1. Makoto Abe
“Germany was responsible for the start of World War I”, to what extent do you agree?
Ever since the end of World War II, historians debated who were responsible for the two
World Wars. At the end of World War I, Germany was blamed for the start of the war and the Treaty
of Versailles were established. The Treaty included large amounts of reparations therefore the treaty
was a harsh punishment towards Germany. However the question of war guilt came in light once
again at the end of World War II and people started to doubt that Germany was at fault for the start
of the World War. But Professor Fritz Fischer’s book published in 1961 caused a major catastrophe.
Fischer’s thesis was that Germany was the one who have caused the World War to become a world
class power or the “Weltmacht”. Therefore Germany was responsible for the start of World War I to
a large extent.
To a certain extent, the rivalry and friction between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was the
cause of the World War. The Bosnia Crisis in 1908 created friction between Austria-Hungary and
Serbia. Austria annexed Bosnia which angered Serbia because they too were planning to annex
Bosnia. However Austria was able to keep Bosnia which made Serbia hostile towards Austria-
Hungary. Serbia’s desire to gain Bosnia to unite all the Slavic people into one nation encouraged
stronger hate towards Austria which caused the start of the war. The two Balkan Wars continued to
create tension between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. At the end of the Balkan War, the Serbs were
not happy with their gains because they wanted Albania. However Austria-Hungary, Germany, and
Great Britain insisted that Albania become an independent state because they did not want Serbia to
become too powerful. This applied especially to Austria-Hungary because Serbia wanted to unite all
the Serbs together under Pan-Slavism and there were many Serbs living in Austria-Hungary.
Therefore Austria was determined to stop Serbia’s ambitions. The assassination of the Austrian
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the final step to the friction between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. In
June 1914, the Archduke was killed by a Serb terrorist, Gavrilo Princip. Austria blamed this on the

2. Serbian government and sent them a harsh ultimatum. Even though the Serbian government had
answered to most of the Ultimatum, Austria still declared war on Serbia. Also the demands were too
demanding that it would weaken Serbia as a nation therefore Austria-Hungary knew that Serbia
could not follow all the demands but used it as an excuse to provoke war with Serbia. The Serbian-
Austrian relations were the cause of World War I in a certain extent however Germany’s actions
were the most likely to have caused the war.
Germany was in a large extent responsible for the start of World War I because Germany
continued to pursue their aims despite the risk of war. As soon as the war started, Germany quickly
made plans for large-scale territorial annexations. Bethmann’s memorandum of 9 September 1914,
clearly illustrated Germany’s aims for large-scale annexations. The Germany’s aims in the
Bethmann’s memorandum include; the reduction of France to a second power class by territorial
annexations, establishment of a long-term control over Belgium, and spread of German power
eastwards. Since annexations can be established by wars, it is noticeable that Germany was ready
for war to carry out their aggressive aims. Also this connects to the idea that Germany wanted to
establish a “Weltmacht” or a great power so that they can catch up to other nations whom were
already ahead of Germany. This thesis introduced by Fritz Fischer can be proved by the Bethmann’s
memorandum because of the aim of the reduction of France to a second power class. Germany in
spite of risk of war encouraged their Austrian allies to provoke war with Serbia. In 1914 Germany
agreed to support Austria-Hungary with the war against Serbia under the “Blank Cheque”. So
Austria-Hungary would not have provoked war with Serbia if they did not have a reassurance that
Germany is there for full support. Therefore if Germany had not agreed to the “Blank Cheque” a war
might have been avoided because Austria-Hungary would have not provoked war against Serbia.
Germany’s aggression towards their aims has caused the war however the German’s actions and
relations with other nations also triggered the war.

3. The Germany’s aggression towards Britain and France had caused World War I. The naval
war between Germany and Britain had caused friction between the two nations. The naval race
began because Kaiser Wilhelm wanted Germany to become the world class power. This point is also
supported by the historian Fischer whom claimed that the cause of the World War was Germany
because Germany wanted to become a world power. Therefore Germany started this naval race in
spite of the risk of war with Great Britain. The Schlieffen Plan and the Bethmann’s memorandum
clearly illustrated Germany’s aggression towards France. The Schlieffen Plan is a war plan to avoid a
two front war with France and Russia. Also in the Bethmann’s memorandum, one German aim was
to reduce France into a second class power. The Schlieffen Plan and the Bethmann’s memorandum
show Germany’s aggressiveness towards France. France and Germany have been hostile towards
each other every since France’s defeat from Germany in the Franco-Prussian war. Therefore it is
clear that Germany was planning to start a war with France. The Moroccan Crisis and the Agadir
Crisis in 1911 caused friction with France as well as Great Britain. It was an event where Germany
tried to expand their empire as well as to test the recently signed Anglo-French “Entente Cordiale”.
So Germany promised the Sultan of Morocco that they would protect them from France. And to
avoid war a conference was held where the other nations agreed that France should take over
Morocco. At the end the tension between Germany and France increased because of Germany’s
aggression towards Morocco. In the Agadir Crisis, Germany sent a gunboat, the Panther near Agadir
to pressurize the French. Near Adagir was a British naval base and the British believed that the
German warship was a threat. Therefore Lloyd George warned Germany which caused them to
recognize French protectorate over Morocco. This caused more friction between the three nations.
Therefore the German’s aggression in their aims, actions, and relations with other nations was the
reason for the cause of World War I.
Germany was responsible for the cause of the World War because they were aggressive
towards their aims as well as creating friction between themselves and other nations. However this
war guilt question still continues as different historians come up with various historiography. Other

4. theories include nationalism, militarism, and the alliance systems; but Germany seemed to be
involved in all three aspects which make Germany responsible of the start of World War I.