9My - this should be completed by Wednesday 7 March.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Who do YOU think was to blame for the outbreak of WW1
9My - this should be completed by Wednesday 7 March.
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9My - this should be completed by Wednesday 7 March.
I think the main blame for WW1 should go to Austria-Hungry. This is because if they didn't mistreat Serbia then Serbians would not have killed the crown prince, and that way Russia and Germany would not have had to fall.
ReplyDeleteThe main long term causes are Imperialism and nationalism, if the countries has not felt the urge for more power they would not have gotten into a competition and so most of the long term causes would not have come into play.
MR
I agree that Austro-Hungarians started the war, but I think that Germany is still at fault over all (see below) EG
DeleteI think Millitarism is the most important cause, because if all of the countries didn't have lots of weapons, they wouldn't have been able to use them, or have been willing to use them! And they wouldn't have had an 'arms race' which was a pretty childish idea. Germany, I think was responsible for World War One. They sent out Gunboats JUST to cause trouble! And then they backed down. They started a War for no reason (same as in World War Two, Germany was a main part of it)...See a pattern? KS (:
ReplyDeleteI think that Germany should mainly be blamed for WWI. I think this because when Russia mobilised and told Germany that they weren't against them, Germany declared war on Russia. Germany also claimed that French planes had bombed Nuremberg, but as this was a claim, you don't know how strong their evidence was. Also as KS says above, Germany's gunboats caused a lot of trouble. Germany also invaded Belgium because they weren't allowed to walk through it, and the Germans obviolously wanted a war as unlike Serbia who agreed to most of their ultimatum, Germany refused it, suggesting they wanted war with Britain. I think that Militarism was the most important long term cause as countries were trying to get lots of weapons, for no reason, meaning that when the war started they had lots of weapons and were prepared. EG
ReplyDeleteI think that Germany is responsible for the fact that the war became a world war, but Austria-Hungary was responsible for it starting. I know that many people would say that the murder of Archduke Ferdinand started the war, but this event only occured because Austria-Hungary had tried to take the province of Bosnia when the Serbs were the ones that lived there. This also links in to the idea of imperialism, because if Austria hadn't beleived that they had the authority to take Bosnia, then there would have been no tension between countries and their allies wouldn't have had to get involved.
ReplyDeletethe reason that i think Germany was responsible for the global spread of the war is because it was through germany that England and France became involved. If Germany had not been so desperate to build an empire, then they may not have attacked France or Belgium, and this would mean that war would have been on a much smaller scale.
However, I don't really think it is fair to entirely blame one nation for war, as it takes more than one to create an argument. Because of the number of imperialist countries, and the strength of nationalist views at the time, war was almost inevitable, and if there had been no WW1 there would have almost certainly been another war within a few years anyway. NW
I also think that Germany is to blame for WW1 for many of the same reasons. Germany made the first alliance which compelled the other countries to do the same to balance the power; therefore a little war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia turned into a World War. Also Germany claimed that France bombed them, I do not know how well proven this is but to me it seems like an excuse to invade them as France was weak. Lastly, on the 1st August Britain said that they would not get involved if Germany did not attack France. Germany said that it was too late to stop the attack yet it was only on the 3rd August that they declared war on France and 4th August that German troops started to march to France. There was plenty of time for them to call of the attack meaning that they must have wanted war all along. Therefore I conclude with Germany's militaristic mind set and hunger for power caused WW1
ReplyDeleteNT
Many people blame Germany, and can justify their answer, though Germany was not the only country resposible.
ReplyDeleteBefore WW1, there was alot of tension in Europe, and the outbreak of war was probably inevitable. In 1914, alot of European countries were coloniusing distant nations and in 1914 one of the countries that they were most interested in was Africa, causing friction and competetiveness between them.
When Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, it was not Germany who retaliated, but Austria-Hungary, Germany's allies. You could blame a few countries for joining the war, but there is really no correct answer.
DM ;)
I agree with DM. Although i think many of Germany's and Austria-Hungary's actions and decisions were wrong, i don't think it is right to blame any individuals; may it be country or person. Many of you think that Germany was the ones for the blame to be heaped upon, however in this situation and also many other examples in the course of history, you can never pin the blame on any one person or country. It takes two to tango, and at least two to start a war. With it being a world war as well, many countries were involved and people all over the world at that time had ideas in their heads that were "war friendly" meaning even if a war did break out no one would make much of it and would leap at the chance to fight for their country. As we already know, this did happen and people were ignorant to the reality of war, especially one on such a large scale. We can conclude that the stirrings of a war and the right conditions for it to spark were brewing long before 1914. All the points we learned, militarism, awful governments etc. were participated by all countries. Things happen in the past so we can hopefully learn from our mistakes. war is one of those things, and unfortunately, sometimes we don't learn as there are still wars going on in the world today. So we can only put the blame on humanity and our insatiable thirst to screw things up.
DeleteJC :P
I think Austria-Hungary are at fault for the outbreak of WW1. Their decision to invade Serbia is what began, not only a war for themselves, but many other countries who had formed alliances with each other, and therefore felt obliged to help these other countries. Although tension between many countries in Europe had been building for years, Austria-Hungary seemed almost eager for war to break out, unlike most other countries. Admittedly, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand gave grounds for Austria-Hungary to be angry, but it is ridiculous to attack an entire country because of the actions of a small group of young men. Following this incident, Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum of 10, somewhat unreasonable demands, claiming that failure to meet these demands would result in war. Austria-Hungary expected Serbia to reject the ultimatum, however they agreed to almost all of the demands. Kaiser Wilhelm (who had previously agreed to support Austria-Hungary should they invade)wrote that "the reply amounted to a capitulation in the humblest style, and with it there disappeared all reason for war", this proves that the emperor of Germany (the country many blame for the war)did not think that a war against Serbia was necessary. Nevertheless, Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, thus begginning WW1. AT
ReplyDeleteI think that because Austria-Hungary`s allies assassinated Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary was unhappy with Serbia because the Black Hand was a terrorist group that was supported by the Serbian military intelligence and they had killed Ferdinand.
ReplyDeleteDue to Ferdinand`s assassination Austria-Hungary were waiting to invade Serbia, but when they didn`t get the reply they were expecting they declared war on Serbia.
Because Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, Serbia mobilised against Germany and Germany declared war with the Russians, Germany then invaded France and France declared war with Germany, when Germany attacked France they asked for permission to pass through Belgium, Belgians refused therefore the Germans invaded them. Britain tried to prevent the war by sending Germany an ultimatum demanding that they withdrew from Belgium but they didn`t therefore Britain announced war with Germany as well.
Germany is partly at fault because they declared war with most of the countries and even though it takes more than one country to start an argument, they invaded so many countries therefore forcing allying countries to commence war with them as well as they did not do as the ultimatum asked them.
Austria-Hungarians were mainly at fault because they declared war with Serbia without a proper reason. Just because the black-hand was supported by the Serbian Military Intelligence it doesn`t mean that all of serbia was at fault for Ferdinand`s death.
If Ferdinand wasn`t assassinated there would have been no reason for Austria-Hingary to declare war with Serbia and WW1 wouldn`t have taken place. AR
I think there is an immediate and a long term cause which were both mainly responsible for causing WW1. The long term cause was alliances. Even though the alliance system was formed for a mutual benefit between countries it ended up causing a lot of trouble. When one country went war with another country the alliances were obliged to also go to war.
ReplyDeleteThe immediate cause of WW1 was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. This ignited the war as when Austria attacked Serbia, Russia (Serbia’s alliance) mobilized with Serbia to attack Austria. Then Germany also got involved because it was an alliance of Austria so now this meant that Germany would have to fight Russia. This would bring France and Britain into war as well as they were in the Triple Entente with Russia. So because countries had decided to form alliances to be more militaristic, all it took was one assassination to put so many countries at war.
Even if Franz Ferdinand wasn’t assassinated and Austria and Serbia didn’t go to war, some other disagreement would have caused WW1 as it was that easy to get all the countries to be against each other because of the fact that they all had alliances. So somehow even if it’s a war between two countries, ten other countries would also be required to take part because of the system of having alliances. It isn’t just alliances which caused the war as there are many other reasons such as imperialism, nationalism etc. but in my opinion alliances was the main cause. LS :)
The war began on When a serbian nationalist group "the black hand" assassinated the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne franz Ferdinand, leading to retailliation. During the late nineteenth century, European nations had negotiated military alliances with each other that called for mutual protection, Germany had a treaty with austria.
DeleteMG :)
I think that the trigger to WW1 was the murder of Franz Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary hated the Serbs anyway, so this simple act of assassination let to them have a reason to war on Serbia. As this rationale wasn't good enough for Austria-Hungary to actually start a war, they had to find a reason that would. That's why they sent Serbia an ultimatum containing 10 really tough demands. If the Serbs didn't complete or carry them out, it would lead to a war. The Serbs sent back a really conciliatory response but Austria-Hungary went to war with Serbia regardless.
ReplyDeleteThe war would have been between the two countries but as many countries in the area had alliances with each other, many more countries got involved turning it into a massive world war. This is why I think that 'alliances' was one of the most important factors that helped to create the World War.
Even though I think Austria-Hungary started the war, I think that Germany was to blame for making the whole war even worse, as Germany decided to invade other countries for no real reason such as France and Belgium. Originally Belgium had nothing to do with it at all but just got in Germany's way, so that's why Germany decided to invade them. (Britain only got involved to help France out).
Overall I think the countries that are responsible for WW1 would be Austria-Hungary for starting the war and Germany for perpetuating it.
AC :D
I think that the outbreak of war was mostly the fault of Austria-Hungary/ their thirst for power. They had a huge part in the dispute between many of the countries. For example, in the Bosnian Crisis, Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina even though this badly affected other countries, especially Serbia (as this would cut their desired access to the Adriatic Sea). Although there was protest and Russia became involved to assist Serbia, Austria-Hungary triumphed, but also left the relationship between them and Serbia even more damaged. In addition to this, one of the acts that triggered WWI would have probably been the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, who was preparing to take control over Bosnia even though no Austro-Hungarians lived there (but Serbs did). It was the event that gave Austria-Hungary the excuse to attack Serbia, so they first got an agreement from Germany that they could rely on their support, and then sent Serbia an ultimatum with ten very tough demands, expecting Serbia to refuse them and thus meaning Austria-Hungary could declare war. However, Serbia agreed to the demands except part of the sixth one, and by agreeing to most of these tough guidelines it showed they did not want war. Regardless, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and thus their alliances became involved (Germany in particular). Once Germany became involved, they invaded France, Belgium and Russia – meaning Britain came to Belgium’s aid, and World War I began.
ReplyDelete- NS1
I think that Austria-Hungary were the main cause for the outbreak of WW1, because although they were justified in feeling angry with the Serbs after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand (June 1914), they should not have sent the ultimatum in the first place, demanding that unless they met all the terms,Austria-Hungary would declare war on Serbia. This gave Austria-Hungary the opportunity to use it's alliance with Germany to make the war between more than two countries. When Russia began to mobilise it's troops against Germany and Austria-Hungary, Germany declared war on Russia, and this meant that Russia's alliance with Britain and France was put into action. However, Germany also has a large part in the expansion of the war across Europe, as when planning to invade France (as per the Schlieffen Plan) there needed to pass through Belgium, and when Belgium refused access, and therefore, Germany unnecessarily invaded Belgium, causing Britain to respond. Germany also claimed that it had been French planes that had bombed the German city Nuremberg, and so on that assumption, invaded France as well. When Britain sent Germany an ultimatum demanding they withdraw from Belgium by midnight or else war would be declared, Germany refused, and so Britain declared war on Germany. Therefore, although it was Austria-Hungary's fault initially for declaring war on Serbia, it was their alliance with Germany which caused the war to expand across Europe and involve too many countries. The alliance system was also a long term cause which was responsible for the trigger of war, though all of these causes come together to become the instigators for war. Even if Franz Ferdinand had not been assassinated, war was still inevitable with the ongoing and increasing animosity, nationalism and militarism between countries. AG
ReplyDeleteI think that the main reason for the war was because of militarism because if it wasn't for the arms race then war wouldnt even be happening, i guess it would have been unvoidable in some cases because the countries thought that it would develope a 'balance of power' however, if the countries found some sort of mutual agreement to prevent the war like some sort of conference then it wouldnt have happened because the developement of these weapons and battleships itself (even if it was for defence) contributes to the start of war.
ReplyDeleteEJDV
I don't think there is a particular country to blame for the WW1. i understand that many people blame Germany but i think it is Austria-Hungary's fault because although there are valid reasons for being angry at the Serbs who asssassinated Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary shouldn't have sent Serbians the demands and threaten to start a war if they fail to meet the demands. that gave a chance for Austria-Hungary to make war on other countries and since Russia started to mobilise its army, Germany declared war on Russia which meant that England and France would have to help Russia as they are in a Entente Cordiale. but Germany had another plan- the schiefflen plan- which they used to attack France but in the process, they had to pass through Belgium who have refused. the schlieffen plan was needed as Germany didn't have to declare war on France.
ReplyDeleteJM
I think the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was what triggered WW1. The Black Hand assassinated Franz Ferdinand, they were from Serbia. Austria - Hungary, who didn't really like Serbia, needed a reason to declare war on Serbia and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. They thought they may need a better reason so they made they sent 10 demands, which were not easy, to Serbia and if they didn’t do the commands or they didn’t even accept the demands then this would lead to war.
ReplyDeleteAustria - Hungary later invaded Serbia, which lead to Serbia mobilised against Germany, Germany declared war with the Russians, Germany then invaded France and France declared war with Germany, when Germany attacked France they asked to go through Belgium, Belgians said no and then Germans invaded them.
I think it is partly Germany's fault because they were the people that did go to war with most of the countries. ML
I don't think a country singularly can be blamed for WW1, rather, I think it was because of some of the concepts during this period that provoked the initial outbreak of war, such as the idea of Imperialism and Militarism which was put into practice when Germany engaged in an 'arms race' with Britain, which was bound to cause unease to surrounding countries. Due to this, alliances were made, and most of Europe was seemingly set for war, all that was needed was something to ignite it. Therefore, when Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, and consequently declared war on Serbia, Germany, as allies of Austria-Hungary also declared war on Serbia. Russia was forced to engage in war with Germany which then put the all the allies into play, effectively starting WW1.
ReplyDeleteZL
I think that the problem was between Austria-Hungary, Serbia and Germany; and they had reason. Austira-Hungary and Serbia didn't like each other very much already because of various reasons and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand got them furious. Germany just wanted to cause a war because they would come out on top as most powerful, as they had the most arms and were very militaristic. They only wanted to expand their empire so they decided to cause trouble. Therefore, it should have only been these countires that went to war. But it was alliances that caused many other countries to go to war. This is why countires such as Britain, France, Russia etc got involved. And then their empires got involved (e.g. when Britain joined the war, India was obliged to because it was a big part of their empire). Militarism was also an important but pointless reason for the war. I don't understand why they wanted all of the violence and a race to see who had the most arms and why they wnted to use them, but they did. This meant they would use any excuse to use their army and weapons (war). All of the countries were involved in a way because they were all waiting for a reason to start a war to get their revenge and come out all powerful and prove they were right. The assassination of Ferdinand was a good spark to set it off. Germany sent the 10 demands which was harsh and they still declared war, because they wanted war and thought they could use this as a reason. If I had to pick on ecountry to blame, for all these reasons, it would be Germany.
ReplyDeleteIA
I think the main blame for WWI is Austria-Hungary, as they demanded for more control, mainly over Serbia, and played a big part in the tensions between other countries as well leading up to the war. In relation to Serbia, Austria-Hungary should not have sent them such tough and highly impossible demands in their ultimatum. However they had the right to be angry with some Serbian assassins, for assassinating Franz Ferdinand, in some respects. Austria-Hungary can’t be fully blamed for WWI though, as while they had sent the ultimatum Russia mobilised its army making Germany declare war on Russia. The Germans ‘Schiefflen Plan’ failed when Belgium refused to let Germans pass through Belgium to get to France and so the German army also invaded Belgium, furthermore making tensions between the other European countries arise. Although Germany or Austria-Hugnary on their own cannot take the whole blame, as many other individuals and countries caused long term sparks leading up to the war, but I believe Austria-Hungary holds the most fault. JM.
ReplyDeleteBefore WW1, there was a lot of tension in Europe, and the outbreak of war was probably inevitable. War was bound to happen there was constant tension going on between other countries due to factors such as imperialism etc. The war began on When a serbian nationalist group "the black hand" assassinated the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne franz Ferdinand, leading to retailliation. I think that Austria-Hungary were the main cause for the outbreak of WW1, because although they had every right to feel frustrated towards the Serbs after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand they did not have to go to such extremes that they sent such as the ultimatum . Austria-Hungary had took control over Bosnia, where many Serbs lived meaning that they had angered the Serbs, equally as much as the Serbs had angered them over the Assassination. The ultimatum were ten extremely strict demands. Austria- Hungary demanded that unless they met all the terms, Austria-Hungary would declare war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary already had a promise with the Germans, commonly known as the ‘blank cheque’ that if they were to go to war they could rely on Germany’s support. Austria-Hungary then took up this opportunity to use it's alliance with Germany to make the war between more than two countries. ZA :)
ReplyDeleteI think that the main reason for the war was because of militarism so each country is to blame. If the countries didn't have a lot of weapons, they wouldn't have been so 'eager' to cause a war. However, I think that Germany is the main country to blame as they were kind of provoking the other countries. Also, Germany claimed that French planes bombed Nuremburg, this accusation is unreliable as they were very militaristic so were perhaps provoking trouble.
ReplyDeletePH
See DM's reply.
ReplyDeleteJC
I think that the main cause of the World War was the nationalism around the world, but particularly in Germany. Due to the superior mindset of the German Government, tensions were caused in all countries, and allies were forced to be made. If these tensions did not exist - if Germany had not put other countries at threat - I believe the war would not have happened. That is not to say that the other countries are not to blame also. EA
ReplyDeleteI think that ww1 was started because of the serbian attack in bosnia on franz ferdinand, by gabriel princip. The attack was not needed as ferdinand was going to bring good fortunte to the country, by becoming king. Also not only did they kill ferdinand, but his wife and conceived child. They took 3 lives as well as one, this is shameful. Noone can blame austria for going to war with serbia as they brought it upon themselves evn if they did not know the outcome that was about to happen. RD <3
ReplyDeleteI think that Germany was the main problem in the beginning of the war, because they antagonized almost every situation. Although Austria-Hungary started the first invasion, Germany invaded Belgium and called war on France and Russia, leading the rest of Europe to follow. This caused World War One.
ReplyDeleteIf the Kaiser had not been so hasty in his actions (after all, Britain proposed neutrality if they did not attack France, but the Kaiser was unable to stop the mobilisation), then prehaps they could have stopped the war or found a more agreeable solution, instead of which the Kaiser did not wait for the necessary communication.
Because of this, I think Germany caused the war. Without them, the countries wouldn't have been forced to attack.
The above is Serena's :D
ReplyDeleteI dont think there was just one cause of wwi. All of the events that took place caused tensions between the countries, from the Pig War to the Algeciras conference, played a vital part in causing one of the biggest wars the world has known. The trigger was definately the murder of Franz Ferdinand, but it wasnt the cause.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is human nature to fight - peace is unnatural, no matter what people say. The countries were not getting along, and therefore it was clear they were going to fight at some point, to vent their anger. This is why i think the blame can simply be put on humans, their selfishness, and their instinct to settle disputes in the simplest manner of all - killing each other - much like animals.
CW
I think it was the killing of Franz Ferdand that was the biggest cause of the ww1. this made austria angry, the spark had been given to the bonfire.
ReplyDeleteBut behind this i think Nationalism and Patriotism is to blame, it was this which meant Serbia didn't want to be controlled and it was this that caused the anger after the assassination, it was also nationalism that created the Kaiser's dream of 'a place in the sun'.
Because of the assassination and the nationalism held by most people in Europe austria got angry, germany took the oppurtunity to get a 'place in the sun' and why Belgium refused to let Germany pass through peacefully. the whole of the war was based on and caused by nationalism.
Emma B
sorry rewrite of the last paragraph -
Delete*Because of the nationalism held by most peole in europe it caused the assassination, the anger that followed, it also caused Germany to want, and take the oppurtunity to get 'a place in the sun' and it also was the reason why Belgium refused to let Germany pass through peacefully......etc......*
I don't think their is one main reason to why the WW1 started but more than one cause.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there were many short term causes like teh Bosnian Crisis and the Pig War, I think the main one that started the WW1 was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. He was going to take power and conrol the rights and wrong of Austria as he was going to becaome the Prince of the country and was also the Duke. The Serbs retaliated and began to plan his death. many times this had failed but Gabriel Princip- member of the Black Hand- had took his ultimate chance and triggered the gun, causing two bullets to shoot. Both were targeted at Franz Ferdinand but only one was successful and unfortuneately, the othet bullet had went staright to Franz's wife and into her tummy where her unborn child died. Gabriel Princip had not only killed one life but 3.
I think this is what triggered the WW1 as Austria-Hungary was not happy with this result of the death of Franz Ferdinand.
NS :)
I think that the killing of Franz Ferdinand is to blame because with his death, Austria had a reason to go to war with Serbia. Alliances then played a part in the war because Austria had alliances with Italy and Germany. Although Serbia did not have a formal alliance they had an agreement with France which then brought Great Britain and Russia against the Triple Alliance.The killing of Franz Ferdinand provoked Nationalism because they were insulted by Serbia and wanted revenge. The fact that they had big Armies(Militarism) made them more likely to go to war.
ReplyDeleteM.B