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World War I, also known as the Great War, will go down in history as being one of the
worst wars to be fought between world powers. Many have called the Great War the “war to end
all wars.” World War I resulted in the death of millions of people throughout our planet. There
are many factors that led the countries that participated to go to war with each other. The conflict
between powers escalated to a point of no return when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife
were viciously gunned down by an assassin in June of 1914. This assassin was part of a Serbian
terrorist group called the Black Hand. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir presumptive to the
throne of Austria-Hungary. Just about everything you read about how World War I started is
with this assassination. The media throughout Europe after this recorded very little outcry over
the assassination and many papers were more interested in other scandals. The least outraged,
amazingly, was the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The Emperor, Franz Joseph didn’t see eye-to-
eye with Ferdinand and didn’t want him to succeed him. So, even though Serbia was not exactly
a friend, Franz Joseph considered the removal of Ferdinand a favor. In and of itself, the killing of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand would not have provoked retaliation. Enter Germany. Exploiting
Austria-Hungary’s hostility toward Serbia, together with the death of the archduke,
Germany5encouraged5Franz Joseph to take things further. Above all other actions related, it was
the country of Germany that instigated this Great War.
Germany could not wait to jump to Austria-Hungary’s defense after the assassination of
their heir to the throne. Germany had initiated this original Triple Alliance and had periodically
joined with one another throughout history. The pact was initiated as early as 1908 during the
Bosnian crisis of 1908-1909 and again during the Moroccan tension of 1911.”1 Even before
World War I kicked off, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire had joined the
1 Williamson, Samuel R. “The Origins of World War I.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 18, no. 4
(1988): 795–818. https://doi.org/10.2307/204825.
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Triple Alliance. Before World War I, Germany and Austria-Hungary were also close allies ever
since the late 1800s. The Triple Alliance was created to support Italy’s attempt to colonize the
northern region of Africa. When the French pushed the Italians out of North Africa by colonizing
this region first, Italy joined in on the fun of the Triple Alliance. The reason for such an alliance
was because if Italy had endured any conflict with the country of France during this time, then
Austria-Hungary and Germany would be obligated to protect Italy.
After the Great Depression, the race was on to colonize Africa during the late 1800s.
Africa was a great spot for trading goods, so this demand brought a lot of attention for other
powers to come in and get in on the valuable region.2 Africa along with Asia “remained
important partly as recipients of European exports but above all as suppliers of raw materials at
artificially low prices that the metropolitan industries turned into finished and high-value goods
for the well-to-do classes but increasingly also for mass consumption.”3 The countries of France,
Britain, Belgium, and even Germany were able to colonize Africa. When Germany colonized
Africa, it began to show just how greedy their mindset was and really showed how they really
cared deeply about expanding their territory. They conquered parts of South-West Africa, killing
thousands of the African natives in this region. Germany’s quest for domination resulted in the
native people called Herero to become one of the very first victims to this greed. Not only did
several thousand Africans die to the Germans, but many of them were also treated so poorly that
women were assaulted, raped, and many of the families were exiled from their land. These
atrocities that happened in Africa by the Germans was a foreshadowing on how Germany had
intentions of conquering Europe through any way, shape, or form during World War I.
2 Hobsbawm, E. J. (Eric J.). The Age of Empire, 1875-1914. First American edition. New York: Pantheon
Books, 1987.
3 Berghahn, Volker R. (Volker Rolf).5Europe in the Era of Two World Wars: from Militarism and Genocide
to Civil Society, 1900-1950. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2006.
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When Germany heard the news that their good buddies over in Austria-Hungary were
about to go to war with Serbia, they saw a perfect opportunity to fight alongside their Triple
Alliance and expand their power throughout Europe. Germany responded to Austria-Hungary
with a blank check to initiate their alliance, which unleashed a wave of chaos in Europe.4 Shortly
after this, the third piece of the Triple Alliance joined the war in the shape of the Ottoman
Empire. This began a chain reaction of many countries jumping from one side or the other in aid
against the Central Powers of the Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman
Empire. Through a treaty between Russia and Serbia, the Russians had no choice but to defend
Serbia and go to war alongside them. Germany’s continued oppression gave way for France and
Britain to get involved so they could defend their countries. Germany had a “white pitch of
hatred first against Russia and England and later against the United States.”5 Germany wanted so
bad to be recognized as a world power and so they resented Britain and Russia and the only way
to achieve their goals of becoming the most powerful, was to get rid of the competition. To do
that, meant killing millions of people and most likely lose millions of their own people.
Ever since the creation of the German Empire in the late 1800s. Germany had been
making attempts at world domination. Germany annexed parts of French territory after the
Franco-Prussian War. They attempted to rival Britain as a naval power and looked toward
colonization in all parts of the world. Germany was too late to these colonization parties and had
to look to take these territories away from other European powers. Even when Germany went
after Morocco in 1911, Britain came in and helped France in taking it. The Alliance between
4 McMeekin, Sean.5July 1914 : Countdown to War. New York: Basic Books, 2013.
5 Gerard, James W. (James Watson).5My Four Years in Germany. New York: George H. Doran Company,
1917.
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Germany and Italy proved to be no help. Also of no help was Austria-Hungary—which, when it
had annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany had supported.6
The German people of course showed signs of nationalism behind their country and
blindly let their leader; Kaiser Wilhelm II go to war that they really could not win even though
they thought without a doubt they could. Kaiser Wilhelm II came to power in 1888 as a young
and prominent leader who succeeded his father after his death. Kaiser began to make changes
regarding relationships with other countries quickly after taking over. He had a specific
framework he was trying to establish. He coveted expansion. Norman Stone states in his book:
His model was England. She was vastly rich and had an enormous overseas empire.
England was conservative as regards institutions, which had long historical roots, but she
was also go-ahead, and her industries accounted for a large part of the world’s trade. Her
overall position was guaranteed by an enormous navy. Why should not Germany acquire
an overseas empire to match? Under Wilhelm II, German power, and the blundering
expression of it became the European problem.7
Kaiser was not good with foreign policy. What he wanted for Germany was more along the lines
of a colonial power. As a result, his military force doubled in size and strength. By the time the
Great War kicked off, Germany’s aggressive actions with trying to become this world power
they so deeply wanted, resulted in other countries coming together to form an alliance to counter
Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm5II5said, “If it comes to a war, we must hope that Austria is attacked so
that she needs our help and not that we are attacked so that it would depend on Austria’s decision
whether she will remain faithful to the alliance”8
6 “Who Started World War I?” n.d. TheTrumpet.com. https://www.thetrumpet.com/1594-who-started-
world-war-i.
7 Stone, Norman.5World War One: a Short History. New York: Basic Books, 2009.
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Kaiser Wilhelm II’s lack of good foreign policy resulted in the formation of alliances
against his country. This early pact was known as the Triple Entente that included Russia,
France, and Britain. These three countries had no choice but to become an alliance against
Germany’s drastic military expansion. The people of Britain especially did not like Germans as
Rudyard Kipling explains, “There are only two divisions in the world today—human beings and
Germans.”9 The Triple Entente came together just in case there were to be a war and good thing
they did as Germany brought war to Europe. Kaiser wanted nothing to do with peace. All he
sought was power, and completely ignored neutrality. After German unification in 1871, Otto
Von Bismarck believed that the greatest threat to Germany and international peace was likely to
come from France. Therefore, he did his utmost to ensure that France would be as diplomatically
isolated as possible and unable to launch a general war on the continent. The corollary to this
goal was Bismarck’s quest to maintain a close and friendly relationship with other leading
powers and calling the German policy the nightmare of coalitions.”10 Bismarck being a part of
the old German regime, who was quickly sent packing and seen as irrelevant to Kaiser, knew that
Kaiser was young and arrogant who only craved power. Bismarck knew that Kaiser would
eventually be the downfall of Germany.11 Otto Von Bismarck was right in his thoughts as
Germany’s continued military expansion and quick action to defending Austria-Hungary without
hesitation led the rest of Europe and really the entire planet to realize what Germany was all
about and needed to make sure they protected themselves from the Central Powers.
8 Joll, James., and Gordon. Martel.5The Origins of the First World War. Third edition. Harlow: Pearson
Longman, 2007.
9 Freedman, Russell.5The War to End All Wars: World War I. Boston [Mass: Clarion Books, 2010.
10 Strachan, Hew. World War I: A History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
11 Marshall, S. L. A. (Samuel Lyman Atwood).5World War I. New York: American Heritage, 1985.
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So, what of it? What really happened? Was World War I caused by Germany? Or was it
the assassination of the heir to Austria-Hungary? Maybe it was the British, knowing that they
had to contain Germany before their power hunger exploded into Europe. How about the
Russians, since they didn’t support Serbia and mobilize their troops before Germany did? Or
simply was it the result of an unintended chain reaction in Europe, where every single country in
this region just wanted peace but were too tangled up in alliances that had to be honored?
The Great War of 1914 was not an inevitable chain of events that no one could have
foreseen. The War wasn’t just placed unknowingly in the laps of leaders who just wanted peace.
In 1914, one leader and country wanted war and power. Because of this, it was Germany who
instigated the actions that eventually led to World War I.
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Bibliography
Berghahn, Volker R. Europe in the Era of Two World Wars: From Militarism and Genocide to
Civil Society, 1900-1950. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006.
Freedman, Russell. The War to End All Wars: World War I. Boston: The Horn Book Guide,
2010.
Gerard, James W. My Four Years in Germany. New York: George H. Doran C., 1917
Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Empire. New York: Pantheon Books, 1987.
Joll, James, et al. The Origins of the First World War. Third edition. Harlow: Pearson Longman,
2007.
Marshall, Samuel Lyman Atwood. World War I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
McMeekin Sean. July 1914: Countdown to War. Basic Books, 2013.
Strachan, Hew. World War I: A History. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Stone, Norman. World War One: A Short History. New York: Basic Books, 2009.
Williamson, Samuel R. “The Origins of World War I.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
18, no. 4 (1988): 795–818. https://doi.org/10.2307/204825.
“Who Started World War I?” n.d. TheTrumpet.com. https://www.thetrumpet.com/1594-who-
started-world-war-i.
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