Was Germany to blame for the First World War?

Answer 1

No

On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, in Sarajevo. Princip was a member of Young Bosnia, a group whose aims included the unification of the South Slavs and independence from Austria-Hungary (see also: the Black Hand). The assassination in Sarajevo set into motion a series of fast-moving events that escalated into a full-scale war. However, the ultimate causes of the conflict were multiple and complex.

Answer 2

Imperealism was to blame and Germany, England, Italy and France all equally fit the bill. Germany lost so history is told by the winners but both sides were pretty much to blame. The allies did such a bad job with the treaty of Paris that ended the war that it spawned the second world war also.

Answer 3

It was the culmination of a long series of events over many years. But the short version is the Serbians were wanting control of Bosnia. Some things never change. Bosnia was in the Austrian empire so they targeted Austria with a series of terror attacks, again some things never change. Austria was looking for an excuse to deal with Serbia once and for all. When a Serbian assassinated the heir to the Austrian empire that was more than reason enough. The Serbian state was almost certainly behind it. So, the Austrians issued an ultimatum which the Serbians ignored, again nothing has changed. So, Austria declared war. The Russians supported the Serbians. Germany had an alliance with Austria and so declared war on Russia. France fulfilled its treaty obligations to Russia and declared war on Germany. Germany set out to reach Paris in the shortest route open to them which involved invading neutral Belgium. Britain had a treaty with Belgium and so declared war on Germany. And there it was.

The final events leading to the war were precipitated by the Serbians. As in recent years, the Serbians have little concern for life and react in violent fashion to those who oppose them. In the end, Germany was fulfilling its obligations to Austria. Would the war have occurred if the assassination at Sarajevo had not happened? Probably, though playing the what if game is in the end fruitless, we will never know that.

Answer 4

Not entirely. There are two views about World War I.

For historians who like to focus on specifics, they like to blame Conrad von Hotzendorf, an Austrian general for causing the war. He used the assasination of Prince Ferdinand to start the war, after the emotions aroused by the incident had actually started to die down about 2 months later. In this view, Austrians and Habsburg Empire were more to be blamed then the "Germany" we commonly termed.

For historians that look at a bigger picture, they tend to agree the "alliance system" in Europe was to blame for the war after one country dragged so many countries into it.

Either way, Germany could hardly be blamed for the cause of the war alone.

Answer 5

There's usually no one cause of an event. Things often happens as a combination of causes and factors. To say that Germany was to be blame for hte First World War is to neglect all other factors that also plays some part or another...

Answer 6

The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was just an excuse.

The Austrians had been spoiling for a fight with Serbia.

The Germans had been building up their military hardware (especially the navy) and wanted to flex her muscles.

The British wanted to put the Germans back in their place and reinforce their supremacy at sea.

All of the above are to blame for the First World War.

Answer 7

why do people always feel the need to blame? and especially why do you feel the need to place blame for an event that occured so long ago and you weren't even alive during? whoever was responsible is no longer living any way and placing blame on a country for what happened that long ago only causes people to persecute the innocent descendants of the ones who you believe caused the problem.

Answer 8

The fault probably fell more to a whole group of alliances most European nations had made, so that when one royal got assassinated in Sarajevo, the whold continent got dragged into war, in the fashion of tumbling dominoes, as one nation after another called on its allies to join it in the fray.

Answer 9

Well, either they are responsible for their own actions, or their leadership should have worn tin foil liners in their hats to prevent Martians from beaming controlling thoughts at them. Take your pick.

Answer 10

No it was the assination of the Duke Ferdinand that started it