Who Was To Blame For The Great War Analysis

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When interpreting history, it is much easier to point a finger and blame, rather than gather information and understand what really happened. The Great War, or World War I as it became known, is a great example of misinformation and many nations blaming each other for its outbreak. Common knowledge would argue that Germany, the new European superpower was the direct cause of the devastating war. However, recent evidence points that each nation engaged in the war had an ulterior motive for joining it. That being said, no countries, not even Germany, had believed that the war would become the monstrosity it became in the five years of battle. Between 1914 and 1919, at least 23 million people are killed in the war. With mass casualties like this, it is no wonder historians look for someone to blame, but it would impossible because every country involved is to blame for the war. Setting: Saravejo, …show more content…
Before 1860, the map looked completely different. What is now Germany, was then, a number of independent Germanic states, each governing itself. The Prussian Empire, under the rule of Otto von Bismarck, began to concur these tiny states in a series of small wars. Throughout the 1860’s, Bismarck and Prussia conquered Denmark in 1863 and Austria in 1865, it proved itself to be a dominating force in Europe ( Pendergast, Pendergast, 3). To unite all of these new nations under one rule, Bismarck went to war with France. Known as the Franco-Prussian War, Prussia, to everyone’s surprise, demolished French forces. In 1871, France ceded Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia. With victory under its belt, the German states formed an alliance resulting in the creation of the German Republic naming Prussian King Wilhelm II as its emperor or Kaiser, and Bismarck as its chancellor. The Franco-Prussian war completely obliterated French Morale and boosted German