Who do you think is to blame for World War I?
I believe Serbia provoked, but at the same time, I oppose Austria-Hungary because it was a prison of nations. I think Germany interfered, even though they weren't obligated to support Austria, and declared war on France, which shouldn't have happened (they could have built their own Maginot Line). Russia also interfered in what could have remained a minor conflict. France was out for revenge, and Great Britain, for example, wanted to keep the German Reich in check during the Morocco Crisis, which was frustrating.
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Whether the British Empire, the French military state, the Russian Tsarist Empire on the one hand, or the emerging economic power Germany on the other, were primarily interested in the war of 1914 is the subject of research.
Those who see Germany as primarily responsible for the war argue that the German Kaiser demanded a "place in the sun" for Germany, which implies that he wanted war. Furthermore, he had a fleet built (Tirpitz's naval program) that was at least two-thirds the size of the British one. From this, one could deduce that Germany wanted to pursue a colonial policy on a scale that would have posed a threat to the British Empire—a scandal from the British perspective, of course, since the profits from the exploitation of the colonial empire were extremely jeopardized. As a young, "late" nation, the Germans were the rebels among the European peoples and thus viewed as an eminent threat to the British Empire. England's prosperity, based on the systematic exploitation of the colonial peoples and their resources, was threatened by the rebellious Germans, to whom granting a "place in the sun" would have meant a reduction in their own empires. For example, the "Saturday Review" of February 1, 1896, stated:
"If every German were eliminated tomorrow, there would be no English business, nor any English company that wouldn't grow. Prepare yourselves for battle with Germany, for Germania esse delendam!"
The last sentence is in Latin. Translated into German, it reads:
GERMANY MUST BE DESTROYED!
So a British daily newspaper wasn't just ranting against Germany, it was OPENLY calling for the destruction of a country!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that. But it actually said that, and the British apparently swallowed it. In 1914, the time had come: Germany was trapped, and they could wage war against the country they were determined to destroy.
The question of whether France and Russia, along with Great Britain, shared responsibility for the outbreak of the war is a controversial topic. Renowned historians such as Professor Christopher Clark, for example, argue that French revanchism (due to the "rape" of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871) and Russian Pan-Slavism in the Balkans were just as significant causes of the war as the British desire for annihilation. Others, however, see France and Russia as mere accomplices in the British policy of annihilation.
No less a figure than the renowned biologist Ernst Haeckel, in his essay "England's Blood Guilt in the World War," exposed the intrigues of perfidious Albion against peace. He clearly demonstrates the double standards with which first the English King Edward VII, and after his death, especially Foreign Minister Edward Grey, incited both French and Russian policy against Germany:
https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/?PPN=PPN667377832&PHYSID=PHYS_0001
In this research, one once again forgets the population growth that was typical at the time and the per capita land required to feed one person. With over 200 inhabitants per km², Germany is still quite densely populated today. Surely a lot of food had to be imported from countries that would rather have turned off the tap? Russia has 8 inhabitants per km², and that great thing, international law, hasn't prevented such a thing from being war-free to this day. To this day, there can be no objective discussion about this. Woke communism forgets that land, raw materials, and thus the nation and location itself, also represent collective capital.
And why is there no corrective feedback on statements made by an American? Some things can't just be conjured up so quickly.
This was explained very well in a multi-part documentary by Welt/N24 Doku about the First World War. A lot of psychology was involved. There was a great deal of mistrust between the Central Powers on the one hand and the Entente on the other. As a result, conciliatory diplomacy was hardly possible. Added to this was the power struggle and clumsy behavior of Emperor William II. The trigger came from Austria and Germany after the assassination attempt in Sarajevo. At that time, the Austrian heir to the throne was shot. Although it is now considered fairly certain that the Serbian government was not involved, the Central Powers assumed this was the case. This is how things escalated.
Russia felt responsible for Serbia. France and Great Britain were allied with Russia through alliances. Moreover, both parties pursued political interests in the Balkans. But no party could, or even wanted to, talk to each other. As mentioned, there was a great deal of mistrust. The Great War could have been prevented.
The head of Serbian military intelligence, Dragutin Dimitrijević, was a founding member of the Black Hand and involved in the assassination attempt in Sarajevo. And that was supposedly not the involvement of the Serbian state?
Laut Wikipedia waren Teilen der Regierung von Serbien beteiligt. Es war eine Verschwörung. Der Ministerpräsident sowie einige Minister wussten Bescheid. Jedoch hat weder der serbische Regierungschef das Attentat befohlen, noch war die Regierung direkt beteiligt.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attentat_von_Sarajevo#Vorbereitungen_f%C3%BCr_den_Anschlag
How can we know he didn't order it? He would have been careful not to admit it. But even if he tacitly tolerated it, the Prime Minister bears considerable responsibility. In any case, he knew that his country had caused the crisis and should therefore have accepted Austria-Hungary's ultimatum, if only for moral reasons.
"Guilt" – that's a serious accusation! It's taken from the Treaty of Versailles and is highly propaganda-laden. Upon closer inspection, no country at the time was truly "guilty," but instead there were responsibilities.
Essentially, all of the major European powers of the time were responsible for the fact that a major war, a world war, had even occurred. Each of them was quite willing to wage war, and none was truly committed to avoiding it. While there were attempts to achieve general disarmament through international agreements, the German Reich, in particular, refused to do so.
There are those primarily responsible for making political mistakes that contributed to the outbreak of war in 1914. They lit the fuse in the powder keg, underestimating the danger of a catastrophic explosion, or accepted it. When considering the outbreak of the First World War, one cannot help but attribute a great deal of responsibility to the German Reich. Its politicians acted particularly negligently and recklessly in the aforementioned highly armed and generally war-ready situation. They stoked the "fire," didn't extinguish it, and the German politicians of the time bear the primary responsibility for this! There was no inevitability for a major war, or even a world war!
Germany could have prevented the war. Germany bears primary responsibility for its actions, its strategic military errors, and its violations of international law, including its continued conduct of the war, and thus also for the escalation into a world war, as correctly stated in the Treaty of Versailles.
Thank you for this detailed answer.
Gerne. 🙂
The main blame lay with pandemic -induced fears among the ruling classes throughout Europe over the " Russian Flu " of 1889-1895, which caused approximately 1 million deaths worldwide in four waves. It is said to have first emerged in Central Asia and reached Europe via the Trans-Siberian railway line, which was then under construction, first reaching St. Petersburg, hence its name. It was a typical viral influenza, with new waves of spread in each subsequent winter. However, the pathogen—unfortunately, no samples of it exist—has not been conclusively identified. An influenza A subtype H3N8 or H2N2 is suspected, but since 2005 a coronavirus OC43 has also been suspected, which is still circulating today as a seasonal childhood illness. This Russian flu, which flared up repeatedly over the years, is also suspected of triggering the subsequent wave of various mental illnesses—referred to as " post-influenza depression "—and of cultural decadence and social disintegration in the last decade of the 19th century, the so-called fin de siècle . These fears and experiences of crisis, in turn, fueled the unbridled arms race that ultimately culminated in the World War.
WP writes:
"The period was characterized by a fluctuation between a spirit of optimism, euphoria about the future, diffuse fear of the future and regression, a doomsday mood, weariness of life, world-weariness, a fascination with death and transience, frivolity, frivolity, and decadence. A general crisis gripped the leading social classes because fundamental values ​​of social life seemed to be endangered. As an overreaction of the European leadership to the crisis phenomena and amidst " great fear that spread among the rulers ," a continuous military buildup took place: " Militarization assumed a dimension beyond any historical comparison ."
Thank you for your detailed answer
Everyone is to blame but the assassin bears the most blame
I think Emperor Franz Joseph certainly didn't expect a war of this magnitude, but rather a short military strike against Serbia. There hadn't been any kind of military buildup in Austria-Hungary before this war.
I think it's logical that the assassination of the heir to the throne couldn't simply be accepted without making a fool of themselves internationally and being seen as weak. However, there were other options besides declaring war outright. As far as I know, the ultimatum was also very short, and Serbia would have cooperated on many issues. Austria-Hungary would certainly have had the opportunity to exert more pressure and force a solution that would have allowed them to save face and avoid starting a war.
The Russian Empire then intervened, but was also poorly prepared militarily.
There were apparently also intentions on the part of Great Britain and France to destroy the German Empire and Austria-Hungary.
There are all sorts of theories that the Black Hand was in cahoots with the British government and deliberately arranged for Austria-Hungary to start this war. I have no idea if there's any truth to that.
Ultimately, no major power has avoided war or feared war.
There would have been enough time to defuse the situation through negotiations.
Great Britain has tried it several times.
However,
Austria-Hungary wanted war with Serbia.
Russia has encouraged Serbia in its resistance.
France did not exert any mitigating influence on Russia.
Germany has given Austria a boost by giving it a blank check.
Germany became involved in the crisis relatively late because, unlike the other major powers in the region, it had no direct interests. When it did become involved, the consequences were disastrous.
Thus, Germany bears the main responsibility, also through its declarations of war on Russia and France and the invasion of Belgium.
Germany also receives the prize for the stupidest decisions.
Only Great Britain has tried to exert a moderating influence on everyone, but not with all its might.
It's similar to today. There are always two people involved in an argument.
GERMANY OF COURSE YOU LEARNED HISTORY IN SCHOOL
I learned in history that everyone is to blame.
No, not just Germany. It's so pathetic how you young Germans don't know anything about your own history and don't even know the difference between the Kaiserreich and the Nazi Reich.
Österreich war der Auslöser wegen eines Attentats in Sarajevo.
The assassination attempt was not committed by Austria but by Serbia and targeted Austria (the Crown Prince).
Of course! That's why Austria "started" World War I.
On the second but only Germany
Yep, maybe Japan and Italy too. One shouldn't forget Japan in particular; they were just as bad as the Germans.
The blame lay with the special interests of the nobility in these countries and the growing nationalism of the population.
Jedes Land hatte in der einen oder anderen Sache Interesse an dem Krieg.
plus Nationalismus, Imperalismus und dumme Politiker