War Guilt and the Treaty of Versailles

 

The arguments for German war guilt

 

  • The Kaiser’s policy of Weltpolitik had raised tensions in Europe

  • The so-called War Council held at the end of 1912

  • The blank cheque given to Austria-Hungary at the beginning of the July crisis

  • Germany falsely accused France of invading German territory

  • Germany invaded neutral Belgium

  • German soldiers committed atrocities

  • German submarines sunk unarmed and neutral shipping

  • Germany dropped bombs on civilian targets

  • Germany operated a scorched earth policy when it retreated and destroyed French coal mines

 

The arguments that suggest Germany wasn’t alone to blame

 

  • Germany had a right to its ‘place in the sun’

  • The War Council was sensible preparations for a possible war, not a call for war (though this was raised)

  • Germany was not the cause of tensions in the Balkans

  • Germany was obliged to support Austria-Hungary, its only reliable ally

  • Russia was the first power outside of the immediate crisis to mobilise

  • The French were the first to use gas (tear gas) and France and Britain used other gases as well as the Germans