Who Is To Blame For World War One/ The Great War?

- Proceed, without delay, the arrest of Major Voija Tankositch and Milan Ciganovitch; Serbian state employees who have been encompassed by the results of the magisterial investigation at Sarajevo

- Prevent, using effective measures, the cooperation of the Serbian authorities in illegal traffic in arms and explosives across the frontier, to dismiss and punish severely the officials of the frontier service guilty of assisting the perpetrators of the Sarajevo crime by facilitating their passage across the frontier

- Furnish the Imperial and Royal government with explanations regarding the unjustifiable utterances of the high Serbian officials, both in Serbia and abroad, who, despite their official position, have not hesitated since the crime of the 28th of June, to express themselves in interviews with terms of hostility to the Austro-Hungarian government

- Notify the Imperial and Royal government of the execution of the measures comprised under the preceding heads.

The Austro-Hungarian government expected the reply of the Royal government by 5 o'clock, Saturday the 25th of July. Serbia agreed to all but one of Austria-Hungary's demands, Serbia disagreed with the sixth demand; it would not give Austro-Hungarian delegates the privilege of involvement in the judicial proceedings concerning the accused accessories to the murder of the Archduke and wife. So Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on the 28th of July 1914.

This is where the alliance system throws most of Europe into war. Russia had an alliance with Serbia and so it declared war on Austria. Germany was allied with Austria as a result of the Dual Alliance set up by the German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck (1872-1890), in 1879. So Germany declared war with Russia, who was allied with France because of the Franco-Russian Alliance set up in 1894, in response to Germany France declared war on Germany. France was an ally of Great Britain because of the Entente Cordiale in 1904, so Britain finally entered the Great War by declaring war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. In this war there were two powers the Triple Alliance/Central Powers -Italy Germany and Austria Hungary; and the Triple Entente/The Allies-Britain France and Russia.

Another cause of the Great War was imperialism. The European nations now ruled colonies and had spheres of influences and protectorates. The two countries with the most colonies were France and Britain with colonies in Africa, India, and Asia. Germany and Italy decided that they too wanted a colonial empire to produce for them raw materials and cheap labor, but all the desirable locations had been claimed; so they became jealous of the other countries who had control of colonies and more competitive for the remaining potential colonies.

Nationalism, and Militarism, also known as the Arms Race were two more elements adding to the eruption of the Great War/ World War One. Nationalism is the feeling of pride the citizens of a country have and their belief that their country is superior to others promoting their culture and interests opposing those of other nations. Militarism or the Arms Race is a competition between nations to have the most powerful armaments. Germany wanted to be known as the "leader of the seas", meaning it would have to compete with Britain (Kaiser Wilhelm II was one of the grandchildren of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, son of their daughter Victoria and Fredrick 111 of Prussia).

Germany decided to turn their navy into a "High Seas Fleet" with global capabilities. So Kaiser Wilhelm II placed Admiral Tirpitz in charge of this effort (Tirpitz Plan) sparking the Arms Race. This led Britain to enter the Triple Entente with France and Russia, surrounding Germany with opposing countries. Germany spent more money on its navy, in order to make more ships in hopes of surpassing the strength of Britain's naval power, it also widened it's canal (Kiel) to allow its battleships to pass between it's training bases in the Baltic and possible battle areas in the North Sea. This Arms Race made the European countries paranoid and suspicious of other countries.

No one person, event or country is fully responsible for the outbreak of the First World War. The actions, circumstances that existed prior to the eruption of the war and the poor leadership and decisions of the leaders of the countries involved in the war are what triggered the commencement of World War One. None of the nations wanted an overbearing war, like the Great War. But their political and military leaders made certain decisions and declarations, which resulted in about 29,514,250 deaths and casualties suffered by all the countries who fought.

The political leaders could have done more to delay the onset of war, for example Germany could have encouraged Austria to make Serbia pay for the death of the Archduke in another way other that going to war with them. Although no one nations could prevent war because of the faulty decisions made by the European leaders, which rose with each decision, the tension between the European countries. Though the Leader's leadership may have been faulty, it was followed because of propaganda making it seem right, such as yellow journalism which stretched the truth and sensationalized it's stories. Austria-Hungary did want war with Serbia, but it was counting on Russia backing down from Austria's German backing, so that it would win Serbia, and gain revenge for the death of their Archduke.

Each country had a part in the events leading up to the war, therefore they are all to blame, since no one country can be given the sole credit for starting the "Great War to end all wars" which lasted four years. The political leaders made unwise decisions as a result of the militarism, nationalism, and ally systems, which all eventually erupted into hostilities between the European countries, the hostility that eventually progressed into the "Great War".