Germany 's Desire For World Power

At the end of WWI many countries blamed Germany for starting the war. These countries used the Treaty of Versailles to punish Germany. These punishments included loss of land and military, infeasible reparations, and complete humiliation; this is how the Treaty of Versailles directly caused WWII.

By the 1st of August 1914, Germany had declared war on Russia, as well as threatening Belgium. At this point everyone was trying to protect their country and the countries of their alliances’. So we can see that another trigger to the war was threat, threat that their land would be taken, and that their military was not large enough. So again there was this thirst for land and a need to beat others, this formation of alliances is none other than another trigger to the First World War.

World War I was caused by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914. However, World War II was caused by the political and economic instability in Germany, along with the bad conditions of the Treaty of Versailles . When the treaty of Versailles was put into affect, Germany acknowledged responsibility for the war, which also meant agreeing to pay enormous amounts of money for war reparations and losing land/territory to those who

Germany had stockpiled quite an arsenal and increased their navy for advanced combat. Great Britain also strengthened her navy. Militarism was another cause of the war. Countries like Germany and Russia had policies in place to build a strong military in readiness for war. Between 1910 and 1914, Germany had a 73% increase in military spending while Russia had 39%, Britain had 13%, and France had 10%. This increase in defense spending led to countries building stronger militaries which thrust the world deeper into the war. Lastly, nationalistic movements were going on all over the world. People were getting more aware of their ethnicities and the oppression that they had endured from people who were not like them. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria came from the nationalistic views of the Bosnians who did not want to be under the rule of Austria-Hungary and wanted their own state. Strong nationalistic movements were going on everywhere and the unification of Italy and Germany was a product of it. France had to give up some land to Germany and wanted it back. Nationalism played a big role in the start of the war as it fueled existing fires and was probably one of the direct causes of the war. Not only did nationalism start the war it extended it longer than it should have gone. This, as each nation tried to prove its power and dominance over the

Once Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, it gave the countries a reason to declare war on each other. Document A shows the alliances between European countries at the start of WWI in 1914. France, Britain, and Russia were an alliance. France and Britain were the most powerful out of imperialist Europe, so they made an alliance to combine that strength. Russia owned no colonies, so it would make sense they would want an alliance with what seemed like the strongest colony owners. Germany owned the third most colonies, but they were scared of Britain and France taking over (look at the analysis of Document D). Austria-Hungary was in a place similar to Russia in that they needed an alliance with a stronger country, Germany fit the type of alliance Austria-Hungary was looking for because Germany had a strong military and was already united to Austria-Hungary by common fear of Russia and Russia’s alliances. Germany allied with Austria-Hungary because they believed Russia wouldn’t wage war against two empires. This led Russia to ally with France and

The expansion during the Wilhelmine period in Germany and the sociopolitical factors of that time helped start a war that more than Germany alone were responsible for starting. This war, that started in 1914, came to be known the Great War and was later known as World War I. This war was a defining moment in German and world history as a whole. Although Germany was not solely responsible for starting the war, there were certain actions that Germany did to help lead to World War I.

Though most historians consider the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary the most immediate cause of WWI, or the rise of Germany to be the main cause since they signed the Versailles Treaty (Doc 4), many agree that the war was not caused by just one thing. Instead, it was caused by a concept instead of specific people or countries. It seemed that everyone, during this time period, had started to increase their military power and defense systems. Therefore, World War I was caused by two things: the fear these countries had of losing their power, and the big toll that European Imperialism took international relations.

Germany also declared war on France and not long after Great Britain declared war on Germany. In 1917 president wilson asked congress to declare war on Germany. The underlying causes of World War 1 were the “ MAIN”, Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism.

Many historians believe that due to the Wilhelmine Era and the expansion of the German nation, led to the outbreak of World War One. During the Bismarck era, Bismarck 's main goal was to keep France isolated and stay in good relations with Austria and Russia so that it would prevent a war. Although Bismarck 's foreign policy was creating cooperation, it did not last very long. The spark of World War one came from the Wilhelmine era, which turned away from everything Bismarck’s foreign policy represented. The expansion of the military scared Europe, the industrialization of the railroad was a suspicion to other countries, and the expansion of domestic supporters led to the alliance of the France, Britain, and Russia known as the Triple Entente.

WWI was the cause of problems in countries all throughout the World. There is a wide variety of opinions on who started the war. But one country should not be blamed for the outbreak of war. Instead, all the European countries are at fault for causing WWI because of Nationalism, Imperialism, and Militarism.

At the end of World War I, the sole responsibility of initiating the conflict fell on Germany. With the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany took the blame and agreed to pay for reparations. However, the origin of the war was not the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Rather, the origins were nationalism, the creation of entangling alliances, the conflict in the Balkans, and the economic and imperialistic rivalries in Europe. These factors created the right conditions for war to occur. However, the responsibility of initiating conflict can be placed on Austria-Hungary.

The First World War was not caused singularly by Germany and Austria-Hungary as the treaty of Versailles has set out. Germany is greatly responsible for much of the tension of the world situation in 1914, resulting from its aggressive policy of Weltpolitik, its attempts to have a superior navy, the Kaiser's personal poorly said remarks, and its attempts to break up the Triple Entente. However Germany was not solely responsible for the tension, many other events had occurred outside Germany's control, which had the same effect. Germany was also largely responsible for allowing the conflict in the Balkans to escalate into a major European conflict, by giving Austria-Hungary free reign, though it was not their intent. However Germany should

Using the assassination of Austrian archduke Frances Ferdinand and his wife as a catalyst for the invasion of Yugoslavia, Germany formed an alliance with Austria and fuse for World War I was lit.

     Although in the Treaty of Versailles Germany was to accept full responsibility for World War 1 this in not necessarily the case. Many factors have to be taken into account when considering the cause of World War 1. Germany may have been primarily responsible for the war but the other major powers must accept some of the blame for failing to prevent it. The conflict resulting from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinard should have been local and confined but due to a series of factors, militarism, the alliance system, nationalism, this one incident led to the greatest war Europe had ever seen. As a result of underlying hostilities the assassination led to a chain of

Germany, on 28th June 1919, was forced to take all of the blame and responsibility for World War One, at the Treaty of Versailles. However, I believe this was very wrong, because the start of “The Great War” was due to several reasons and so