World History

The world has witnessed two great wars in quick succession in the form of world war 1(1914-19) and world war 2(1939-45). The first war engulfed entire Europe and the second was far more complex involving almost all the countries of the world. Till today they’re different views among historians as to who was to blame for these wars. But a large proportion of them lay the blame squarely at the feet of Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm 2 policy of Weltpolitik and Hitler expansionist policy, threatened world peace and plunged the world into two great wars.

How Far Germany Was Responsible For World War 1

German Role In The War

1. Bismark, who was instrumental in the unification of Germany, wanted to maintain the balance of power in Europe with Germany as one of the major powers. To maintain this he signed treaties with almost all other nations of Europe except France.
2. All this changed in 1888 when young and impatient Kaiser Wilhelm II came to power in 1888. He wanted to expand Germany’s power and influence in Europe.
3. He ended diplomatic relations with Russia, strengthened Germany’s alliance with Austria Hungary, and began to build up Germany’s navy in an attempt to match the naval power of Great Britain.
4. This aggressive move by the Germans threatened all other nations of Europe and thus began an alliance system. The first alliance was a triple alliance involving Germany, Austria Hungary and Italy in 1882. This was followed up by an alliance between France and Russia in 1894, Britain and France in 1904 and Britain and Russia in 1907. Thus the aggressive foreign policy of Germany divided Europe into two armed camps.
5. The final nail in the coffin was Germany’s blank check to Austria-Hungary in its war against Serbia for the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungary throne in Serbia.
6. With Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, Russia came in support of Serbia, Thus Germany declared war on Russia and its ally France. When German troops entered Belgium on their way to occupy France, the British who swore to protect Belgium declared war on Germany, thus plunging all major powers of Europe into a catastrophic war.

Other Factors That Led To World War I

Historians who believe Germany was not primarily responsible for the war base their conclusion on the fact that other nations behaved just as badly as Germany did in the decades preceding the war, and that factors outside the control of any one country or individual were more responsible for the war. Factors like militarism, nationalism, alliance systems, and socio-cultural factors played a prominent role.

1. Militarism was successfully used as a method to carry out imperialistic expansion by England and France. Force or the threat of force was used whenever necessary to establish or maintain control of their colonies. It was used because it worked.
2. Historians believe that the tendency to resort to military action rather than compromise and diplomacy played an important role in how these countries responded when they were threatened at home.
3. Nationalism is another factor that played a huge role in world war I. However Nationalism didn’t just affect Germany. French nationalism dates back to 1789, in British colonial expansion nationalistic pride of having colonies played a huge role.
4. Nationalist movements in the Balkans involving Serbs had been going on for the decade leading up to World War I, and war had almost broken out several times. Russia was defeated by Japan was trying to regain its nationalistic pride, and the war was an easy way to do this.
5. All of the countries joined in alliances for mutual protection, and the alliance system kept peace on the continent from the time of the establishment of the German Empire under Bismarck in 1871 to the beginning of the war.
6. None of the major countries, Germany, France, Russia, Austria-Hungary or Great Britain, trusted each other, so the alliances were imperfect. Once aggressive acts were initiated against any country, though, the alliance system acted to promote rather than prevent war as countries were bound to come to the defence of each other. This can be seen as the main reason why a skirmish between Serbia, a small country, and Austria-Hungary, an empire in decline, escalated into World War I.
7. There was social and political unrest in many European countries during the years preceding World War I. The ruling class was fighting for survival, and all of the major countries were looking for ways to gain the support of the people and strengthen their own countries. Because of this, some historians believe all of the countries were willing to go to war to increase their power and prestige, relative to each other.

There are thus several intricately related factors that led to world war I, but these factors were brought to fore by German actions. However, laying war guilt solely on Germany through the Treaty of Versailles was not only unfair and also laid seeds for another world war where again German actions played a prominent role.

How Far Germany Was Responsible For World War II

German Role In The War

1. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 forced Germany and its allies to accept sole responsibility for causing the First World War and committed it to make territorial concessions, disarming and paying reparations. As Hitler saw it, this was a great humiliation, and he made it his mission to rectify it.
2. Political and economic instability in Germany, and lingering resentment over the harsh terms imposed by the Versailles Treaty, fueled the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
3. After rising to power Hitler immediately began secretly building up Germany’s army and weapons. Although Britain and France knew of Hitler’s actions, they thought a stronger Germany would stop the spread of Communism from Russia.
4. Obsessed with the idea of the superiority of the “pure” German race, which he called “Aryan,” Hitler believed that war was the only way to gain the necessary “Lebensraum,” or living space, for the German race to expand.
5. In the mid-1930s, he secretly began the rearmament of Germany, a violation of the Versailles Treaty. After signing alliances with Italy and Japan against the Soviet Union, Hitler sent troops to occupy Austria in 1938 and the following year annexed Czechoslovakia. Hitler’s open aggression went unchecked, as the United States and the Soviet Union were concentrated on internal politics at the time.
6. Neither France nor the UK, the countries most devastated by the great war, are willing to confront Germany in another war. Thus German expansionist policies went unchecked.
7. In late August 1939, Hitler and Stalin signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, which incited a frenzy of worry in London and Paris.
8. The pact with Stalin meant that Hitler would not face a war on two fronts once he invaded Poland, and would have Soviet assistance in conquering and dividing the nation itself.
9. On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland from the west; two days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany, beginning World War II.

Other Factors That Led To World War II

Historians and most observers of the war blame the harsh conditions imposed by the Versailles treaty as the main reason for German bitterness and resulted in the war. But the German grievances related to the treaty were resolved by 1938. So apart from German Grievances other factors also played a huge role that led to war.

1. The economic depression of 1929, is among the main reasons that led to the rise of authoritarian regimes. Already ravaged by war and burdened by war reparations, the great depression led to further deterioration of economic conditions in Germany.
2. German people were looking for a strong political leader who could lift the country out of the mess and Hilter with the promise of a better future appeared as a messiah. Thus the Depression led to conditions that helped the rise of Hitler.
3. Another reason for world war II was the failure of the league of nations. The idea of collective security was criticized because it failed to secure general disarmament.
4. The policy of Appeasement followed by Britain and France is also another major reason for the war. Both these countries failed to confront Hilter’s aggressive policies as they not only believed Hitler’s actions were justified in light of harsh Versailles treaty, they were also reluctant for another war so soon after world war I.
5. Besides the UK and France thought Hilter will act as a shield in preventing the spread of communism in Europe, which for them is a more serious threat than Hitler.
6. However, this policy of appeasement led Hilter into a false sense of belief that France and Britain will not act against him regardless of his action. So he took a gamble by invading Poland.
7. Another factor that led to war was a non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany and the secret agreement of partitioning Poland between them. Had Russia aligned with the west, Hitler would not have risked an attack in Poland as Germany was not in a position to fight a two-front war.

Germany certainly created conditions that precipitated the crisis but it would be unfair to blame Germany solely for the world wars. Apart from Germany many major European powers are also to blame either for creating the circumstances that cornered Germany like during world war I or for their inaction in stopping Hilter like during world war II.