How much is Germany to blame for the start of WW1?

by _AGermanGuy_

Very recently I asked on /r/history about how good or bad the German Empire was and it quickly derailed into a heated discussion about Germanys involvement in WW1 because of my seemingly unpopular opinion that the German Empire has huge blame for starting WW1.

Now, nearly everybody in that thread was against me and said that Germany didn't want a war or that the French and Russians are as much to blame for it as Germany.

Hence I come here to get clarification. Was I wrong all the time about this?

Do note that I am german so my opinion has nothing to do with me hating the country.

DuxBelisarius

Now, nearly everybody in that thread was against me and said that Germany didn't want a war or that the French and Russians are as much to blame for it as Germany. Hence I come here to get clarification. Was I wrong all the time about this?

While I alone wouldn't place all of the blame for the outbreak of war on Germany, they certainly had the greatest share of responsibility. Without the knowledge that Germany would back them to the hilt, it's doubtful that the Austro-Hungarians would have pursued brinkmanship as far as they did. Without the German foreign ministry deliberately ignoring Prince Max von Lichnowsky's telegrams from London, Edward Grey may have been able to bring the Germans around to a peaceful settlement, as had been achieved with the Second Balkan War. Had the Germans not issued ultimatums which were not meant to be accepted, and then declared war on France and Russia afterwards, the war would not have expanded beyond the Balkans, and thus could still have been brought to a negotiated end. Without the brutal German invasion of Belgium, Britain would have found it incredibly difficult to enter the war; thus, the war would not expand beyond Europe. France had little role to play in the July Crisis beyond being invaded, while the Russians had little choice prestige wise but to intervene on Serbia's behalf. Even then, they urged the Serbs to accept any ultimatum/terms they were given, which they did with qualifications. The Austro-Hungarians just didn't care at that point, and with Russian mobilization it's hard to see how anything but that could have further deterred the Austro-Hungarians. It didn't of course, because German leadership, namely Moltke, seized the opportunity to go after the Russians and the French.

I've given plenty of answers on this subject if you'd like to visit my profile page on the wiki. As for books, July Crisis by Thomas G. Otte, Europe's Last Summer by David Fromkin, and The First World War by Hew Strachan are all good places to start.