WW1 thesis

Historiography:  
Fill in the template with historiographical positions on the outbreak of WW1 and Germany’s
responsibility. 
 
Name/historians  Year  Blame  Explanation/arguments 
  Signed the Germany causing WW1  Germany has to pay 132 billion gold
28th of June marks as reparations as being defeated
Treaty of Versailles  1919, and being responsible for beginning
became WW1, accepted by Germany. 
  effective the
10th of
  January
1920 
 

 
  1929  Collective responsibility for Bradshaw Fay believed that not one
the outbreak of war, not country alone shall be blamed for the
Collective mistakes  one country was to be outbreak of war, following the events
blamed   of Germany's reconciliation and entry
(Bradshaw Fay)  into the League of Nations in 1926 

 
  1961  Germany's aggressive and Fischer believed European war was the
expansionist foreign policy, desired result of Germany's aggressive
Fischer Thesis  as well as the 'War Council' and expansionist foreign policy.
in December 1912  Fischer believed the 'War Council' held
  between Kaiser Wilhelm and his military
advisors in December 1912, already
  showed that desire for war was already
present. Another reasons for Germany's
  hopes in victory in war would be the
German colonial expansion in Africa.  
 
  4th June Germany  Germany alone had the power to halt
2014  the descent to disaster, but did not.  
Max Hastings  
 
 
 

 
  2000  Germany, and the Jay Murray Winther believed that the
weakness of the political outbreak of war is the result of weak
Winther  community in Europe  political community in Europe, meaning
that even if Germany wouldn't have had
  started it someone else would've done
it soon anyways. 
 

2) 
The thesis I agree the most with is Fischer's thesis, first published in the early 1960s in which he
blames Germany's aggressive and expansionist foreign policy by Germany's leaders, similar to those
pursued by Hitler in 1939. Fischer also believed that the 'War council' already held in the end of
1912 showed that Germany was waiting for a good opportunity to start a war. Germany was a
reasonably young country first founded in 1871 and did not have many colonies, except for Togo,
Cameroon, German South-West Africa, now known as Namibia, German East Africa, now known as
Tanzania and several territories in the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea. As Germany was a very
developed and leading country regarding innovation and society by the 1910s it was supposed to be
their time to become one of the "big" countries in the world. The hopes in a victory in a short war or
a victory of their ally Austria-Hungary in the Balkans would make up new opportunities in gaining
colonies and land, and with that power. This was very important at that time as it was believed that
only the most powerful countries would survive and the weak would go down at some point.