‘German aggression’ was responsible for the outbreak of a general war in august 1914; how far do you agree with this argument? Jesse Thompson Evidently German aggression played a key role in the causation of the first world war. Corrigan strongly supports this view and uses Fischer’s Theory to structure his argument as it effectively highlights the nature of German foreign policy in this period. Other historians, such as Joll and Turner, provide opinions which support the view of the question as well as providing evidence for alternative factors such as Fear of encirclement and foreign policy of contending powers; evidence for this can be clearly seen in Joll’s and Turner’s pieces in an equal and different amount. On the one hand, German aggression held the greatest responsibility for the outbreak of a general European war in august 1914.
“The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900”. How far do you agree with this opinion? Explain your answer using sources V, W and X and your own knowledge relating to the controversy. The implication that Germany’s use of an aggressive foreign policy led to the outbreak of the First World War is an extremely controversial topic, and has ultimately caused great debates amongst historians. Fischer, the provoker of this controversy, expresses this concept of German aggression by stating that since c.1900 Germany planned, and then was able to execute a war, due to their aggressive weltpolitik; based purely on expansionism.
The pact was the final cause of war as Hitler could now invade Poland without any interference from Stalin. Britain and France had declared war on Germany as they guaranteed Poland’s independence. However, the policy of appeasement in the 1930’s also played a big role in causing the Second World War. Appeasement had led Hitler to believe that Britain and France were weak. Britain and France gave Germany the Rhineland, the Sudetenland and they were allowed to have an Anschluss with Austria.
Germany proposed an alliance by saying, "That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost terrority in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona..." According to Arthur Zimmerman, their alliance with Mexico would be beneficial to Mexico and themselves. Germany wanted America to stay neutral, but Great Britain interfered.A final reason why the United States changed their position regarding involvement in World War One was President
These terms included Germany having to pay reparations to the Allies, Germany having to accept the war guilt, the seizure of German territories and colonies to the allies, limits on German armed forces, and the establishment of the League of Nations. The following essay will discuss the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and analyse how fair the treaty really was. The first term of the Treaty of Versailles was the huge sum of money that Germany had to pay to the Allies - £6600 million to pay for the damage done to the infrastructure of both countries by the war. This amount of money was well beyond Germany’s ability to pay and Germany was hugely affected as a result. A huge sum of money was being taken out of the German economy, which made it extremely difficult for Germany to compete in the trade market.
In this essay I will be arguing how far I agree with the opinion ‘the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive German policy which had been waged since 1900?’ The outbreak of war I Believe to a large extent The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive German policy which had been waged since 1900.This is shown in The Second Moroccan Crisis (1911) when in April there were disturbances in Fez which led to French military intervention and also Germany’s intervention. Germany sent a gunboat, attempting to bully France into Giving Germany the French Congo in return for Germany giving up all interests in Morocco. This shows how to a large extent the outbreak of war was due to German aggressive policy as they had aggressive intent using the gun boat and attempting to bully France. This statement The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 was due to an aggressive German policy which had been waged since 1900 is supported by Fischer who says ‘war in 19154 was a bold leap forward to establish German dominance’. This is true as Germany tried to establish German dominance in Fez using aggressive policy to govern France.
In 1919 Germany was handed a diktat by the ‘Big Four’, a treaty that they had no option but to sign. Germany originally signed the Treaty of Versailles with the belief that it would be based around President Wilson’s fourteen points, however it soon became clear to them that this was not in fact the case. Germany felt that the Treaty had cheated them and there was much outrage across Germany. The principle complaint Germany had was that they felt the War Guilt Clause, referring to article 231 of the Treaty, was totally unjust. Germany was forced to take all the blame for damages received by the allies.
- Why and with what consequences did Cuba enter the first World War? There are several reasons why Cuba entered World War I. The main reason all Latin American countries to join this war was because the German ships were coming and the very best port to place a ship in the Caribbean is in Guantanamo Bay. Cuba also declared war on Germany because of the fact that the United States declared war. The President of Cuba said that he felt that Cuba had a moral responsibility to support the United States.
Question To what extent was Germany to blame for causing World War 1 The treaty of Versailles included the War Guilt Clause, Article 231, which laid the responsibility for causing World War 1 with Germany and its allies. Some historians, however, have argued that no one country can be held responsible for the outbreak of war in August 1914. Germany brought tension between the European powers, by creating a new foreign policy called “Weltpolitik”. Germany tried to influence other colonial powers, by creating the “Weltpolitik”, since there had been an increase in the colonial rivalry, therefore Germany wanted to secure its empire overseas, and especially against Britain. As a result, there was one noteworthy incident to mention, the failed attempt of the British to incite a rising against, the Boer Republic, in southern Africa, which was good news for Germany.
‘The outbreak of war in Europe was due to an aggressive German foreign policy which had been waged since c.1900’. How far do you agree? It has been a matter of fervent controversy that Germany went to war with aggressive or defensive intentions. Source V suggests that Germany went to war solely for defensive reasons due to the extensive array of alliances that encircled her as well as diplomatic tension. Overall, Source W challenges source V, as it indicates that Germany’s aggressive actions since the turn of the century resulted in war.