How far was Germany to blame for causing the First World War It is apparent to see that in today’s society when anything about any of the world wars is mentioned the first thing that comes to mind is Germany, especially if we are talking about the origins of the wars. However if we ponder into this matter further and emphasise on all key events which took place during the first world war we can establish that Germany’s participation in causing the world war was quite considerable. As Germany’s greed for territory and supremacy provoked other superpowers, such as France and Britain, this outlined the causes for starting such a catastrophic war. Among these causes were Naval and Arms rivalry and also rivalry in Industrialisation between the countries. Even though Germany had lost the war they had a well thought out plan that showed that they were not afraid but ready for war. This plan was known as ‘The Schlieffen plan’. It was constructed by Von Moltke in 1905 and its aim was to outflank French forces by means of a massive swing through Belgium, and so with France overwhelmed, the German army would contain a Russian onslaught from the east. This may even prove the remarks of a historian by the name of Fritz Fischer who in 1960 stated that Germany in 1914 intentionally started the war purely for dominance. This resulted in Germany signing a treaty at the end of the war, known as the Treaty of Versailles, by the allies which meant that Germany would lose large amount of territory and financial liability. However it can be seen that Germany should not be alone in the blaming as recent restoration of 1920’s
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