Because of the blank check given on June 6th, 1914 which allowed Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia with Germany's support. Because of the blank check given on June 6th, 1914 which allowed Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia with Germany's support.
Germany was not responsible for world war 1 Austro-Hungry was. German may have wanted a war but Austria started it when they invaded Serbia after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The alliance system then escalated the war bringing Russia, Germany, France and Britain into the conflict. Germany was responsible for WW1 because of its actions leading to actions of other countries. 1 Russia's mobilization was a result of German pressure and German leaders wanted the Russians to mobilize so that they could blame Russia for the war. If you look at the stated reasons of other countries: Germany declared war on France because it expected France to ally with Russia. Great Britain joined the war because Germany violated Belgian neutrality. And USA joined the war because of German submarine warfare. So one way to view this war is: Germany turned a local conflict between Austria-Hungary and Russia into a world war. Consequently, Germany is the responsible party here. Austria-Hungary wanted to punish Serbia for the assassination. Germany was an ally of Austria-Hungary and gave Austria the famous blank check to punish Serbia and Germany would back up its ally. Serbia looked to Russia for support. When Russia would not back down, Germany declared war on Russia. World War 1 broke out when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip in 1914, whose organization implicated members of Serbian military. For this reason, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, supported by Germany. Germany was responsible for causing WWI because of the blank check given on June 6th, 1914 which allowed Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia with Germany's support. They also pushed Austria to go to war. Germany was mainly, but not solely, responsible for the escalation of the Austro-Serbian War into the First World War. Germany was the First Great Power to declare war on another. On 1 August, when she declared war on Russia.
http://www.debate.org/debates/Germany-was-responsible-for-WW1/1/ http://www.debate.org/debates/Germany-was-responsible-for-WW1/1/ http://history.stackexchange.com/questions/813/why-was-germany-held-accountable-for-ww1 http://www.answers.com/Q/Who_was_responsible_for_World_War_1 http://www.studymode.com/essays/World-War-1-Who-Was-To-Blame-813046.html http://www.answers.com/Q/Was_Germany_responsible_for_causing_World_War_I http://www.answers.com/Q/Was_Germany_responsible_for_causing_World_War_I
why was germany held responsible for ww1