Germanys Role in World War 1 Even though it was Austria who declared war on Serbia in 1914, many historians

believe that Germany is the most to blame for the conflict becoming a WORLD WAR. As an ally of Austria, Germany backed up Austria in its war against Serbia and Serbias ally Russia, which is on the Eastern side of Germany. However, Germany was also worried that France, as an ally of Russia, would attack it from the West. Germany decided to pre-empt this by attacking France. In case war ever broke out in Europe, German military planners had already developed a secret strategy called the Schlieffen Plan. The plan was invented to avoid getting Germany caught in a two-front war between Russia in the East and France in the West. The plan worked by first concentrating German troops in the West to quickly defeat the French and then, if necessary, rushing those troops by train to the East to face the Russians before they had time to mobilize fully. The planners believed that the Russians would take longer to get ready for war than the French. After World War 1 broke out, the Schlieffen Plan went into action. However, to get to France, Germany had to cross Belgium, which was a neutral country. By crossing into Belgium with soldiers Germany effectively declared war on the small country and England, an ally of Belgium, made the decision to enter the war on the side of Belgium and, in turn France. The Belgians were tougher in resisting the Germans than expected, this held up Germany and allowed the French to dig in defences along the French-Belgian Border. The Russians also mobilised faster than expected, forcing the Germans to send more troops to reinforce its Eastern borders, weakening German forces in the West. The Schlieffen plan failed and, instead of being moved rapidly from West to East, German troops were forced to construct trenches and face off against the French trenches for years. Germany was also responsible for torpedoing a British civilian cruise ship called the Lusitania in 1917. The United States had originally declared that it did not want to get involved in the fighting, 128 American lives were lost on the Lusitania, outraging many in American. America demanded to Germany that it stop its U-Boat campaign but Germany refused. Germany also tried to secure an Alliance with Mexico for war against America. These actions caused US President Woodrow Wilson to declare war on Germany in April 1917 and join the side of the Triple Entente (England, Russia, France). Even though it was a Serbian gunman that killed an Austrian and the Austrians who declared war on Serbia, many at the time and since have argued that Germany was the main power to blame for really starting World War 1. German strategies like the Schlieffen plan and the U-Boat campaign have been blamed by many as being responsible for expanding the war from a conflict between Austria, Serbia and Russia to a World War that included America, many European Powers and their Empires.

Explain how Germanys actions may have led it to be blamed for World War 1. Who else took part in the fighting of World War 1? Do you think it is fair to blame just one party for a War?