TO WHAT EXTENT WAS GERMANY RESPONSIBLE FOR WORLD WAR I?

AGGRESSIVE FOREIGN POLICY
1. Germany had a PLAN for EUROPEAN DOMINATION
  1. The 1905 Schlieffen Plan can be interpreted as a war of aggression as it entailed potentially unpovoked attacks on France and Belgium.
    1. The Schlieffen Plan could be regarded as a plan for the possibility of a war on two fronts
  2. From the 1890s Germany followed a policy of Weltpolitik which sought colonial expansion and a more dominant position in Europe and the world
  3. At the 1912 War Council, the possibility of a future war with Russia was discussed and plans were made to prepare the public for this eventuality.
    1. Fischer may have placed too much weight on the War Council. It was not attended by Hollweg and little action occured in response to the meeting.
    2. The War Council may reflect German fears of encirclement rather than an aggressive desire for war. It could be seen as a response to Britain's declaration that they would support france unconditionanally in the event of war
  4. The 1914 September Programme, written by Hollweg in the early days of the war, outlined Germany's war aims. It contained a clear indication that Germany sought to subordinate France, and dominate Eastern Europe by annexing large amounts of territory
2. Germany was intent on EUROPEAN WAR before 1914
  1. Antagonising RUSSIA
    1. in 1890 the Kaiser allowed the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia to lapse. This treaty was an agreement not to attack each other. Instead Germany sought closer relations with the Austro-Hungarian empire
      1. The antagonism that developed between Russia and Austria made it extremely difficult for Germany to stay on good terms with Russia and Serbia
    2. In 1908, during the BOSNIAN CRISIS, Germany's support for the Austrian annexation of Bosnia antagonised Serbia, who regarded Austria as imperialists and their ally Russia. The plan was to inflict a diplomatic humiliation on Russia but it only left them resentful
      1. It could be claimed that Germany was acting due to an increasing fear of encirclement; the Triple Entente was confirmed the year before. Furthermore Austria-Hungary did not consult Germany initially and Austria antagonised Russia by threatening them with war
  2. Antagonising FRANCE
    1. FIRST MOROCCAN CRISIS (1905-1906) The Kaiser demanded an international conference on Frances role in Morocco, which the French were developing as a colony. He intervened in a matter in which no vital German interest was at stake. The Kaiser hoped to isolate France and protect German economic interests in Morocco. An international conference (Algeciras, 1906) sided with France allowing it substantial control of Morocco
      1. SECOND MORROCAN CRISIS (1911) The French suppressed an anti-French uprising in Morocco which led Germany to argue that the French had exceeded their rights. The Kaiser sent a gunboat as an indication of support for the rebels. Britain and France regarded German actions as aggressive and Germany was given the right to control parts of the Congo in return for accepting French influence in Morocco.
      2. Germany also attempted to prise the Russians away from their treaty with the French but this measure failed due to opposition from the French foreign office. In short the Entente had been strengthened. This whole episode was humiliating for Germany and the head of the Political office at the Foreign Ministry (Friedrich von Holstein) was forced to resign. The fear of encirclement of Germany was now very real.
        Hilderbrand/Hillgruber/Schollgen: A challenge to Fischer. The war started because of a sense of encirclement in Germany, between 1909 and 1914 foreign policy was obsessively focussed on the need to break this encirclement. The reasons for going to war were defensive
  3. Antagonising BRITAIN
    1. Germany supported the Boers during the Boer War (1899-1902)
    2. German naval expansion caused tensions. The Second Naval Law in 1900 increased the navy to 38 battleships and further expansion occurred in 1906, 1908 and 1912. In 1912 Britain tried to negotiate with Germany, to limit their naval expansion, but to no avail
      1. Britain participated in the naval race and launched the dreadnought class of warship in 1906. This provoked Germany to expand their navy in the Third Naval Law (1906). Britain was determined to maintain naval supremacy. France also contributed to the arms race by expanding her army.
3. German actions in the SUMMER of 1914 caused war in Europe
  1. 28 June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was murdered by Bosnian associates of the Serbian nationalist Black Hand organisation. Austria blamed Serbia for the assassination. Germany gave their full support to the Austrians in pursuing a tough line against Serbia and Hollweg urged the Austrians to take swift military action against the Serbian government. He offered whatever financial and military assistance required and this unconditional support has been termed the ‘Blank Cheque’. The Austrians subsequently issued an ultimatum to the Serbians and when the demand, to access Serbia to find the terrorists, was not met, they declared war on the 28th July.
    1. Austria-Hungary was ultimately responsible for the decision to go to war and the event that triggered the crisis did not originate in Germany
    2. It could be argued that when Germany’s leaders issued the ‘blank cheque’ to Austria they mistakenly assumed that Russia would back down once they knew that they intended to stand by Austria – much as Russia had done in the 1908-9 Bosnian crisis
  2. Russia, who was allied with Serbia, and who wanted to prevent Austrian expansion, began to mobilise her army. Germany demanded a halt to Russian mobilisation. Russia responded by ordering a full mobilisation and so on 31st July Germany declared war on Austria
    1. Russia’s decision to mobilise her army pushed Germany to enact the Schlieffen plan.
  3. Germany decided to enact the Schlieffen Plan as war with Russia might have meant war with France. Germany declared war on France when they refused the German demand to stay neutral. Germany demanded that Belgium allow troops to cross their territory. Belgium refuses, Germany invaded Belgium and Britain, who had an alliance with Belgium, declared war on Germany
    1. Germany only declared war on France when they refused the German demand to remain neutral in the event of a Russo- German war
  4. Another argument suggested by historians like Pogge von Strandmann, is that Germany did not so much have a long term plan for war, instead they took a risk on war when the crisis developed in 1914. They took the chance to escalate the conflict between Austria and Serbia, as they hoped they would gain easy victories. If a larger conflict developed, the Germans calculated that it was better to have a war sooner rather than later with the Entente powers, whose military expansion was not yet fully realised.
    1. John Rohl: The war was calculated as the bringing if war through a Balkan crisis would bring three advantages: Austria- Hungary would not be able to wriggle out of its alliance commitments to Germany; the German population could be manipulated into believing that they were being attacked by ‘barbarous’ Russia and Britain might be persuaded to stay out of the wa
4. ESCAPE FORWARDS
  1. German politicians sought a war in order to resolve domestic difficulties, to ‘escape’ from these problems by pushing forwards with an aggressive war. This included the growing problem of the SPD, tensions caused by the Zabern Affair and a budget deficit. The conservative political and military elite sought to pursue war to strengthen their own position to try and create national unity, and to distract attention away from the need to reform the political system.
    1. Wehler: The destructive impact of industrialisation caused tensions in Germany’s social and economic structure, including the tension for constitutional change and social change. These tensions were diverted outwards in order to maintain the status quo.
    2. Berghahn: War was used as a catalyst to stabilise the monarchy at home
PREVENTATIVE/DEFENSIVE WAR - encirclement
1. Germany embarked upon a preventative war because in 1914 German leaders and army chiefs were fearful of Russia’s growing military power and wanted to eliminate the Russian threat before it was too late. In 1904 the combined armies of Russia and France outnumbered those of Russia and Germany by 260,000; by 1914 the figure was over 1 million. In the years before 1914 the military spending of the Triple Entente was much higher than that of the Triple Alliance
SITUATION IN EUROPE (shared guilt)
1. The principle cause of war was the ‘Realpolitik’ practised by decision makers in all of the Great Powers. The basic assumption is that states are obliged to compete with one another for survival and thus formed alliances and built up their armed forces to ensure their security. The aim was to give rise to an equilibrium which would ensure peace. However it produced a flawed international system as it led to friction, tension, suspicion and fear and in this climate Europe stumbled into war.
2. Germany established the Dual alliance with Austria in 1879 and Germany’s continued commitment owed much to fears that its collapse would lead to a power vacuum from which Russia would benefit. France desperately needed an ally and wooed a newly isolated Russia when Germany did not renew the Reinsurance treaty. This was a surprise to Germany and left them open to a war on two fronts, especially in 1904 and 1907 when Britain allied themselves with France and then Russia respectively
3. Britain participated in the naval race and launched the dreadnought class of warship in 1906. This provoked Germany to expand their navy in the Third Naval Law (1906). Britain was determined to maintain naval supremacy. France also contributed to the arms race by expanding her army.
4. In the 1908 Bosnian crisis Austria-Hungary did not consult Germany initially and Austria antagonised Russia by threatening them with war
  1. Germany weighed in strongly on Austria’s side and forced Russia to climb down. This left them bruised and resentful
5. Britain was extremely forceful in the Second Moroccan crisis (1911) by warning Germany that they risked war
  1. This started as another attempt by Germany to break the Anglo-French entente
6. In 1912 and 1913 in the Balkan Wars countries including Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania fought against the Ottoman Empire and among themselves for territorial control of the Balkan region. This saw the Ottomans largely forced out of Europe and Serbia double in size. These wars destabilised peace in Europe and did not involve Germany.
7. Austria-Hungary was ultimately responsible for the decision to go to war and the event that triggered the July crisis did not originate in Germany. Russia’s decision to mobilise her army pushed Germany to enact the Schlieffen plan.
  1. Germany’s leaders at the very least knew when they gave the ‘blank cheque’ that there was a serious risk that general war would result
8. A variation on this theme is that the Great powers were boxed in by war plans that they had made (war by timetable). In this situation military considerations began to take priority and army chiefs, desperate not to be caught in a disadvantage, took control of the crisis. Russia’s generals, knowing it took six weeks to move their forces into position, pressured a hesitant Tsar into ordering mobilisation as a precautionary measure. Also it was Germany’s commanders demanded the implementation of the Schlieffen Plan.
9. 1890 was a turning point for German foreign policy as they embarked upon Weltpolitik which referred to Germany’s aims of building a colonial empire and transforming itself into a world power. As a result they commenced naval expansion and the following arms race

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TO WHAT EXTENT WAS GERMANY RESPONSIBLE FOR WORLD WAR I?

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	Created by Jess Brice almost 11 years ago