Austria is blamed for pulling Germany the battle. Germany was forced by the Triple Alliance to assist their ally Austria even though it was not their war. Wilhelm felt “obliged “ to wrtie them a check. The first declaration of war was made my Austria on July 28, 1914 after Serbia did not comply all articles of their ultimatum. The ultimatum itself could be described as a declaration of war because signing it would essentially relinquish Serbian independence. Austria felt that it must go to war or else it would look as though it was incapable of action, or “worm eaten” as the Serbian press put it.
The assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand by Black Hand radical, Gavrilo Princip started the chain reaction leading up to the war. The Serbian government knew of the plots to kill Ferdinand but did nothing to prevent them. Serbian nationalism was a cause for the assassination. The second Serbian mistake was rejecting article six of the Austrian ultimatum. In doing this, Serbia began a war with Austria. Serbia was the first countries to mobilize, which is generally a sign of war. Serbia then escalated the war by asking Russia for assistance. This move then helped bring Germany and France into the war, making a world war inevitable.
France had been wanting a war with German since its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, still bitter over its loss of the Alsace Lorraine. It instigated the Franco-Russian Alliance which later became the Triple Entente in order to rival Germany. France had plans XVI and XVII ready for a European war. France also made also made the mistake of replying to Germany, “we will do what is our bests interests” when asked what they would do if Germany declared war on Russia.
Russia, alongside France in the Franco-Russo Alliance, had been planning a European war for some time. They mobilized their troops too early, to intimidate Germany, but succeeded only in provoking them to enter the war. This mobilization could be seen as an unspoken declaration of war. Russia had agreed to back Serbia in a war against Austria, even though they had nothing to do with the conflict. Russia can also be blamed for ruining the balance of power in Europe after being weakened in its war with Japan.
Great Britain went to war over a piece of paper. Britain entered the war because of an old agreement to keep Belgium neutral. Sir Edward Grey could have prevented the war if he had urged Russia and France to warn Germany that England would back them in a war. Or, he could’ve listened to German urging to warn Russia and France of a war. He did neither. Great Britain was drawn away from German efforts for a diplomatic settlement and into the support of the military aggression of Russia and France. Britain involved itself in the war, like its involvement in the Balkan matters.
In the end, it’s hard to say if one country was more responsible for the outbreak of WWI than another, it’s just a matter of opinion. One thing seems certain however, no one country was entirely inculpable in the chain of events leading up to the war.
