Primary Source to argue why Germany wasnt responsible for WWI?

Question

I am writing an important thesis and am arguing as to why Germany wasnt responsible for the first world war (WWI).. What are some primary sources that I can cite and use in my essay?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Yes, you could place the fault at Austria-Hungary's door, In the situation, an assassination of a leader, a trial was what was needed - not a declaration of war. The Serbian people, the Russians, etc. did not have to pay for one man's action.

Answer 2

Franz Ferdinand was just one of many in the line of throne successors. No one would start a war because he was assasinated. It was just an excuse.
Austria-Hungary annected Bosnia & Hercegovina few years back and disputed with Serbia about this territory. That is the easy explanation why those two countries fought.
There is not such a thing as "main responsible" for a WWI. If you was prepared for it and did not do anything to prevent it, you're guilty. France and Germany had a long history of wars.

Answer 3

Read A.J.P Taylor!

You wont find any books that tells you straight out that Germany was not responsible for WW1 - because Germany surrendered unconditionally and accepted responsibility under the Treaty of Versailles.

You have to look at all the facts. For Example:
- The Austrian-Hungary reply to the assasination of Franz Ferdinand
- The Race and Grab for colonies in Africa
- The naval arms race between Britain and Germany
- Tensions in the Balkans
- Nationalism
- Germany was honouring her obligations to Austria-Hungary to mobilise against Russia

These are facts that contributed to a situation where war broke out. The degree to which Germany can be held responsible for these can be debated.

The rest is up to you....

Answer 4

You could argue that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was responsible for the first world war, and the tangled web of secret alliances simply brought Germany in, in the same way Russia and Great Britain was brought into the war. Within Austria-Hungary during this time was a series of cultural clashes, particularly with the Serbs in the south and east whom had an alliance with the Russian Empire due to a likeness in ethnicity.

True, Germany seemed ready for a war, even desiring one since its victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, but they weren't the ones who started this one. A Serbian extremist group has been cited as the origin of the first World War. Franz Ferdinand, who was actually progressing Austria-Hungary toward a more Serbian-friendly government, became the target of assassination by the organization called the Black Hand due to the fact that this group didn't necessarily want the Serbs to get more of a say in Austro-Hungarian government- they wanted to be separated from the country entirely. More of a say in government and more rights in the nation meant less of a chance for the Serbs of the empire to separate from Ferdinand's territory, so, in June of 1914, the Black Hand finalized their plan to assassinate the Archduke.

Now, it must be said that the Black Hand had attempted to call off the assassination, but word never got to those in Austria-Hungary and, as history knows, the Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated on June 28th. What followed was a domino effect in the breaking stability of the European continent. Austria-Hungary demanded Serbia to arrest the members of the Black Hand, Serbia brings Russia into the equation, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary, Germany declares war on Russia, and so on, so on, so forth.

While Germany was made to pay dearly for the first world war, the actual origin began with its ally Austria-Hungary with its culture clash with Serbia and the Serbian extremist group of the Black Hand. Germany was simply part of the domino effect of the Great War.

A good book to read that depicts the issues of Austria-Hungary and the origins of the war in great detail is Lafore's The Long Fuse.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Here is also a sight for WWI documents by year. I'm sure that some of them have what you are looking for.
http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/

Answer 5

Princip the assassin and his organization was backed by a secret organization within the Serbian Army called the "Black Hand." The Black Hand supported Serbian terrorists attacks within Bosnia culminating with the assasination of the Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife. The Austro-Hungarians were in their right to smash Serbia. (As it turned out the militarilly could not.)

The Russian mobilizatized its army to support Serbia against Austro-Hungary during the assasination crisis. Germany had warned Russia that it would take such a mobilization as an act of war. The Czar ignored this warning.

Answer 6

i dont no any, but i can argue it. germany didnt start the WWI. it was realli austria hungary. a serbian guy killed da heir of austria hungary and it wanted advantage of seriba. seriba didnt agree 2 all the factors and austria was already ready for war, so it declare war against serbia n then russia came 2 help serbia n then germany joined with da rest of the others.

Answer 7

Well...when you consider that the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife was done by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb, which touched off the war, you should be able to find plenty of sources The assassination led to countries calling on each other to hold true to their alliances. Flash forward a few years and you have trench warfare, mustard gas, and lots and lots of dead people.

Answer 8

You could use http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/wei1.htm
there is some good information on there and http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/

Good Luck in the essay