Germany was truly united with Austria-Hungary. Germany gave Austria-Hungary a ‘blank cheque’ and assured them that Germany would stand by Austria with whatever decision it took. However, by doing this, Germany put itself in a very compromising position. Beforehand, Kaiser Willhelm II had let the reinsurance pact between Russia and Germany run out. This allowed Russia to hold talks and form treaties with France. With Russia and France allied, Germany was liable for a war on two fronts, something that could cripple Germany. On top of this, Russia would have been annoyed by the fact that Austria-Hungary was moving in on the Balkans for two reasons. Firstly, The Russians wanted the Balkans for a gateway to the Mediterranean. Secondly, there were many Slavs living in Russia and so it would be expected to help Serbia if it got in trouble.
Another prominent factor to the outbreak of war was Germanys desire to expand. Germany had arrived too late as a major power and when it attempted to create an empire, it found that most of the colonies were either British or French. At one point, Germany attempted to take Morocco off of France. Britain backed up France causing Germany to back down; causing not only embarrassment for Germany but also resulted in strengthening the relations between France and Britain. When war finally broke out between Russia and Germany, Willhelm saw this as an opportunity to expand and invaded Luxembourg and Belgium. Belgium had an agreement with Britain, which brought Britain and France into the war.
However, Germany cannot be held solely responsible. Up until the events in Sarajevo, the prospects of peace were looking good in Europe. Britain and Germany were on relatively good terms and they were discussing colonial interests such as Angola and Mozambique. It was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that ultimately sparked war. The war may not have happened but for the actions of the terrorist group ‘the Black Hand’. It could also be argued that it was Austria-Hungary’s desire to not let ethnic groups inside of Austria determine themselves and the ensuing aggression that led from this that eventually caused the war.
In conclusion, although Germanys desire for expansion and security were a major contributing factor towards the outbreak of war in 1914, I feel it wrong to place the blame exclusively on Germany. There are other dynamics that come into play such as Austria-Hungary’s aggression and Germanys underlying attachment to Austria-Hungary.