the expansion of their navy in order to isolate France
when war inevitably came meaning they had many long term plans for war and actively tried to start
it.

Bibliography

Bethman-Hollweg, Theobald, (July 6th 1914)

Bülow, Bernhard, (1897)

Tsar Nicholas ii, (30th July 1914)

Kaiser Wilhelm ii (29th July 1914)