Must Germany Bear Ultimate Responsibility for the Outbreak of the First World War?
Summary:
Many historians contend that Germany must bear the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of World War I. Factors such as Germany's desire to become a world power through its pursuit of an aggressive "Weltpolitik" foreign policy, as well as its desire for war in order to expand its geographical influence in Europe, support this argument. However, other causes of the war weaken this argument; these include as the alliance system in Europe during this period and domestic factors in European nations in the context of virulent nationalism.
The First World War lasted for four years and resulted in the deaths of millions. Such a catastrophic event led to the investigation of historians for its causes and origins. Proponent historians of the intentionalist interpretation of the causes of the war have put forward the judgment that 'Germany must bear the ultimate reasonability for the outbreak of the First World War'. This essay will evaluate the agreeability of this judgment by looking at Germany's aggressive pursuit for its Weltpolitik foreign policy and also Germany's pre-war will and desire for war to realize its expansionist ambitions. However, the essay will also look at two other factors which led to war, the alliance system and domestic issues within the European powers respectively. It will be argued that the judgment for Germany must bear the ultimate responsibility for WWI is less agreeable when compared to paramount causes such as the alliance system and the domestic issues of European powers in pre-war period.
Germany must bear the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of the First World War because of its aggressive pursuit for Weltpolitik - defined as World Politics which meant an increase of Germany's world affair involvement. Germany sought to be recognized as a world power and had imperialistic ambitions under the aggressive policy of Weltpolitik. This policy upset the delicate balance in Europe orchestrated by Bismark and made other European countries feel threatened. In turn this exacerbated relations between Germany and other European powers, therefore increasing the likeliness of war. This point is aptly demonstrated through the First Moroccan Crisis of March 1905. Kaiser Wilheim's aggressive provocation towards France's authority over Morocco as a test for alliance commitments of Britain and France in the Entente Cordiale appeared to demonstrate German prominence. However it severely undermined Franco-German relations and further allowed the strengthening of the Anglo-French entente which was implicitly made to include mutual military assistance in the future. Fischer has argued that German Weltpolitik is a major cause for war as it reflected German aggression and inflicted tension among European powers and contributed to Germany's war guilt. Thus, Germany's Weltpolitik clearly demonstrates that Germany must bear the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of the Great War.
Germany must bear the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of the Great War because of its pre-war desire and will for the a war which led to the Great War. Germany in a pre-war situation was geographically and diplomatically centralized and economically isolated. Where geographically, Germany saw the threat of encirclement, diplomatically, Germany was isolated due to its location in Europe, economically, German industrialization after 1910 feared economical breakdown. Thus in order to solve these problems, Germany willed for the war with aims to geographically to expand, diplomatically to gain more influence in Europe and to establish an economical base for market. A clear example of this was the German desire for Middle Europe, to acquire an economic foundation for their raw materials and market in the Balkans. Though German sought for this goal through peaceful means, they were prepared to enter war if necessary. Fischer's school of thinking has also argued for the pre-war German ambitions which they willed through aggression which was to lead to war. Thus, Germany pre-war ambitions and will for a war suggests that Germany must bear the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of the First World War.
However, one must look at other causes which were responsible for the outbreak of war. One of many factors is the existence of the alliance system in Europe in the pre-war period. The alliance system is a major cause for World War One because the secrecy of the alliances in the system led to fear suspicion and therefore caused conflicts between nations that would ultimately lead to war. The alliance system led to many secret arrangements between allies which had always been speculated by antagonistic nations, this led to fear and suspicion between European powers. In turn, these suspicion and fears caused crises in which nations could provoke conflicts to test for secret alliance arrangements and commitments. Ultimately, these conflicts could escalate, increasing tension among the powers which would lead to a general war. The first Moroccan Crisis of 1905 again pertinently demonstrates this point. The German Kaiser, out of fear and suspicion of the secret arrangements behind the Entente Cordiale, provoked a conflict in Morocco by challenging France's claim to Morocco to test Anglo-French commitments to their entente. This diplomatic maneuver intensified tension between the great powers and if escalated could have easily resulted in war. Palmer has argued that tension was caused through fear and suspicion of alliance secrecies. Thus, this argument clearly demonstrates that the alliance system was a leading cause for the outbreak of World War One.
Domestic issue of each European nation is another cause to bear great responsibility for the Great War. This is because autocratic nations sought to preserve Elite rule and thus divert domestic issues into the war front. Elite ruled nations such as Austria-Hungary faced problems with nationalism. Thus their maneuver of alleviating focus on domestic issues by diverting their nation to the war front was seen as their only way to redeem prestige and preserve their ruling power. For example, in Austria-Hungary, the rise of nationalistic groups, such as the slavs, threatened the Elite rule and further posed threat to the unification of the Empire. Faced with these threats, Austro-Hungarian elites chose to divert these domestic issues by proclaiming national prominence through provocation of Serbia (demonstrated in the July crisis) and thus creating war opportunities. In turn, this would lead to militarism and ultimately cause conflicts which could escalate into a general European war, which finally proved to happen after the through the July Crisis of 1914. Williamson has argued that domestic factors in context of virulent nationalism would lead to an inevitable war. Thus, this argument demonstrates that the existence of domestic issues in European powers was a paramount cause responsible for the outbreak of war.
In conclusion, the judgment that 'Germany must bear the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of the First World War' cannot be agreed to a far extent when the impact of their contribution to the war is compared with that of the alliance system or the domestic issues of European powers during the pre-war period. Although Germany's aggressive foreign policy and their pre-war ambitions induced them to contribute greatly to the outbreak of the war, if not placed in context of the alliance system and domestic problems faced by all European powers at the time, war could have been likely avoided. Therefore, one must turn to explore other important factors which applied to all European powers for a more defendable explanation for the outbreak of World War One.
This is the complete article, containing 1,120 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page).
