To what Extent was Imperial Germany the Main Reason for the Outbreak Literature review

To what Extent was violet Germany the Main Reason for the Outbreak of WWI - literary works review ExampleAustria-Hungary announced war on Russia as France and Great Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary six days later. Historians and academicians understand the origins of the First innovation War, or the Great War as it is known, as complex, intense and intricate. This write-up presents a literature review on the causes of instauration War 1 and particularly Imperial Germanys role in it. The scale of the war was vast as European powers increased their military spending by more than 300% during the war. Overall, thirty-two nations participated in the war, twenty-eight of which were Allied and Associated Powers, whose principal belligerents were the British Empire, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, and the United States of America. The Central Powers opposing them were Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire. 2. Causes of World War I One of the initial literature concerning the causes of war, the summarized revisionist history, Origins of World War I, by Sidney Bradshaw Fay discusses the Immediate and Underlying Causes of the war (Fay, 1966). Fay suggests five key reasons behind World War 1 the system of orphic alliances, militarism, nationalism, economic imperialism and the newspaper press. Other academicians (Weikart, 1993) have also added social Darwinism to one of the underlying causes of War. Scholars, however, give different weightages to different causes, based on the importance they fall out on each of the above factors. Author S.R. Williamson takes on a pragmatist perspective by emphasizing that, in the period immediately leading up to World War I, there was a militarization of attitudes all across Europe (Samuel R. Williamson, 1988). Militarism and imperialism were key motivating forces in majority of the European countries to flack each other. Williamson, in his study, however singles out Austria-Hungry as the distruptive forc e amongst all other nations. The Austria-Hungry Empire was on a verge of disintegration and hence was preparing a realiatory attack on Serbia for the assasination of the archduke. Historian N. Ferguson, in his book, The Pity of War, elaborates further on the Imperialistic virtues of Europe, and that all European powers were preparing for the war within the confines of their empires. A naval fortify race was gaining momentum between Germany and Britain and both countries wanted to demonstrate their strength as worlds greatest imperial powers (Ferguson, 1999). Each European awkward was also facing fears and threats to their existence and to their expansion plans. The Austrians dreaded the collapse of their multi-racial Empire if they did not challenge the danger of Serb nationalism and Panslavism. The Germans feared the fall of their closest and only good ally, Austria that in turn would have weakened their stance in Europe. The Russians were threatened of a humilating defeat to Au stria and their failure to protect Slavs. The French felt the threat of their German neighbours as Germany increased its might in population, economy and military strength. Frances primary defence against the threat of German invasion was its alliance with Russia. This it was essential to protect. The British were insecure as well, as their global empire was exposed to hostile forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary with modern navy and war