The thing is, Germany (and Austria-Hungary) do bear primary responsibility for the outbreak of WWI. The Germans lost territory at Versailles that was largely non-German, and were expected to pay reparations for the damages they had done to the Allied and Associated Powers, hardly unreasonable. As /u/pobotuga mentions, compared to Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, Germany got off lightly!

[Why was Germany blamed entirely for WWI?] (http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/33zlms/why_was_germany_blamed_entirely_for_world_war_one/)

[Lead up to and outbreak of WWI] (http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/35vtov/discuss_the_causes_of_world_war_i_what_were_the/)

[Balkan Nationalism and the Outbreak of WWI] (http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/37n91p/to_what_extent_did_ethnic_and_nationalist/)

[How did the Germans feel about being declared guilty by Versailles?] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/34nwwx/after_the_armistice_and_treaty_of_versailles_in/)

[Current views on Sidney Fay's thesis on the outbreak of WWI?] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/32hjt9/what_are_current_views_of_historians_on_the_fays/)

The 'slither into war' thesis has been untenable since Fritz Fischer's research in the 1960s; the historical consensus today is that key individual actors in Vienna and Berlin were responsible for the outbreak of war. Also consult some of the excellent answers /u/elos_ has given on the subject!

First we have to take into account that 40 years earlier there was the Franco-Prussian War. This war ended with Germany being the main power in continental Europe and gaining the region of Alsace-Lorraine.

If you think about the Triple Alliance and the countries of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman empire, Germany wasn't treated so badly.

• Austria lost almost all the power and ended so divided that never regained importance.
• Ottoman empire was reduced to the territory of Turkey, losing the important and strategic territory in the Middle East.

If you check these maps, Germany ended better than the partners. Europe in 1923 and Ottoman Empire in 1914

The goal to inflict such losses was to avoid another war, if Germany was weakened, the remaining powers would avoid a war between them and continue their business with their colonies.

You may want to read through some of the comments on these threads:

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/28e3s4/versailleswas_it_really_as_bad_as_most_people_say/

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/11mhpg/the_francoprussian_war_of_18701871_started_the/?

Your question is flawed. For all intents and purposes, Germany did start the war. The German General Staff and the Kaiser actively tried to start the war, and whenever it looked like Austria-Hungary didn't want to start it for them, the Germans pressed them to be as bellicose as possible. Germany bears at least 95% of the responsibility.

You are talking as if we're in the pre-Fritz Fischer era.