Who is to blame for World War I

[Sword Island]

A REALLY oversimplified primer

World War I, also known as the Great War, occurred between 1914 and 1918. The 'reasons' for the war are relatively trivial for an event of its size. Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian national assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, prompting Austria to declare war on Serbia. Russia, who were allied with the Serbs and French( this will come to importance later), backed Serbia. Germany backs Austria and Russia mobilizes against Austria. Germany responds by mobilizing against Russia and then France mobilizes against the Germans. And so just like that, a small regional conflict balloons out to engulf all of Europe.

Here's why everyone started to mobilize one after one: The Franco-Prussian and Crimean wars were still fresh in everyone's minds. Miltary thinking at the time was if you could get to the field before everyone else you were basically guaranteed to win, so that's why everyone started to mobilize. That and the secret alliances that forced the hands of a lot of the states involved in World War I.

So who is responsible for WW1 in your opinion

[Heloin]

To know the causes of the First World War one must look to the fall of Babylon.

[Alcala-Cordel]

The really short answer? Militarism and nationalism.

[Cetacea]

Charlemagne aka Carolus Magnus

[Saniston]

WWI happened because of competing interests between imperialist countries. It would have happened regardless of whether the Archduke was assassinated or not.

[United Chinese Communes]

The really short answer? Militarism and nationalism.

WWI happened because of competing interests between imperialist countries. It would have happened regardless of whether the Archduke was assassinated or not.

Pretty much this. The alliance system that was supposed to prevent another European war was never going to work given the sheer scale of the conflicting interests of the European powers. It is also worth remembering that the war was quite beneficial for industrialists, who were able to make a fortune from the conflict.

[Rusozak]

Well, it all started with a man named Arminius and the failed Roman conquest of Germania...

[United Latin American States]

The Ottomans after taking over Constantinople

[Kowani]

so there's this hot new thing called agriculture...

[Elvato]

them pesky austrians... blasts german anthem

[Sword Island]

Otto von Bismarck for being too good at his job

[Neanderthaland]

To know the causes of the First World War one must look to the fall of Babylon.

To understand the causes of World War I, we must first understand Gravettian Upper Paleolithic strategic settlements.

[Heloin]

To understand the causes of World War I, we must first understand Gravettian Upper Paleolithic strategic settlements.

It's nice to know that as a community we have just one joke and that we will drive into the ground with sledge hammers if need be.

[Tyunmen]

To understand the causes of WW1, one must look back to the creation of earth 4.54 billion years ago.

[Czechostan]

it was my fault. Sorry guys, I really messed up there.

[Stellar Colonies]

But really, it was geopolitical ambitions overlapping and conflicting, so the fault of nearly everyone involved.

[Sundiata]

The Germans. It's why they signed the Treaty of Versailles.

[Kowani]

The Germans. It's why they signed the Treaty of Versailles.

i think they signed that because they lost

[Kubra]

Me
I'm to blame for ww1

[Valentine Z]

I have my suspicions on the Big Bang.

To be honest, given my belief in reincarnation, I won't be surprised if it is one of you's in the past.

[Das Kaiser Reich]

Short answer : the Serbians
Long Answer : all of Europe.

[Atheara]

I think it's easy to see that Serbia should take the blame here...

[Sundiata]

The Germans. It's why they signed the Treaty of Versailles.

i think they signed that because they lost

They've come a long way since.

[Sword Island]

Short answer : the Serbians
Long Answer: all of Europe.

Really long answer: Otto Von Bismarck

The guy was so good a geopoilcts that he singlehandedly built Germany. He also predicted WW1 twice, once the location of the war and once the timeframe of it. But he also built the web of alliances that led to WW1


WW1 was like an internet argument: It started small, escalated way too fricking quickly, and now everyone doesn't know what they were fighting over in the first place and for some reason, the topic has shifted to the Middle East.

[Socialist States of Ludistan]

Short answer : the Serbians
Long Answer : all of Europe.

The long answer wasn’t particularly long.