To what extent do you agree with fischers thesis about the origins of world war 1 - Essay Example

While the arguments which connect the First World War to the second are quite plausible and accurate, it seems difficult to ignore other situations which were developing in Europe as a prelude to The Great War. As per the ideas given by Fischer (1967), he suggests that the German elite as well as the Kaiser of Germany had expansionist ideas which could only be satisfied with war. Ever since the social democrats had started showing their muscle in Germany, the elite of the country knew that war would be required to quell their domestic issues as well as further their agenda of expansion (Hart, 1972).

Essentially, the thesis presented by Fischer (1967) places the blame for the war on the German rulers who used the assassination of the Archduke as a framing device and a catalyst for making the declaration of war jus ad bellum. There is certainly evidence to support this since documentary evidence which are presented by Fischer shows that some people in power were calling for an expansionist approach and were looking for German domination over its European neighbours. Therefore, instead of foreign influences and political movements of alliances across the continent resulting in the inevitable situation of war, the war was created by Germany and therefore the blame for the First World War much like the Second World War goes to the Germans.

Fischer (1967) points out connections which link Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm in the First World War with Germany under the regime of Hitler. The primary connection being the business alliances which benefited from the war in many different ways including the industrial manufacture of weapons of war as well as the economic activity required for keeping up the war effort. The argument presented by Fischer (1967) is an extreme end of the spectrum since it suggests that Germany willed the war upon Europe while the rest of Europe was unwilling to go to war but was dragged into it due to the various treaties that