To what extent should Germany be held responsible for causing both the first world war and
... Surely Germany cant be held responsible for this, when what took place as an effect of the murder, involved many allied countries, not just Germany. ... Austria declared that they would go to war against Yugoslavia, but they were hesitant to do so because Yugoslavia held a defensive treaty with Russia. Germany had made a deffensive treaty with Austria, so they promised that if Austria went ahead and made a move againts Yugoslavia, Germany would defend them from Russia. Germany then told Austria to begin the war, and if it evolved into a larger conflict, Germany would support them". ... It appears to be, however curious it may seem, that if Germany hadnt offered to lend a strong military hand to Austria, they wouldn’t have gone ahead and attacked Yugoslavia, and so they would have saved a lot of lives. ... But because of the alliances, countries who had nothing to do with the first argument, started joining in the fun because they were bound to do so by the alliances they found themselves in, because they knew that if it were them, they would be grateful.