Decisions made in Berlin from 1900 determined the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914. How far do you agree with this opinion?

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“Decisions made in Berlin from 1900 determined the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914.” How far do you agree with this opinion?

The various decisions made in Berlin from 1900 were seen by some to determine the outbreak of war in 1914. However, some would argue that the decisions made in Berlin didn’t or at least to the same extent determined the outbreak of the First World War. This is evident in the three different sources that it is apparent there are many arguments to whether this is true and how far it is true.

Firstly, in Source 1 it shows to a certain extent that it agrees with the opinion despite the limitations that it was published many years after the origin of the events described. These events described lead to show how Wehler, the author- where he described Germany’s intent as “aggressive intent” on the basis of Germany trying to expand their battle fleet. This caused tensions with Britain as they saw this as a huge threat as Britain was known for their navy and so saw a bigger threat in being outdone to succeed in this area of battle. This increase in tension and “collision course” with Britain could then be seen as a decision that was made that helped determine or at least increase the reasoning behind going to war in August 1914. However, this could be misinterpreted as Britain joined the war in accordance to the Triple Entente as opposed to the race to build a better naval fleet.

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Source 3 also agrees to a certain extent with the opinion, as the decision made from 1900-1914 was essentially “let the Schlieffen Plan determine events,” this is evident that it wasn’t a decision that would help Germany or at least the outcome of war as Keegan describes the Kaisers’ attitude as though “he panicked” into making the decision. This occurred in 1914 and so just before the outbreak of war in 1914 so the motives of the Kaiser at this time could be questioned. The source itself however should also be questioned to how far you could trust the Keegan’s ...

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The author shows a good overall understanding of the viewpoints in the sources, and in some paragraphs is able to link this with own knowledge. This could have been done more in the second half of the essay however, and the points on provenance need reconsideration. 3 out of 5 stars.