Why did Germany have to take all the blame for WWI?

Question

I don't understand why Germany had to take all the blame for the first world war when Austria Hungry declared war on Serbia to start the war, not Germany.

Answer 1

There are several factors involved. First of all, because of the Triple Alliance. Because Austro-Hungary was allied with Germany, they had to ask their permission before starting anything with another country. Germany basically told Austro-Hungary to do whatever they wanted to handle the situation. So, in that sense, Germany does hold part of the blame-but certainly not all of it. Secondly, France was extremely angry with Germany. Extremely. Mainly because of the outcome of the Franco-Prussian War. The French were embarassed and harbored those feelings of resentment for a long long time. After the Franco-Prussian War, Otto von Bismarck succeeded in unifying Germany and creating a superpower in central Europe. The Triple Entente (France, Great Britian and Russia) did not like this idea. After WWI, the Versailles Treaty was written in such a way to prevent Germany from taking control of Central Europe, which it apparantly was hellbent on doing. Thus, they forced demilitarization and made Germany accept blame for all of WWI in hopes of scaling Germany's power back. Other factors, such as the Moroccan Crisis of 1905 and 1911 also play into reasons why Germany, although they were not entirely to blame- WWI was basically a world effort- were forced to take the blame under the Versailles Treaty.

Answer 2

First of all, the Germans had taken a leading role in their alliance. Second, the treaty that the Germans signed with Russia (Brest-Litovsk) after the Russians withdrew from the war was very harsh. At the Paris Peace Conference, their was debate between the allies wether they should be harsh on Germany, or not. In the end, they chose to be quite harsh, weakening Germany significantly. This ended up causing WWII, because Hitler was angry at the nations that weakened Germany. Part of the harshness was the War Guilt Clause, which meant Germany took full responsibility for the war. If the Germans opted not to sign, they would be attacked, which they simply couldnt fight. So really, the Germans didnt have a choice but to sign the Treaty of Versailles and accept responsibility for WWI.

Answer 3

I think Germany convinced Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. They were supposed to wait and give some warning or something, but Germany convinced them not to. Even though Germany TECHNICALLY didn't start the war, it was pretty much their fault that tensions got so bad in the first place and they were manipulating a few countries to make themselves look innocent. They also had a very powerful army, so when they lost, the other major powers wanted to make sure that they wouldn't be a threat in the future.

There were all sorts of alliances and stuff where countries were essentially choosing sides. Germany was a major player in that, making deals with Russia and Austria... Kind of like kids forming cliques in junior high school. Maybe look into that stuff a bit more.

Answer 4

Although today it is reasonably clear that Germany fought the war with the general aim of transforming itself from a merely continental power to a true world power, the fact is that at no point did the German government know just what its peace terms would be if it won. It might have annexed Belgium and part of the industrial regions of northern France, though bringing hostile, non-German populations into the Empire might not have seemed such a good idea if the occasion actually arose. More likely, or more rationally, the Germans would have contented themselves with demilitarizing these areas. From the British, they would probably have demanded nothing but more African colonies and the unrestricted right to expand the German High Seas Fleet. In Eastern Europe, they would be more likely to have established friendly satellite countries in areas formerly belonging to the defunct empires than to have directly annexed much territory. It seems to me that the Austrian and Ottoman Empires were just as likely to have fallen apart even if the Central Powers had won. The Hungarians were practically independent before the war, after all, and the chaos caused by the eclipse of Russia would have created opportunities for them which they could exploit only without the restraint of Vienna. As for the Ottoman Empire, most of it had already fallen to British invasion or native revolt. No one would have seen much benefit in putting it back together again, not even the Turks. Russia would probably not have become communist and NAZI Germany would not have came to power.

Answer 5

The control over the seas by powerful ships was a concept at that time. Both Britain and Germany were vying with each other for the supremacy of the sea. Britain was ahead of the race having more powerful ships. The war was a pretext for britain to settle score.
The Allied Powers, led by France, Russia, the British Empire, and later Italy and the United States, defeated the Central Powers: Austria-Hungary, the German Empire, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

(On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, in Sarajevo after purchasing a sandwich. Princip was a member of Young Bosnia, a group whose aims included the unification of the South Slavs and independence from Austria-Hungary. 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.)
1. Having pledged its support to Austria-Hungary, Germany issued Russia an ultimatum on July 31, demanding a halt to mobilization within 12 hours. On August 1, with the ultimatum expired, the German ambassador to Russia formally declared war.

2. The war plans of Germany, France and Russia automatically escalated the conflict. Fritz Fischer and his followers have emphasized the inherently aggressive nature of the Schlieffen Plan, which outlined German strategy if at war with both France and Russia. Conflict on two fronts meant Germany had to eliminate one opponent quickly before taking on the other, relying on a strict timetable.
3. It called for a strong right flank attack, to seize Belgium and cripple the French army by preempting its mobilization. After the attack, the German army would then rush to the eastern front by railroad and quickly destroy the more slowly mobilizing military of Russia.In a greater context, France's own Plan XVII called for an offensive thrust into Germany’s industrial Ruhr Valley which would cripple Germany’s ability to wage war. Russia’s revised Plan XIX implied a mobilization of its armies against both Austria-Hungary and Germany.
4. All three created an atmosphere where generals and planning staffs were anxious to take the initiative and seize decisive victories.
VR

Answer 6

Legally they assumed "war guilt" because they signed the Treaty of Versailles which had such a clause in it. Also, the Austro-Hungarian Empire no longer existed, ergo no reparations from it.
Finally, Germany bears a large part of the responsibility, as if they had not supported A/H in their ultimatum to Serbia, the Austrians most likely wouldn't have issued it. Finally, even after the ultimatum was issued, the Kaiser could have easily stated he wouldn't support mobilization, as the premise of the Triple Alliance was to come to the aid of signatories that were attacked. This is how Italy slipped out of its treaty obligation.

Answer 7

Follow the money. World Wars happens because they are financed by Zionist banks. It has been officially recorded by Congress that "International Jewry was responsible for World War I". Germany was picked clean after the Treaty of Versailles. Wealthy Jewish industrialists scooped up businesses, factories, land for pennies on the dollar. Jews living in Germany offered to coerce the U.S. into entering the war, provided Britain give them Palestine. See the Balfour Agreement.

Answer 8

well germany took over and became kind of the unofficial leader of the central powers and declared war on any country whos ships went into the english channel and the waters surrounding england so they were the major threat to the whole war and if it wuznt 4 germany the whole war would have been over a lot sooner because germany's strength gave the rest of the central powers strength... and they lost so that duznt help them either

Answer 9

Because Germany was the strongest of the losing side. And when Germany surrendered, it was under the impression that it was not an unconditional surrender. When the surrendering document was signed, even the German official stated that this was the beginning of the next world war.

Answer 10

On top of Germany being on the losing side, the European powers were anxious about Germany waging war again. THey wanted reparations and revenge. They decided to punish the nation to make it harder for Germany to become powerful again.