Is It All Germany 's Fault?

World War I devastated Europe and brought unprecedented human suffering. There were more than 38 million military and civilian casualties: 17 million deaths and over 20 million wounded, and a toll of $186 billion in direct costs, and an $151 billion in indirect costs. [1] The allied powers negotiated the Treaty of Versailles, which officially brought the war to end in June of 1919, with very limited participation by Germany. The provisions of the treaty primarily blamed Germany for the war, and imposed unreasonable terms that were responsible for German expansion, hyperinflation, and economic downfall, and eventually led directly to World War II. [2]

With fighting and war, it made the expenditures raise at an extremely rapid pace for all consumers in these countries. Great Britain, Germany, and France all have the most intense growth in prices. If these three countries want to have a superior navy and army, then they are going to have to have much expenditure towards this accomplishment. Great Britain has had a $4.69 increase (from year 1870 $3.74 to year 1914 - $8.23) for military and weapon purposes. For using this towards militarism, that is a cause of the World War. These increases of money prices have raised the chance of war because if people pay around you, you can advance in building your better army. (Document 1) All European Countries are responsible for the outbreak of World War 1 because all of these countries did things to lead up to war, but “failed to do certain thinks which might have prevented [the war]”. They think that every military group is the cause of the whole beginning of the war (Document 6).

Another debated cause is imperialism, which is the policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. This contributed to WWI because of the rivalry it caused in Europe between Great Britain, Germany, and France. They needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. Great Britain, Germany, and France competed for economic expansion in Africa. Even though Great Britain and France came to an agreement several problems before the war had to do with the dislike of Germany against Great Britain and France in North Africa. Also the crumbling of the Ottoman-Empire in the Middle East was a big factor for Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia. So the competition for colonies brought great powers into conflict and fueled the ideas of war and added to the present tension that already existed, and that tension keeps on building up.

People go into war for countless reasons; however, power remains as one of the main factors of war. Wanting to have more power over the world can lead to a global conflict. By the end of the first world war, the Treaty of Versailles kept peace in Europe until Hitler of Germany began violating its contracts. Thus, began World War II that corrected the evil of Hitler with a justifiable cause. Although the second World War brought many casualties, World War II resulted as a justifiable war because it saved nations from German exploitation, began as a last resort after all forms of appeasement failed, and brought the German powers to an unconditional surrender.

Another main cause of World War I was Militarism. For each country there was a big increase in military and naval forces. For each country there was a big increase in military and navel forces. The policies and government created a big influence on the military men and because of this, force was a alternative as solutions to problems. This is what made militarism one of the main causes of World War I. There was a rise in military influence on policy making after 1907, in countries such as Germany and Russia. During this period of time the German Army was known as a “state within a state”. Everybody in the government such as the parliament and politicians were required to follow the General staff. The war atmosphere was endangered. It was because of the secret alliances and that triggered a armaments race among all the powers. During 1900-1914 the race became very serious and the international situation became much worse then ever before. During these years there was a rise in army and navel estimates. There was so much military rivalry within countries competing for the

World War I was one of the most brutal and bloodiest war ever fought in the early twentieth century. The war left ten million soldiers dead, seven million civilians dead, and another ten million people to be wounded (Background Essay). It was the Triple Alliance, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey, against the Triple Entente, France, Britain, Russia, and Italy (Background Essay). The war ended with the Paris Peace Conference where world leaders meet up to discuss about a creation of a treaty to settle the peace terms. President Woodrow Wilson of the U.S. simply wanted to create a League of Nations to settle future conflicts and to avoid war (Background Essay). However, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France and Prime Minister David Lloyd George of England wanted even more; revenge and humiliation on Germany. They are forcing Germany to pay hundreds of billions of dollars for

During the start of the 20th century, Europe was in a good place. It controlled many empires and colonies, and technology was advancing at a rapid pace after the Industrial Revolution (1840-1870). However this peace did not last; 1914 started a brutal four year war known as WWI. The immediate cause of this war is known to be the assassination of the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, in June of 1914. However, there are many more elementary causes of this complicated war. Some of the main underlying causes of WWI was the strong militarism and imperialism felt in the European countries, and the alliances put in place to uphold these powerful militaries and colonies.

After the deaths of 37,508,686 soldiers by the end of World War I, Europe was a mess. Countries had been dissolved and rearranged, governments had fallen and been replaced, and economies were thriving then crashing, all as a result from World War I. One of the main goals at the end of World War I was to prevent another tragedy like World War I from happening again. Clearly that did not happen, as World War II still happened, causing over 50 million deaths. The repercussions of World War I caused World War II due to radical ideology, bad economic conditions, and nationalism to the point of extremity.

The most anticipated war in history, World War One, started off with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand. As a result, Austria-Hungary gave the killer’s country, Serbia, an opportunity to take ownership and apologize to A/H’s government. Without a response from Serbia, A/H declares war, launching the July Crisis- one of many of Europe’s fighting frenzies. Countries were declaring war on each other, gathering secret alliances, and building their armies. The Crisis continuously built its longevity until declared as a Great War, a nickname for World War One. Knowing which event pushed the world to arm themselves, historians had asked what the underlying causes for the war were. Causes for the war were alliances, imperialism, nationalism, and most destructive, militarism.

When a nation gained more powerful arms, they were seen as a larger threat to the rest of the world, which was proven by post-war speeches from leaders of involved countries and statistics from the war. When Germany was blamed entirely for starting the war, German Versailles Treaty delegation leader Count Brockdorff-Rantzau argued that imperialism and the massive power put in the militaries across Europe had a larger impact on the war than Germany (Document 5). The mobilization of European armies and missed preventative steps to avoid war in almost every European country were both also cited by many historians for causing the Great War to occur (Document 6). The effects of military advancement and involvement in political discrepancies is clearly shown in statistics of money paid by each country involved in the war throughout time. When the war broke out, substantial increases in the investments made for weaponry are shown, especially by the main countries involved in the war, such as Great Britain, France, and Germany (Document 1). Military advancement overall had a large part in World War I’s breakout, due to its effects on the mindset of countries to create more weaponry for defense, and the power it gave to a nation’s

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.

In 1914, European countries went to war with themselves. When the war broke out, it was expected to be done with quickly. However, much to Europe’s dismay, the war lasted for over four long years, with the lives of millions of soldiers and civilians being lost in the battle. After the war, Europeans questioned how this war came to be. There were many speculations and opinions on what caused the event known as World War One. However, only three of the most important reasons will be discussed.

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 can only be described as having been devastating. Thanks to World War I, Europe was left in debt and largely devastated. Both sides, i.e. the winners and the losers, suffered casualties never experienced prior to the First Word War. Millions were killed and scores wounded. It is thus understandable that at the end of it all, the victors were seething with anger and seeking revenge. They sought to make those they blamed for the war as weak as possible and with this, the Treaty of Versailles was born. To date, this very treaty is regarded the major cause of the Second World War. Instead of creating peace, as it was intended, this treaty ended up triggering yet another conflict.

Many historians have debated on whether or not the outbreak of the First World War could have been prevented and whether it is justifiable to blame one nation for the war.