Dylan Andrews

Exam 1
LBST 2101
2/16/16

Outbreak of First World War

While I do believe that all the major power in Europe during the time contributed to the
outbreak of the First World War. However the main culprit behind the outbreak of the
First World War was Germany. It was German acts of aggression that pushed the already
tense European countries to war. Germany had intensions to go to war the entire time
and forced the hand of other European countries.
In Grayzel document 1, the Treaty of Vienna plays an important role in the establishment
of the Dual Alliance. In 1879, German and Austria-Hungary joined forces. Later in 1882,
the Triple Alliance is formed with the addition of Italy. Their membership came with the
stipulation that they would assist them when under attack, but by no means assist them in
aggression.
In McDonough document 1.2, German chancellor, Bethmann Hollweg, writes to
German ambassadors in Paris, London and St. Petersburg. In his letter he tells them about
the Serb danger. Bethmann says, The Serbian mischief-making goes back over a long
number of years. He also talks of the Serbian propaganda. Because of their role in the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, the Serbians must
be punished. Here the Germans are justifying their actions to the foreign dignitaries. They

make it seem as though the Serbian nation is an actually threat to them and that they must
take military action. This is a sign that Germany is willing to use any means necessary
and will make the other European countries very uncomfortable.
In McDonough document 1.1, the Austrian ambassador in Berlin, Count
Szogyney writes to Count Leopold Berchtold, the Austro-Hungarian foreign minister, to
tell them they have German support if a war does break out between them and
Serbia/Russia. The German support came in the form of the blank cheque. The blank
cheque was a military agreement between Germany and Austria-Hungary that the
Germans will back them against Russia when they exact their revenge against Serbia for
their role in the killing of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
German knew that Austria would be going to war with Serbia and that the Russians
would back Serbia. I believe that Germany saw this as an opportunity to defeat a weak
Russia that was not ready for military action before turning their attention to France and
Great Britain. This would also help Germany prevent the two-front war. This act by
Germany forced France and Russia to prepare for war adding to the boiling tensions in
Europe.
In McDonough document 1.5, count Helmuth von Moltke, the German chief of
military staff, wrote to Bethmann summarizing the Servian crisis. In his letter, he refers to
Serbia as, a cancer that constantly threatened to poison the body of Europe. Once again
German authorities portray Serbia as the antagonist of the European crisis, blaming
another to allow mobilization of their military.
In McDonough documents 1.6 and 1.7 the Germans plead for British Neutrality,
but Britain denies their plea. Germany never had any intention of gaining British

neutrality, instead they hoped to keep them out of the war in order to defeat Russia and
France. This actually caused Britain to ally with Russia and France.
The last major factor for Germany being the one to cause the First World War was
the ultimatum. In this Germany demanded that Russia demobilize and France must
declare itself neutral. Also Germany never responded to Great Britains letter about
Belgium neutrality. These two acts made it very clear to the rest of Europe that Germany
had every intention of going to war by having unreasonable demands and violating
Belgium neutrality.
The reason that Germany is the main culprit behind the First World War is
because they were acting aggressively and forced the other countries to prepare for war.
The Germans tried to make it seem as if it were preparing for Serbian aggression but they
were really just preparing their military and always had intentions of going to war.

Word Count: 679