Julian Gugliotta October 10th, 2014 Block 2-1 History 12 Should the Fritz Fischer thesis on the cause of World War One be tossed into the dustbin of history? WW1 was unlike any war ever fought in human history. The sheer amount of death and destruction is a testament of the brutality of mankind. Chlorine gas filled soldier’s lungs and burned them from the inside out. Machine guns tore through skin and bone like a hot knife through butter. Planes rained terror from the sky. After the war, the world would point fingers and argue over who started it. Fritz Fischer was one of these people. His controversial theory was both praised and criticized by historians, British and German alike. The aim of this essay is to discuss that Fritz Fischer’s thesis is significant towards who caused WW1. …show more content…
He earned a doctorate in theology in 1934 and a doctorate in philosophy in 1937. He became a professor in 1948, after WW2. In 1961, he released his book titled “Germany's Grasp for World Power” in which he states that Kaiser Wilhelm II was to a great extent responsible for the outbreak of WW1. His thesis was ”that Germany's naked ambition to spread its political and economic domination across Europe and beyond, to Africa, caused the war.” He came to this conclusion after running a research seminar in Hamburg University on WW1. The papers by his students inspired him to seek out East Germany's archives on the war. Fischer claims that Germany caused WW1 by its aggressive expansion, and a quote in the book "1914-1918: The History of the First World War" states " Germany's military and its civilian leaders endorsed aggressive objectives whose purpose was not only to consolidate the regime at home but to establish a global power position by dominating the continent and expanding overseas." In doing this, Germany destabilized the Balkans in its pursuit of world
In the year 1961, Fritz Fischer had presented his book, which was known as Germany's Aims in First World War and it had been successful in launching a debate among German historians and scholars as older historians severely criticized and opposed Fischer and his book. However, his contemporaries and younger historians supported his book. The book draws a detailed and comprehensive picture of Germany and its aims during the World War I.
Leah Griffin 3/6/15 HIST 121 Document Analysis Paper World War I played a key role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. After the devastating war, Germany was viewed as the main instigator and the European Allied Powers decided to impose strict treaty obligations upon Germany. This treaty, also known as the Treaty of Versailles, was signed by Germany and went into effect in June 1919 (“Treaty of Versailles, 1919” 1). The treaty forced Germany to give up the land it seized from multiple countries during the war and also forced Germany to recognize the independence of several others (“The Treaty of Versailles – 1919” 37-43). The treaty also forced Germany to agree to many other humiliating terms that did not rest easy with the German public
Documents1, 3, and 4 support the idea that one of the causes that led to World War II included Germany’s attempt of imperialism. Document 1, an excerpt from Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, explains some of Hitler’s ideas of forming a regime first in order to gain lands that had been taken away after German defeat in World War I. Document 1 is biased since it has been written by Hitler’s point of view who only wants to brainwash the German masses into supporting his
Through the book ‘Europe’s Last Summer’ David Fromkin tackles the issues of pre WWI Europe, and the surrounding political, economic, social, debacles that led paranoid countries to go to arms after nearly a full century of relative peace within the European continent. While Fromkin certainly points his fingers to all the nations of Europe his primary focus lies with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Though he continues to stress throughout much of the book that Kaiser Wilhelm II and Archduke Ferdinand were fervent keepers of the peace within their nations, the fault of the war ultimately could be laid at the feet of their two nations and their constant attempts at war-mongering. He claims the war could have been avoided for the moment, had all the nations of Europe wanted peace, but the two bad eggs of Europe drew them all into an unavoidable general war.
To answer the midterm essay assignment I will detail my view of the Sonderweg thesis. I will then offer my opinion on the relationship of Sonderweg within the timeframe of Imperial Germany. I will summarize the thoughts of two historians who I believe to have an impressive influence on the debate of the Sonderweg theory: Wehler and Blackbourn. My essay will include a description of German character and how it impacted the perpetuation of the Sonderweg thesis, and the role of the “elites” in doing so as well. In conclusion, I will give my impression as to the influence that Imperial Germany had on the rise of Nazism within the context of the Sonderweg thesis.
Many historians argue that the reason for Germany going to war was due to the aggressive behaviour of Germany in the build up to the war. Throughout this essay I will be addressing this issue looking at whether Germany was responsible for the outbreak of a general European war in August 1914. There are many factors which contribute to the outbreak of the war from a short-term trigger such as the assassination of Franz Ferdinand to the long-term annexation aims Germany implemented in the years building up to the war, the most important reason was Germany’s aggressive foreign policy, they had provided
Leading up to the First World War (WWI) was a series of crises -- Serbian unification efforts, the Ten-Point Ultimatum from Austria to Serbia, the Kruger Telegram, the Dreadnought Race, the Moroccan Crises of 1905 and of 1911, the Balkan Wars, and the Bosnian Crisis -- that generated significant conflict and division among the countries of Europe, all of which seemed to lay the foundation for the start of WWI. With concern for its own power and security in a rapidly changing Europe, Germany set out to undermine the power of as well as the alliances between other European countries. In his book The Sleepwalkers: How Europe went to War in 1914, Christopher Clark points out that, while ‘not one of the great powers has escaped the
This paper focuses on the underlying causes of world war I instead of just immediate causes. In this article, I will answer the question what were the underlying causes of world war I. ("DBQ: What Were the Underlying ...", 2010, p. Doc 1) Some of these causes consist of militarism, nationalism, and imperialism. The immediate causes of the war were the ones that set it off but the underlying causes are the ones that had been building up over time. ("DBQ: What Were the Underlying ...", 2010, p. Doc 1)
As I’m sure most people know Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Germans from August 2 1934 to April 30 1945, but do you know that as Fuhrer of Germany he was the driving force behind the start of WWII. During his reign he tried to bring Germany back to the powerful country it had been before the First World War. In this paper I will prove that Hitler’s actions lead to start of WWII, and I plan to prove how his direct disregard of the Treaty of Versailles pushed the world into WWII.
not. The victor will not be asked, later on, whether we told the truth or not. In starting and
A. Attention step: the change in the context and trend of war in terms of ferocity of the weapons and the increase in human/nations participation was occasioned by the industrial revolution and the French revolution.
Great War, also known as The First World War, lasted for four year (1914 to 1918). It brought a huge development of war technics and weapons. More number of countries had been involved in the Great War than any previous war. It involved the mobilization of the whole nations, not just an enormous army that turned the war into a “total war”. (Clare 6) However, historians are still arguing about the major cause of the World War I. The major cause will be one of the four long-term causes of WWI, which are Militarism, Alliance, Imperialism, and Nationalism. In my opinion, the two major causes would be Alliance and Nationalism. Alliance is an association between two or more countries for mutual benefits that formed with different treaties, while
After the First World War (1914-1919), the world was faced with the questions - who was responsible and what was reason for the outbreak of the war. Ultimately it was agreed on the 28 June 1919 that “the Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage” from the First World War. However, there have been many other interpretations on whom and what was responsible for the war. On the one hand, some historians would agree with David Lloyd George’s notion of all “the nations slithered over the brink into the boiling cauldron of war”, however, on the contrary, others would agree with Fischer in arguing that Germany’s aggressive foreign policy was responsible for the First World War. Whether you agree with Lloyd George or Fischer, it is important to understand some of the other possible reasons for the outbreak of the First World War – including the growth of nationalism and imperialism, the alliances within Europe and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Although this essay will argue that Germany’s aggressive foreign policy was responsible for the outbreak of the First World War, it will also illustrate why other historians have argued against that notion.
to be more like them so that's the more the reason why they would want
The First World War was one of the greatest military conflicts to be observed in recent history, happening during a time when humanity was rapidly advancing, to the point that it seemed unlikely for society to fall in such disarray s quickly. Most people were astonished by this decline and it stirred a certain sense of antipathy in the general public, antipathy towards politics, towards the bourgeois who had control over everything at the time and, most of all, antipathy towards the weaknesses and errors of the people who were so eager to praise their nations yet allowed their countries to join in the chaotic massacre of the war.