Was Germany To Blame For WW1
Was Germany to Blame for World War One?
One hundred years after the brutal bloodshed of World War One, the conflict which involved almost every country in the world, is still known as “The Great War". The number of casualties in World War I, both military and civilian, totals to around 37 million: 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. Around 9.7 million military personnel and 6.8 million civilians were killed, not to mention those who went missing or were never found. A question that still lingers, even one hundred years later, is what caused this? Which circumstances could have led to a war so large and so deadly? In truth, there was no single cause for the outbreak of the First World War. The causes are much more complex than those of the Second World War and include short, intermediate and long term factors that all culminated to cause the July Days in 1914. These factors include militarism, nationalism, imperialism, the alliance system, and industrialization. In the following paragraphs, I will explore the factors listed above and allow you to come to your own conclusion as to whom or what was most to blame.
Nationalism and extreme patriotism were significant contributing factors to the outbreak of World War I. Many countries in Europe, including the Great Powers had developed a belief that their country was superior and powerful. This confidence led to a fatal misconception within Europe: that in the event of war, your own country would be victorious in a few short months. This made the citizens of a country become convinced of two things: that their nation and their government were right and that their military would win any conflict. Arguably, nationalism led to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the trigger cause of World War One. Serbia had had sour relations with Austria-Hungary since the beginning of the 20th century. Serbia was part of the Austria-Hungary empire but in around 1904, Serbia wanted to expand so it decided to break free
One hundred years after the brutal bloodshed of World War One, the conflict which involved almost every country in the world, is still known as “The Great War". The number of casualties in World War I, both military and civilian, totals to around 37 million: 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. Around 9.7 million military personnel and 6.8 million civilians were killed, not to mention those who went missing or were never found. A question that still lingers, even one hundred years later, is what caused this? Which circumstances could have led to a war so large and so deadly? In truth, there was no single cause for the outbreak of the First World War. The causes are much more complex than those of the Second World War and include short, intermediate and long term factors that all culminated to cause the July Days in 1914. These factors include militarism, nationalism, imperialism, the alliance system, and industrialization. In the following paragraphs, I will explore the factors listed above and allow you to come to your own conclusion as to whom or what was most to blame.
Nationalism and extreme patriotism were significant contributing factors to the outbreak of World War I. Many countries in Europe, including the Great Powers had developed a belief that their country was superior and powerful. This confidence led to a fatal misconception within Europe: that in the event of war, your own country would be victorious in a few short months. This made the citizens of a country become convinced of two things: that their nation and their government were right and that their military would win any conflict. Arguably, nationalism led to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the trigger cause of World War One. Serbia had had sour relations with Austria-Hungary since the beginning of the 20th century. Serbia was part of the Austria-Hungary empire but in around 1904, Serbia wanted to expand so it decided to break free