Word War 1 and the Versailles Treaty

Introduction 

World War 1, also known as the Great War, was a war like no other. The war was viewed as the bloodiest at first but surprisingly by the time it reached Christmas season, the troops started to change their position. The war was mainly between the Germans and the British soldiers who within those four months had killed each other without mercy. It changed the warfare tactic between nations, as it was the first war to include weapons that used high technology. Individuals in the war were no longer in close combat as was the case in earlier battles. The hand-to-hand battle style used in the Balkan wars one and two was now outdated. There were over 15 million casualties in the war and more than 20 million people died. This paper specializes in determining the causes of World war one against the German myth of innocence. It also explains when the Great War was termed as the Third Balkan War. 

As far as the Germans were concerned, the Great War was caused by the ominous encirclement of the German Fatherland by envious English people, the land Grabbing Russians and the French 1 . Germans believed that they were the victims of the war of an evil plan, which had been organized over a long time and pioneered by Great Britain. On a Christmas Eve, the Germans took the first step in suggesting a ceasefire with the purpose of burying the dead. This was not objected by the British soldiers and after exchanges of songs and presents in the Eve, they soon met and realized they were not any different from each other. Nevertheless, when the war ended in evolution and defeat, the champions of the above thesis were in great difficulties since the new government began opening the German archives. Fritz Ebert, the leader of the new government, which was called The Peoples’ Commissars, was responsible for producing the document called “Wie der Weltkrieg entstand (How the World War Came About). He employed Kautsky as the head of the Foreign Office and gave him the duty of exemplifying the issue via writing. 2 Kautsky's writing caused the question of German’s innocence during the war to be questioned. 3 Case in point, the document criticized the pre-war policy in German, which Kurty described as foolhardy. He posited that if German believed that she was encircled, she could wisely have developed more conciliatory policies towards the Entente Powers. Instead, she used provocative diplomacy that caused the Entente to be more closely-knit. Nevertheless, the Marxist Kautsy was criticized for being too one-sided in his interpretation of the war. He failed to point out the mistake of the Entente powers and focused more on criticizing one side. 

The treaty of Versatile was signed in 1919; it contained the war guilt clause (231). The clause required that the guilt of the former enemy power to be proved. The Article of Versailles Treaty further accepted the responsibility of Germany, its Allies, and their associates for causing all the damages and loses which occurred during the World War 1. 4 The government also deliberately set up the right machinery that aided the process. In this period the German Foreign office established the Kriegsschuldreferat (War-Guilt Section). The section directed that Australian and German policies recede in the background. It directed the world attention to the Entente powers policies. The report indicated that the department inspired, financed, and directed the ‘German innocence myth’ through the Arbeitsausschuss Deutscher Verbände (ADV) and Zentralstelle Zur Erforschung der Kriegsschuldfrag that are the German Committee Working Association and the Central Office for Research into war. ADV was a federation of the reputable semi-political groups such as trade unions, and it took care of all the propaganda while the Zentralstelle Zur Erforschung der Kriegsschuldfrag took care of all the academic cover-ups. 

Towards the end of 1923, Kantorowicz was invited to furnish his opinion about the war to the Reichstag Investigating Committee. His report failed to cover up the guilt of the German leaders towards the causes of the war; so, they were dismissed. Nevertheless, the committee asked Kantorowicz to revise his work, and he took six years investigating and researching. They termed his findings as an embarrassment to the nation, and so they were brushed off. Notably, his work was only discovered in 1965 as the committee failed to publish it back in 1929. In his findings, Kantorowicz cited four reasons why the German innocence propaganda still existed in the 1920s. He stated that the nation wanted to rehabilitate its honor after it had been besmirched by their guilt. Secondly, Germany wanted to make its creditors believe in its innocence. He also posited that the German government wanted to impose a moral stigma on the German Revolution. Additionally, he stated that the government looked forward to the day it would declare the Treaty of Versailles null and void. According to Kantorowicz, none of the four reasons was satisfactory. Instead of the distortions and lies, he suggested that the truth needed to be told to accord the nation peace. According to his thesis, the lies that the German government embraced could only lead the nation into another war. Although his thesis was discarded then, a new generation including Fritz Fischer played the critical role of giving the correct perspective of the war. 5 

The World War 1 was further viewed as a third Balkan War. The reason for the above assumption is that the outbreak of the war was triggered by the Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, which occurred in Bosnia. The above escalated into a deep crisis between Serbia and Austria- Hungary. The second reason why the First World War was termed as a Balkan War was that it was the last conflict of the series of Balkan wars, which began back in 1912. 6 Thirdly, the Great War was categorized as a Balkan War because the antagonism, which resulted between Serbia and Hungary, was rooted in a series of wars that dated back to 1904. The war was between two groups which knew nothing much about each other, apart from the fact that they were all stuck in the same situation behind trenches. The status quo in Eastern Europe was disturbed by the annexation of the Austria Hungary. 

Before the war, scholars report that countries all over the European Continent had agreements of mutual defense. That means that if one country were attacked in battle, its allies would assist and defend the nation. Some of the pre-existing alliances before the Great War were the Russia and Serbia Agreement, Germany and Austria-Hungary, Japan and Britain, Britain, France, and Belgium Consequently, when Austria-Hungary declared war on its rival Serbia, Russia defended its ally Serbia. On the other hand, Germany declared war on Russia. Later France came in against Austria Hungary and Germany. Similarly, Germany through Belgium attacked France; this pulled Britain into war. Later Japan joined, and later the United States and Italy joined to assist their allies. 7 

In conclusion, the Great War was caused by a series of events and can be termed as a Third Balkan War. The war caused millions of casualties and deaths around the globe and was the first war to use high technology and involve high combat techniques. Germany played victim after the war, and its government was responsible for hiding the facts that would implicate the nation. 8 However, new scholars in the recent past have exposed the fact. 

Bibliography 

Dmitriev, Timofej. 2014. "Why are we fighting? A view of the 'great war' from across the ocean."  Studies In East European Thought  66, no. 1/2: 51-67.  Academic Search Complete , EBSCO host (accessed November 9, 2017). 

Moses, John A. 2015. "The War Guilt Question: A Note on Politics and Historiography in the Weimar Republic."  Australian Journal of Politics & History  61, no. 1: 128-134.  Academic Search Complete , EBSCO host  (accessed November 9, 2017). 

Ross, Stewart.  Causes and Consequences of World War I . Austin, Tex: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1998. 

Ross, Stewart.  The Causes of World War I . Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2003. 

Samih GÜLBOY, Burak. 2014. "Bandwagoning vs. Chain Ganging: The Failure of Great Power Diplomacy in the Balkans before the First World War."  International Journal of Turcologia  9, no. 17: 7-36.  Academic Search Complete , EBSCO host  (accessed November 9, 2017). 

1 Moses, John A. 2015. "The War Guilt Question: A Note on Politics and Historiography in the Weimar Republic."  Australian Journal of Politics & History  61, no. 1: 128-134.  Academic Search Complete , EBSCO host  (129) 

2 Ibid 

3 Ross, Stewart.  The Causes of World War I . Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2003. 

4 The Article of Versailles Treaty 231 clause accepts the responsibility of Germany and Allies, associated government for causing all the damages and loses which occurred during the World War 1. 

5 The Article of Versailles Treaty 231 clause accepts the responsibility of Germany and Allies, associated government for causing all the damages and loses which occurred during the World War 1. 

6 Ross, Stewart.  Causes and Consequences of World War I . Austin, Tex: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1998. 

7 Ross, Stewart.  Causes and Consequences of World War I . Austin, Tex: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1998. 

8 Ibid