To what extent was Germany responsible for the outbreak of World War I? Christopher Clark claimed in 2013 that there was no peculiar "war guilt" attaching to Germany. His research was seen as "groundbreaking". Is his thesis now accepted as historically accurate?

by unsilviu

I am reposting /u/ajbrown141's very interesting question from a couple of weeks ago, which got no replies:

I am referring to the claims made in Christopher Clark's book The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914.

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Wikipedia says this about it:

"The book challenges the imputation, hitherto widely accepted by mainstream scholars since 1919, of a peculiar "war guilt" attaching to the German Empire, instead mapping carefully the complex mechanism of events and misjudgements that led to war.[8][9] There was, in 1914, nothing inevitable about it. Risks inherent in the strategies pursued by the various governments involved had been taken before without catastrophic consequences: this now enabled leaders to follow similar approaches while not adequately evaluating or recognising those risks. Among international experts many saw this presentation by Clark of his research and insights as groundbreaking.[10]"

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What is the current consensus on Clark's thesis and Germany's responsibility for the outbreak of World War I?

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I should also add that I've read the earlier general answers on the causes of World War I primarily by /u/elos_ /u/DuxBelisarius and /u/Elm11 (linked in the AskHistorians FAQ) which are excellent, but they are a few years old now, and none of them mention Clark's book.

lordshield900

Not to discourage further discussion, but this excellent answer by /u/DuxBelisarius details some of the books problems and shows how it downplays German responsibility.