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.
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.
Considering that Realpolitik focused on preventing a war within Europe and Weltpolitik aggressively asserted German dominance, it can be validly argued that this direct change in German foreign policy played a major role in bringing about the First World War. Another reason that German foreign policy was so greatly scrutinized was because of the Anglo-German naval rivalry which was creating tension within Europe. As long as Germany built, Britain would be a German enemy. The German government dramatically increased the development of German Ships. [i] This arms race and change in German foreign policy, believing they needed to control the seas was seen as a definite and direct cause
Because Germany was surrounded by the Triple Entente (the Great Britain, France, Russia). So Germany was land-locked. Germany needed a strong navy so that it would have a place in Europe, and to confront other countries. c. Based on the state of the arms race in 1914, if you were a German citizen, how would you feel? Explain why.
Germany and Austria caused the War purposefully not accidentally. The intentions of Austria were to destroy Serbia with the help of Germany. Conrad von Hotzendorff, Chief of General Staff for Austria, asked Moltke, Chief of German General Staff, if Austria could count on German support. (Doc B). On the 6 July 1914 Germany had given Austria a “blank check”, which stated the support of Germany towards Austria.
Taylor wrote a book called “The Struggle for Mastery in Europe”, in this book A.J.P. Taylor claimed that German ambitions were the cause of the war. All of these views have merit; however, while imperialism was one of the causes of World War 1, the Alliance system and militarism in the pre-war period were definitely the major causes of the war. The Marxist historian, Eric Hobsbawn, came up with a theory, the "zero-sum game" theory. This theory was applicable to World War One because it was an "age of total war", therefore the war was "zero-sum game".
Although German signed the Treaty of Versailles, much to the disgrace of many Germans, admitting they were to blame it is undeniable that aggressive German foreign policy had a lot to do with the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914, but this neglects other factors that may have additionally added to the tensions leading up to the war. Many historians debate whether it was mainly Germany to blame or whether other dominant powers led them into a no-win situation. Source V, ‘Modern Germany’ by Volker Berghahn suggests that the Kaiser no longer saw foreign policy and civil war as separate issues and that they were now seen to entwine together. The mention of the 1913 Army bill that had aggravated many within the German society due to the growing distress over money and the status quo within the German political establishment, the argument over the tax burdens grew with every bill passed. These tensions started to disrupt their dual alliance with Austria-Hungary, even with a ‘Blank Cheque’ being given to them.
The next crises is the Balkan crises taking place in 1908. So Austria wanted to claim Serbia as a colony but the problem was that Serbia belonged to Russia. And basically the two countries’ rulers talked things down as well. The next crises is the second morocco crises, and again Germany was meddling in French affairs but only this time German sent a gun boat to be on standby in case France did anything in retaliation. France ended up giving Congo to Germany in order for them stop and they did.
Yes, Hitler's aggressive foreign policy between 1933 and 1939 inevitably led to WWII. While other factors such as appeasement and the failure of the League of Nations might have encouraged Hitler to test the boundaries and to slowly bring about the start of the war, it was his foreign policy that was the root cause of the problem, as it triggered his motivation to expand German territory and thus angering Britain and France, both eventually declaring war on Germany. Hitler had stated in Mein Kampf, as early as, in 1924, that he wished to expand German territory, and his foreign policy was centered on that. Hitler also resented the Treaty of Versailles and he began to challenge its terms and slowly went about its destruction; this too contributed to the start of the war. The first step of Hitler’s foreign policy was to remove the limitations, which had been placed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles.
I disagree with the statement “ Increased militarism was the main cause of the second world war.” Due to the fact that it was one of the many reasons why the second world war started. I think that Appeasement was the main cause of the start of the second world war. Firstly , Britain and France followed the policy of appeasement. Appeasement was by chamberlain to satisfy Hitler’s demands. This gave Hitler confidence that Britain and France would not stop him when he invaded other countries.