In this essay I will argue both sides of this argument using sources to back up my points, however ever maintaining the fact I agree. German aggression can be seen as being responsible for the outbreak of a General European war due to the Schlieffen plan. This plan devised by General von Schlieffen would give Germany the option of fighting a war on two fronts with the French and the Russians. Both sources 1 and 2 agree that this plan was aggressive and therefore agree with the statement herein. Source 1 state’s that ‘as early as 1906, Germany had in place a plan for an aggressive war.’ Suggesting that the plan was put in place to start a war when the time was right.
Contrastingly, James Joll suggests that Germany’s defensive offensive war rooted from a fear of encirclement from the countries that it borders, and so presents the opinion most opposing to that of the question. L.F.C Turner’s opinion arises somewhere between the two other historians’ arguments, and states that Germany was aggressive during Europe’s last month of peace before war, but there were other factors that should be considered equally. On the one hand, it was German aggression that was responsible for the outbreak of a general European war in August 1914. One example of suggested German aggression can be seen in their long term foreign policy, ‘weltpolitik’ (world politics), which had been implemented in 1897. The aim of this foreign policy was to spread German influence throughout the world, the meaning of which is interpreted differently by different people.
This tension can be recognised in the Moroccan Crisis in the years 1905 – 06 were Germany’s movements towards expanding were blocked by the Act of Algeciras. With the Germans only allies, Austria-Hungary, they were feeling encircled by the other great powers in the triple entente. Similarly to Geiss, Mombauer argues that this “blueprint for world power” was an expression of the Germans “striving for European hegemony”. European power meant having the power to take control of the other European powers, which they put pressure on by a naval bill in 1900 and 1906 which increased the navy by building 38 battleships
‘German Aggression Was Responsible For The Outbreak of A General European War In August 1914’. How Far Do You Agree With This Judgement? Over the course of the last century, the question of who was to blame for the first world war has been up for intense debate. As such a recent event opinions have evolved dramatically since those first published soon after the end of the war meaning that a variety of theories are available. A somewhat controversial notion is that Germany was responsible for the outbreak of the war, evident in the country’s aggressive actions towards foreign policy and their non hesitant approach to the devision of the military planning and developments.
All motivated the U.S. to declare war on Germany and help the war torn Allies and defeat the Central Powers. The first major influence in America's push for war with Germany was the German naval policy during the war. This caused extreme strain between the two nations and would
The Americans had a great importance in the Second Battle of Marne. They helped began because of Germany’s greed for power. There were also many other causes of World War One. Some causes of the World War one was nationalism, imperialism, and militarism. Nationalism was a unifying force, but it also led to intense competition between nations.
Underlying Causes Of WWI World War I, also known as “The Great War” was an extremely bloody war that immersed Europe with huge losses of life and little ground lost or won. There may have seemed like there was a chain of events that led to the fighting, but the underlying causes of WW1 were Nationalism, Alliances, Militarism, imperialism and the assignation of Arch Duke Ferdinand. America tried there hardest to remain neutral and stay out of the war, but they were dragged in by force. Several incidents built up tension between nations before the outbreak of the First World War. Nationalism was one of the underlying causes of WW1.
World War 1 was a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. Countries throughout Europe had agreements of consolidated alliances which would pull European countries into battle. Therefore, if one country were to attack another, a domino like effect would come into play and the allied countries were bound to defend the attacked country. Since Austria-Hungary decided to declare war on Serbia for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Russia was bound to join the war because of cultural ties and alliances with Serbia. Germany saw that Russia was starting to mobilize troops so Germany decided to declare on Russia which leads to France joining the war because of being drawn against Germany.
Many historians argue that the reason for Germany going to war was due to the aggressive behaviour of Germany in the build up to the war. Throughout this essay I will be addressing this issue looking at whether Germany was responsible for the outbreak of a general European war in August 1914. There are many factors which contribute to the outbreak of the war from a short-term trigger such as the assassination of Franz Ferdinand to the long-term annexation aims Germany implemented in the years building up to the war, the most important reason was Germany’s aggressive foreign policy, they had provided Austria-Hungary with a ‘blank cheque’ while also pressurising them into presenting an ultimatum to Serbia, there had been vast amounts of preparation in the follow up to the outbreak of war, the overall military spending of Germany had been increased by fivefold, way ahead of any other developing country, however it is also important to consider other factors which may have played a role in the outbreak of war such as the isolation of Germany by the remaining superpowers which is described as forcing them into a defensive war and the role that Austria-Hungary played in the outbreak of war as well as the individual involvement of the military in relation to the outbreak of war. Source 1 unlike sources 2 and 3 has a clear opinion, this opinion agrees with the judgement posed in the question that Germany was responsible for the outbreak of war due to high levels of aggression. ‘As early as 1906 Germany had in place a plan for an aggressive war’, this statement strongly suggests that Germany always had intentions of a war based on aggressive motives, most likely to have been driven by annexation views possessed by the Kaiser and the military in general, this was seen within the war council meeting of 1912 where they had decided upon
But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each country tried to prove their dominance and power. Although the European Alliances were certainly a cause of WWI, there were many other causes as well. Along with the European Alliances there was Nationalism, Imperialism, Militarism, and of course the physical conflicts leading up to the