Which country is to blame for the start of WWI?

Question

please answer only if you really know what you're talking about...do you think its:
Serbia, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany, or Britain/France...
my History class is having a debate on it, and I was just curious as to what other people thought....

Answer 1

Europe was seeing the end of 19th century life into 20th century industrial revolution. Many countries in Europe were seeing the collapse of the monastic dysnasties of royal families. It really was a time of change. Many scholars time the assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as the catalyst of WWI, but it really isn't. The decision fell upon the govt. leaders who required RESOURCES. That's a key word here. In every war, it is always about economics. The German states were hungry for more it. The Kaiser was forced to declare war due to the staggering amount of events that have piled up in the past, such as the industrial revolution of Germany and its status as a global power, etc. Serbia at that time was a territory of the Austria-Hungarian empire and had a growing sense of nationalism and self-determination. Austria-Hungary did much to succumb these movements and tensions piledup. When the Archduke visited Saajevo and was assasinated. The Austria-Hunagarian Empire demanded a punishment for the assasin but the govt in Sarajevo didn't do much, thus the Kaiser invaded.

Now, in regards as to how this became WORLD WAR:
It's all really a series of complex alliances. The Kaiser was an ally of the German state, and Yugoslavia had the backing of the Russians, as well as the British, who themselves are allied with the US. The Ottomans allied themselves with the Kaiser, in hopes of reclaiming some lands lost during wars in the 1800s and claim new ones as reward.

Of course we know in the end, the Kaiser, Germany, The Ottomans, and the Russians lost. Thus their countries further plummeted into chaos. All four empires were dethroned. The most horrific of which, was the arrest and murder of the Romanov family of Russia by the Bolsheveiks.Thus ended the reign of four monarchies and came the movement for communist ideologies and govt reforms across the European continent, and then beyond.

Answer 2

I don't think any country is to blame. After the Napoleonic Wars, at the Congress of Vienna, the European powers set up an 19th Century version of mutually assured destruction - a web of alliances that meant that it would be too costly for any one country to start a war because it would inevitably mean fighting several others. This system survived after a fashion, but the rise of Prussia and the unification of the German states in 1870 destabilised the system to an extent. Germany and Britain then engaged in an arms race, building more, and more powerful battleships.

The Balkans were always unstable (as they still are) and Russia and Austria played little power games there. Eventually the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was the trigger that unleashed all the tensions. If it hadn't been an assassination some other trigger would have happened eventually..

So, in my opinion, no one country was responsible. The nationalism of many countries developed in a period of a century or so to the extent that some conflict was highly likely, or perhaps inevitable.

Answer 3

Well a serbian man killed austria hungarys archduke and that kind of sparked the start of the war...but just because a man from serbia did it doesnt mean that the serbian government was to blame...but germany got blamed for the whole war by the treaty of versailles

Its kind of a hard decision so i would say all of them because they were fighting with each other and they could of found a different way to sort it out.

Answer 4

Austria is the blame for the start of WWI.

On July 28, 1914 Austria declared war on Serbia.

On August 1, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia because of the mass of Russian troops on the German border.

So it was Austria who started World War One.

Answer 5

All of them, because it was war-by-timetable. The crucial number was how many days did it take any one of the countries to mobilize? Mobilization meant calling all retired officers to their commands, cancelling all leaves, calling all reserve soldiers to meet in certain places, commandeering all trains to transport troops, arranging transport of guns and munitions. On the last day, the first country to mobilize rolls across the borders of the other. Every country in 1914 was "at peace." If any one of them took the step to mobilize, the others would demand why and mobilize themselves. Germany was one or two days earlier in mobilization. Poor France!

Answer 6

Well I would say serbia at least a serbian nationalist killed the archduke of the Austo-Hungarian Empire which lead Germany to declare war on Serbia to defend their allies the Austo-Hungarian Empire which snowballs into everyone declaring war on everyone else.good luck in your History debate.

Answer 7

The assassination of arch-duke franz ferdinand really set the events in motion but personally I believe it was a collaboration of things including the entangling alliances between the countries.

Answer 8

All of the above: they were all guilty of militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism over a long period of time. Princip assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofie was just the spark that lit the fire.

Answer 9

apparently the German Empire.

Answer 10

it was russia