2. To what extent was Germany to blame for starting WWI? After a massive war, it easy to see why a lot people would point fingers at the country that lost the war. However, is this always correct; or do people jump to conclusions much too quickly? By doing this, do they also create a whole new kind of trouble for themselves to come in later years? Some may suggest that it is more productive to look at the events leading up to the war to determine who was at fault. The blame attached to World War One (WWI) is not exclusively German, but may lie with the concepts of militarism, imperialism, nationalism, and alliances. Militarism played an immense part in the start of WWI and without it, there was a chance WWI would have never have …show more content…
When Napoleon was sentenced to exile in Elba, The Congress of Vienna was held. The Congress of Vienna was supposed to sort out all of Europe’s problems in a nonviolent way. Countries from all over Europe sent their delegates to represent them. The big countries were Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Their delegates decided on a new Europe, a Europe that left both Italy and Germany divided into states. In 1861 Italy was unified, as well as Germany in 1871 due to strong nationalist movements. France lost the Alsace-Lorraine to Germany which had a lot of natural resources in the Franco-Prussian war and were now eager to take it back. In Sebria and Austria-Hungary lived large areas of differing nationalist groups, all enthusiastic to become free from the states in which they lived. Franz Ferdinand can be said to be the reason that WWI happened. An archduke, he was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire. Ferdinand, with his wife, decided to make an inspection of troops in the capital of Bosnia. While there, a Sebrian terrorist group of seven, The Black Hand, was going to try to assassinate him. The first two assassins were unable to kill him, but the third was able to throw a grenade that landed under the car in which they were traveling in. Although it did not injure him or his wife, Sophie, it did harm some of his attendants. After this point, no one knows for sure what happens. Some say he went
The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand played a key role in causing the war due to those involved. The archduke was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914. This assassination quickly set off a chain reaction of events culminating in the outbreak of World War I.
World War I ended with the Treaty of Versailles, a treaty that was largely negotiated by the Allied Powers - primarily Britain, France, and Russia - and whose purpose seemed to be the punishment of Germany, who had been part of the Central Powers. Germany was widely blamed for causing so much destruction measured both in lives and monetary value during the war, and once they lost, the victors imposed harsh sanctions and restrictions on German trade and military. Germany was unfairly used as a scapegoat at the end of the war, and did not deserve the restrictions and blame put on them. Such restrictions were morally and ethically unfair, and left Germany no room to rebuild their economy after a war that left them in shambles. During his
Nationalism and the feeling of superiority over some countries helped contribute to the start of the war. Document 4 states, “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage.” This quote shows at the end of the war all the countries made Germany pay reparations. Since by this time Germany had lost the war the other countries felt dominant
Militarism contributed to World War I by causing tension between the countries. As country’s militaries grew it started building tension which made other countries make their militaries larger. When war broke out in 1914 the Triple Entente could field 2.23 million men when Germany and Austria-Hungary could only field 1.2 million men. The Triple Alliance would be attacked from all sides and Great Britain had the most naval control. (documents C and D) Every country building up their armies made tensions really high between the Entente and the Alliance, which made war break out
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
A Serbian nationalist terrorist group, the Black Hand, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand which in turn triggered a turn of events, starting the first World War.
‘German aggression was responsible for the outbreak of a general European war in August 1914’. How far do you agree with this judgement?
The Article never used the word guilt, but read, "...Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war..." In response to taking the blame for WWI, Germany proceeded to produce a great supply of records disproving the guilt they accepted in the Treaty of Versailles. During and after the war, many of the European powers also provided inconsistent records of the events of the war -- this was later referred to as the ‘World War of Documents’ by Bernhard Schwertfeger. Again, this information lends itself to the argument that while all the great powers in Europe shared some responsibility for the events of WWI, Germany is still the most at
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
World War 1 broke out when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip in 1914, whose organization implicated members of Serbian military. For this reason, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, supported by Germany. This triggered chain reaction, nations in Europe declaring war on the other nations, which, with in a month, caused Europe to turn into a battlefield. The Great War was ended, when the Treaty of Versailles and several other treaties were signed in 1919 and Germany was fully held responsible for causing the war. But it is not justified, that Germany, and Germany alone, should be held responsible for the outbreak of the war, even though her
Militarism was one of the causes of World War I. Militarism is a belief of the government or the people that a country there is a massive military build up among many european nations. Germany had an industrialized military and nation. Germany had spent a couple of millions to help improve their military to make it sufficient for war. In doc. C it states that Germany seemed to be very confident in winning the war, “ You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees.” However, Germany had time to industrialize their military, while other nations had to rush to industrialize their military. Militarism was a huge factor in the cause of WWI.
Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1896 until his death, causing ww1. Franz was assassinated by a Serbian named Gavrilo Princip. The day Franz was assassinated it was Sophie’s and his wedding anniversary (Sophie his wife). Franz wasn’t respected in Austria Hungarian places and the Black Hand hated him. They had to assassinate him. On his trip to Serbia hell broke loose. Franz entered the army at a young age given the rank of lieutenant at age fourteen, captain at twenty-two, colonel at twenty-seven, and major general at thirty-one.
Germany after World War I and around the time of the Russian Revolution had experienced a culture change. People within Europe had begun to attend theaters, athletic events, and more to escape from the reality of the aftermath of the wars (Brose, 145). During the Revolution the United States had a devastating event occur. In 1929 the stock market had crashed, which was famously known as the Great Depression, which led people in Europe into a devastating shock. The depression piled more stress onto the European population, for they were already struggling with the economic crisis that was created by World War I. Due to the mental state of the men after the war, the unemployment rate was already off the charts and it continued to escalate even
to be more like them so that's the more the reason why they would want
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