To What Extent Was Germany Responsible For The Outbreak Of War

I agree Germany were aggressive but their actions were not completely responsible for the outbreak of war, there were other causes for the war which Germany were not responsible for, such as the Triple of Entente where Germany felt isolated and insecure. However, the Schlieffen Plan of 1905 referred to in sources 1 and 2 is frequently seen as an act of aggression. In source 1 Corrigan says that “Germany had in place a plan for an aggressive war” because they were concerned of having to fight Russia and France at the same time. The fact that the Schlieffen Plan was created over a decade before the war suggests Germany were long anticipating it beginning and intended to be aggressive as planned. In source 2, Turner describes the plan as “flagrant
This was because Russia had little resources and a small army after the Russian revolution in 1905 so Germany had a devised the Schlieffen Plan to defeat France before Russia could mobilise. This supports what source 2 is saying because a war sooner rather than later would be suitable for Germany as they would have more chance of success and could be a reason why Germany were aggressive as they were pushing for war. An example of Germany pushing for war is the giving of the blank cheque to Austria-Hungary mentioned in source 1: “unconditional support”. This could be because Germany was simply pushing for war and urging Austria-Hungary to make a significant move but it could also have been because Austria-Hungary was Germanys only ally. If Germany didn’t support their only ally they would be completely isolated by enemies and feel more threatened than ever. It was also not only Germany who fancied the war to be sooner rather than later as mentioned in source 3. The source suggests France was also hoping for the war to start soon as they knew it was going to happen eventually so this is a sign of aggression towards Germany: “better war than this perpetual