German Responsibility for World War I - Essay Example

THAT GERMANY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OUTBREAK OF WAR IN 1914 Assess the argument that Germany was responsible for the outbreak of war in 1914 [Writer's Name] [Institution's Name] Assess the argument that Germany was responsible for the outbreak of war in 1914 Introduction This paper shall analyze and discuss the arguments that Germany was responsible for the outbreak of war in 1914. The entire World War one episode began after a key incident. On June 28, 1914, assassination took place in Sarajevo, a Bosnian city. A Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir throne of Austria-Hungary. This was planned in order to "prepare for the Slavic revolution", but eventually became one of the causes of WWI. Austria used the assassination to attack Serbia. In order to do this, they asked for the support of Germany. Although the German leaders were aware of the domino effect of attacking Serbia, they supported Austria. Since Germany and Austria wanted a quick attack on Serbia, so that other countries would not get involved, an ultimatum was sent. When the ultimatum was sent to Serbia in July 23, 1914, which demanded Serbia to abolish all 'anti-Austrian activities', and allow Austria to investigate the assassination of Francis Ferdinand. Serbia accepted to the ultimatum, but did not allow Austria to investigate the murder. This caused Austria to declare war on Serbia on July 28. When Austria attacked Serbia, as the German leaders had anticipated, Russia prepared to attack Austria. Germany warned Russia to stop the preparation, but because Russia did not listen, Germany attacked Russia on August 1. Two days later, Germany also declared war against France, which was Russia's ally. Discussion Germany planned to invade France through Belgium, but unfortunately, Belgium refused this. On August 3, Germany invaded Belgium. The British then became involved in the war, for they had promised Belgium could be neutral, and not get involved in wars.1 In addition, the British had to join in the war because if they did not, Germany would control the continent of Europe. In less than six weeks, the domino effect had caused Serbia, Russia, France, Belgium and Britain to fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary. The WW1 finally broke out in June1914 because of an accident in Bosnia. It was the Sarajevo incident, the immediate cause of WW1. It took place on June 28, 1914. On that day, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife were shot dead by a young Serbian student at Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital. Austria considered the murder of the heir to the throne an open Serbian attack.2 Austria would be left without an heir. Although she could not find any evidence that the Serbian government was connected with the assassination, Austria still declared war on Serbia. Within two month, the war became a world war. Finally, the war ended in 1918. The Central Power included Germany had lost. The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918 and was called The Great War or the war to end all wars until World War II started. Some scholars believe that the First World War was simply the first phase of a 30-year-long war that entailed the period of 1914 to 1945. The outbreak of the clash is often ascribed to the European alliances. Germany-Austria-Italy formed an alliance against France-Russia; Britain and Serbia supported France and Russia. In fact, none of the alliances was initiated in the early outbreak, though Russian general mobilization and Germany's declaration of war against France were motivated by fear of the opposing alliance being brought into play. By 1882, Germany was allied with Austra-Hungary and Italy, in an alliance called the Triple Alliance. Then, in 1887, they signed the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. Thus, Germany was allied with three major European nations and France was left isolated. In 1890, the German Kaiser set out to make Germany a major world power. He aimed to increase the number of Germany's overseas colonies.3 To do this, Germany increased the size of its navy. Britain's Royal Navy was the world's largest navy at the time, so Britain felt threatened and challenged by Germany's naval build-up. Also in 1890, the alliance between Germany and Russia was dropped. To stop its forced isolation, France allied with Russia in 1894. Germany was hence surrounded by France and Russia, and they felt threatened. The continued increasing their navy, making Britain feel threatened, also.4 Britain decided to ally with France and Russia, just in case Germany attacked. Thus, the Triple Entente was formed. The Triple Entente, made up of Britain, France and Russia, opposed the Triple Alliance, which was Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. Alfred von Schlieffen became the Chief of the German General Staff in 1891. Between then and 1905 he gradually worked out a plan of what to do in the event of war. This involved marching through Belgium and Holland to get to France, whereupon they would go in a wide circle and gain almost of half of the French territory. Six weeks was allowed for this to happen, while only 8539 of Germany's soldiers would hold off the slow-mobilising Russian army. After six weeks, the Army in France would move to the east side of Germany where they would hold off Russian forces. This plan was designed at a time when Russia was weakened by the Russo-Japanese war, so it required that Russia is slow to mobilize, and had diminished troops. Schlieffen also admitted that his plan was "an enterprise for which we are too weak"(Williamson). Then the crisis began. The Archduke of Austria, Francis Ferdinand, was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.5 Because he married a Countess, Sophie Chotek, he was not looked on favourably. On June 28, 1914, he and his wife were assassinated in Bosnia by a Serb nationalist. The assassination was not organized by the Serb Government; however, Austria felt the need for revenge. Because of a complex series of treaties, all nations were tied in together in the event of war. The Triple Alliance stated that if either Austria-Hungary or Germany found itself at war, the other would be forced to help. The Franco-Russian Military Convention stated that if France or Russia found itself at war with Austria-Hungary or Germany, the other must join in. As a result of a number of agreements, Britain would also be compelled to join. Because of these, if Russia declared war on Austria Hungary, Germany, France, and Britain would all be forced to join in. On July 6, Germany offered what has become known as the "blank cheque" to Austria-Hungary. The Kaiser, Wilhelm II, offered unconditional support to Austria-Hungary, no matter what action they chose to take against Serbia. This showed that Germany was prepared to go to war with France and Russia, and maybe even Britain. On July 23, Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to Serbia, with a 48-hour time limit. On July 25, Serbia responded that they could meet most, but not all of these demands. Because they could not accept it all, they mobilised their army.6 The Austrians declared war on Serbia on July 28, wondering what Russia would do in response. Unfortunately, at this time, many Austro-Hungarian politicians were not at their desks at the time, including the Emperor and the Prime Minister, who were on a diplomatic mission to Russia. At St. Petersburg they reaffirmed their support for Tsar, Nicholas II, in his backing of Serbia. Russia mobilised their army on July 30, preparing for war against Austra-Hungary. On the same day, the French, who did not want a way, withdrew their troops 10 km back from the German border. Germany issued two ultimatums at that time, both with a 12-hour limit: one to Russia ordering demobilisation, and one to France, ordering a declaration of neutrality in the event of war with Russia.7 The Russian government did not respond and continued mobilisation, and the French Government replied that France would act in accordance with her own interests. Both Germany and France began to mobilise on August 1. In the evening Germany declared war against Russia. On August 2, Germany delivered an ultimatum to Belgium requesting that Belgium remain neutral while German soldiers pass through on their way to France. The Belgian King, Albert I, declared his rejection to Germany's ultimatum the next day. The British foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Gery, announced to the Parliament of Britain that Britain would fight to defend Belgian neutrality if necessary. On August 4, German troops invaded Belgium. This was the Schlieffen Plan, but it was modified so Holland was not invaded, and the arc the troops went in was smaller. Britain demanded that a satisfactory explanation be given by 11 am UK time. When it received no response, the British declared war on Germany. Thus Britain's overseas colonies and dominions offered assistance, including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa. On August 23, Japan declared war on Germany, following a military agreement with Britain. Thus, by the end of 1914, Australia, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Liberia, Montenegro, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia and United Kingdom were all at war. Germany's policy to deal with the Franco-Russian alliance implicated delivering a knockout punch to the French and then making a progress with the more slowly mobilized Russian army. 8"The German Army demanded free passage across Belgium and Luxembourg. Germany invaded when they were denied." (Jenny et al p. 447, 2004)They occupied Luxembourg quickly but encountered resistance at the Belgian city of Liege. Britain sent an army to France, which marched into Belgium. The German Army faced a staunch resistance by the Belgians, French and British forces. Besides that, their plans were shattered by the unexpected rapid mobilization of the Russians forces. Russia attacked in East Prussia was strong enough to divert German forces. This allowed the French and British forces to stop the progress of the German progress on Paris at the Battle of the Marne in September 1914. Historian believes that all logical diplomatic possibilities were exhausted and fear of war was looming large for the second time.9 Historians agree that the conflict in Second World War was the normal constraints on human behaviour evoked by civilized societies. "All the humane values were set aside in the quest of military supremacy, resulting in horrible acts of demolition of human life and property and a general yielding to the passions of violence, ethnic hatred and vengeance." (Fischer P.315, 1975) Both the World Wars were acts of personal grudge against countries that have few parallels in time in which they took place. The onus is on both the parties. Neither was Hitler just a crazy and power hunger dictator nor were the British, French and other leader's archetype of virtue and true defenders of democratic morals. Thus, Second World War can best be explained in terms of socio-economic factors. All the events that came forth were the result of actions taken by authoritative leaders and their back-room connections with each other. The War in Brief) Prior and Wilson argued that the Second World War in the West can be: ...best understood, not through the contest of states, but as an international ideological civil war... And, as it turned out, the crucial lines in this civil war were not drawn between capitalism and communist social revolution, but between ideological families... between what the 19th century would have called 'progress' and 'reaction'--only that these terms were no longer quite apposite.. To a whole new generation of young people today, it sounds like a story from the olden days. Through years of controversy and severity, casualties ascended, victory remained ambiguous, and the opinion of people moved from general consent to general frustration with the progression of war. It must be noted that the character of W.W.II was very dissimilar from that of W.W.I. and any other war until then. According to Prior and Wilson, "There was no military or diplomatic decorum at all Germany attacked without a declaration of war." 10 (Prior and Wilson 324 2000) It tried to triumph over countries by means of bombardment and blitz and had no regard for the civilians and used terror on the civilians to attain its goal of world dominance. Wilhelm came his dream of having a bigger army a little bit nearer. Now that they were allies they would fight together in the case of war, which meant that they had more soldiers then any other country in Europe.11 The other countries were scared so that they also signed Alliance among them. Following Germany; France and Russia sign the Dual Alliance in 1894 to have the chance to fight Germany on two fronts in the instance of a war. After Britain signed the Entente Cordiale with France 1904) and the Anglo-Russian Convention 1907), "Germany was encircled by its most powerful enemies, caused by its own fault. In 1914, when the Archduke of Austria-Hungary was assassinated, Russia said they would help Serbia to fight Austria-Hungary, because they were Serbia was like an ally to Russia". (Hunt and Preston P.118, 1977) Germany meddled in and promised its ally 100% support. Germany declared war Russia after they reject the ultimatum explanation later in the essay).12 Germany kept its promise to help Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia. On 4th of August, 1914 the allies of Russia, France and Britain, declared war on Germany, so that all the allies from Europe except Italy who fought later in the war, but for France and Britain) where involved in World War I. Germany's beginning with the alliances is one reason why I blame them for causing the First World War. The second reason why I give Germany the fault of causing the war is their involvements in the Agadir Crisis in 1911. Although France and Germany signed an agreement over the Franco-German differences at a conference in Algeciras Spain) in 1906, Germany did not saw the problems as settled. When France sent its army to Morocco to help the sultan with the revolution in Fez, Germany saw that as a chance for France to annex Morocco, so Kaiser Wilhelm sent his gunboat The Panther to interrupt this event. He wanted to have some trading permission before France supposed to annex. However, according to Annika, "France, with the backing of Sir Edward Grey, offered no concession." (Annika, 249 2002) 13The French forced the German government to withdraw the gunboat immediately. Germany then signed an agreement of recognising the French control over the major port of Morocco. As a reward for the signing, France and Britain gave Germany a small piece of jungle in the Congo, Middle Africa.14 Because of Germany's misunderstanding, France and Britain got political closer together, and Germany's diplomatic position got weaker. As a result of their weakened position they promised never again to back down. Conclusion The outbreak of World War I was supported by the July Crisis, which mainly started with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28th of June in 1914. Franz Joseph, the Austro-Hungarian emperor, asked Kaiser Wilhelm II for help to defeat Russia and Serbia in the occurrence of war. Wilhelm sent the emperor a 'blank cheque', which was an unqualified support from Germany. Nearly a month later, Germany sent told Russia through an ultimatum that they show withdraw the Russian army or Germany would declare war on them. Russia refused to demobilize and on 1st August Germany mobilized and announced that they would have a war against Russia. The rise and fall of armies found its distressing counterpoint; no matter how bravely or how well the soldiers on the point did their job; the plans and strategies were flawed, all the courage and bloodshed were for nothing. In my opinion, Germany and Austria should be held responsible for the outbreak of the WW1. First, Austria started the war. She declared war on Serbia without any fair reason or strong evidence. At that moment, local war might easily develop into a world war. Although blaming a country/nation for WW1 would have no impact now, what we can do now is to condemn all forms of warfare and encourage peace to be nourished and propagated throughout the world. Bibliography Annika Mombauer, (2002) The Origins of the First World War in 1914: Controversies and Consensus P.249 Fischer, Fritz, War of Illusion: (1975) German Policies from 1911 to 1914 P.315 Hunt B and Preston A (eds), (1977) War Aims and Strategic policy in the Great War P.118 Jenny Macleod et al (eds), (2004) Uncovered Fields: Perspectives in First World War Studies p. 447 Keiger, John, (1983) France and the Origins of the First World War Langdon, J.W., (1991) July 1914: The Long Debate, 1918-1990 Prior and Wilson review article (April 2000) 'First World War', in Journal of Contemporary History 35/2 324 Rohl, John, (1969) 'Admiral von Muller and the Approach of War 1911-14', Historical Journal 12/4 Rothwell, V. (1971) British War Aims and Peace Diplomacy Stephen van Evera, (1984)'Cult of the Offensive and the Origins of the First World War', International Security Stevenson, David, (1991) The First World War and International Politics Wallace, S. (1988) War and the Image of Germany: British Academics 1914 -1918, J. Donald, Edinburgh. Williamson, Samuel R., (1991)Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War Zara, Steiner, (2003) Britain and the Origins of the First World War Read More