One of Fritz Fisher’s main arguments was that the German government under the Kaiser's reign deemed a War inevitable since 1911 and therefore prepared for War and took the first opportunity to start it. Another belief was that the German government precipitated a growth of the Austrian and Serbia crisis in order to launch what they believed to be a defensive strike against Russia and France. One of his other main accusations was that German aims for expansion existed over a long period of time, leading right up to the Second World War. He believed Germany longed for an eastern empire and predominance over Belgium and France.
Fritz Fisher had substantial evidence to back up his beliefs. His main evidence was the ‘blank cheque’ - when Germany supported Austria after they sent an ultimatum to Serbia which drew Germany into the First World War. This agreement almost guaranteed a War with Russia, which Fisher believed was hoped for. If War did not come about then Germany would at least have hoped to weaken the Entente and win a moral victory that would increase the stature and stability of Germany.
More evidence to back up Fisher’s belief is that Germany did nothing to prevent the crisis from happening. Wilhelm II even allowed the French and the Russians to form their own alliances while strengthening his own with Austria. These alliances are the sides that form the First World War. This backs up Fisher’s theory as it presents Germany as a country using alliances to create tensions that could cause a War.
Kaiser William also challenged Britain by increasing his naval programme. Britain was very proud of having the best navy in the world and actively building one to challenge it was seen as very provocative. This also supports Fisher as it shows that Germany was willing to challenge Britain and could have also been preparing her navy for the outbreak of War. Kaiser William was also provoking to the French when he made his Tangier speech where he said that he supported the independence of Morocco and demanded an international conference to discuss Morocco's future. Clearly this was testing the French to possible get in the way of their attempts to gain Morocco as a colony.
Another key piece of evidence is the Schlieffen Plan. The Germans blew up the assassination of Franz Ferdinand out of proportion so that they had reason to put the Schlieffen plan into action. The plan was suspected to have been planned over a long period of time and this agrees with Fishers theory as it shows that Germany was planning and wanted a War.
Fritz Fisher was very critical of the German government and related the actions of the Kaiser to that of Hitler. It is widely agreed that Wilhelm II wanted power but to suggest that he was like an extreme dictator is quite controversial in countries of the opposition.
My personal opinion is that Germany was more to blame than countries like France and Britain but unlike Fritz Fisher, I do not believe that Germany was solely responsible for the outbreak of the First World War.
I believe that to blame Germany alone would be unfair due to the particularly aggressive behaviour of Austria-Hungary and Russia. Germany was also but under a lot of pressure by French and Russian encirclement and could have been making alliances in her defence.
I think that Germany was encouraging War between Austria and Serbia with hope to establish herself as a major European power. I think that it was possible that European powers could have been overly suspicious of Germany, which increased tension.
To conclude I do not totally disagree with Fritz Fisher’s proposals. I do believe that Germany was more to blame than other countries and that she was planning for War. I think that there were other causes of the First World War like the long-standing rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Russia due to their interests in the Balkans. It could even be said that the Russia and France alliance was provoking to Germany. However, I think that it is fair to say that Germany was welcome to the prospect of War so that she could prove herself and become a dominant European power.
