World War I question?

Question

I have to prove something in my WWI essay, but I'm having trouble with it. The question is:

Why did Germany claim they were fighting a defensive war, as stated by the German Delegation in response to the Versailles Treaty?

Answer 1

Because they declared war after Russia mobilized against Austria-Hungary following the Austrian-Hungarian declaration of war against Serbia. That followed the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, by Gavrillo Princip, a Serbian national.

Answer 2

Germany felt they were forced into the war -- a Serb in Austria started it by assassinating Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife Sophia. Several decades earlier the German Prime Minister Otto von Bismark had wrangled a number of pacts with other countries stating that if your country is attacked, we will come to your defense... The Arch Duke was shot and Austria was given an ultimatum. Austria went to the Germans and told them they were not going to apologize. The German's said, fine. Don't. And then the Austrians took almost a full thirty days to declare war, leaving Germany holding the bag of having to then support Austria. Germany was then sucked into the vortex of war, the same as the Belgians, the Russians, The Brit.s, the Canadians, the Americans, and on and on...
The Germans did not start the war, but were obligated to come to the aid of the Austrians, so they attacked France and Russia in an attempt to relieve the strain on Austria.
In "The War to End All Wars," "The Great War," all totalled, the average loss of life for all combatants was approx. 98,000 a month. And all this war REALLy did, was set the stage for WW II and "The Cold War."

Answer 3

In a sense Germany was fighting a defensive war because Germany was an island in Europe surrounded by France and Russia. Prussia defeated France in 1871to unify Germany. After 1871 it was the Kaiser's ambition to copy the British and have an overseas German Empire. The Germans began to build the High Seas Fleet, which alarmed Britian because this fleet challenged Britian's supremacy on the high seas. Before the "Great War there was an arms race between the Germans and the British to see who could build the most battleships.
In order for Germany to be sucessful with imperalism, Britian's power over the North Sea and the North Atlantic would have to be diminshed. Britian did not like the expansionism going on in Germany before the war and wanted it to end.
Germany then had colonies in the Far East and in Africa, but they were late in the game. While Prussia was unifying the independent German states, Britian was governing India. In order to be as powerful and rich as Britian, the Germans saw no other option then to have a huge overseas empire.
Economics was a cause, but was not the reason for the entrance to World War I. The problem was the ultimatum sent by the Hapsburgs, the ruling house in Austria, to Serbia. Germany really thought that Serbia's noncompliance would just lead to the Austrian-Serbian war of 1914, which would be regional. This all changed when Nickolas II sent troops to the Western border with Austria. Under obligations Germany had to back up its ally. The question is even if Germany had not sent troops to the border, would the Russians have striked Germany first? Germany got scared that the Russian army would quickly knock out Austria Hungary and then turn on Germany. The Hapsburg dynasty was weak and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire was in disrepair. In fact Austria-Hungary was not even prepared for war. Germany knew about her ally's shape, but knew the British were neutral. The British only joined with the allies because of overseas commerce. The British did not want the Germans to disrupt its trade routes to India and its other pocessions. Now there would be more troops on the Western Front, and the Germans did not account for them.
In conclusion Germany had to fight in order to expand its influence in the world and to protect its Eastern Border.

Answer 4

World War I

WEB LINKS

PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS.

Fantastic Resources.

http://www.historyteacher.net/APEuroCourse/WebLinks/WebLinks-WorldWar1.htm

World War I

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWusaG.htm

Although the USA had strong ties with Britain, Wilson was concerned about the large number of people in the country who had been born in Germany and Austria. Other influential political leaders argued strongly in favour of the USA maintaining its isolationist policy. This included the pacifist pressure group, the American Union Against Militarism.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWW.htm

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook38.html

Read and listen to stories of the War from the people who lived it. Explore diaries, letters, scrapbooks, newspaper cuttings, photos and keepsakes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/

http://www.wfa-usa.org/new/links.cfm

An Internet History of The Great War

http://www.worldwar1.com/

World War One

The Treaty of Versailles

http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW1/versailles.htm

http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/versailles.html

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_versailles.htm

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist151/Peacemaking1919.html

Wilsonianism within the Treaty of Versailles:

Consonance or Contradiction

http://faculty.virginia.edu/setear/students/sandytov/Text.htm

This section of the website details the full contents of the Peace Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919 by Germany and the Allied powers at the Palace of Versailles. More……

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/versailles.htm

Good luck

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

Answer 5

i thought i would know your answers, but i guess it started when arch duke firinand got assinated and in defense germany got drawn in the war.