7/30/2019 AP European Test DBQ

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World War I, one of the most devastating conflicts of modern history, was set off

by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists. However, several other factors,

including political and economic, helped to create the powder keg that would explode intointernational conflict. Document 1 is a chart of the European nations spending on armaments

from 1870 to 1914. All the countries listed increased their per capita expenditures on

armaments, but Great Britain, France, and Germany all increased it the most. These threecountries were large players on the battlefield, and their contribution to the war is clear throughthe amount of money they spent previous to its beginning. The politics of the Europe stage were

the largest factor in causing the war; these politics included relations to other countries,

expansion, and the balance of power.Document 2 is a map of Europe displaying the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-

Hungary, and Italy, as well as the Triple Entente, consisting of Great Britain, France, and Russia.

The initial conflict was between Austria and Serbia, which is detailed in Document 3. In it,

Austria asserts its right to order the Serbian government to condemn this dangerouspropaganda and accept the collaboration of representatives of the Austro-Hungarian

government. These demands were unacceptable to Serbia, who declared war on Austria-

Hungary. This leads back to Document 2; if the intricate web of alliances hadnt existed, Austriaand Serbia probably would have fought it out in a war of independence and called it a day.

Instead, Russia and France looked to stop Austria, Germany steps in to help Austria, and Great

Britain enters to protect neutral Belgium, which would suffer in the invasion of France.

Document 6, however, channels the blame a different way; instead of blaming foreign alliances,they attribute the outbreak to the political and military leaders of the European nations, saying

they failed to do certain things which might have prevented the war. This also extends the

blame from not only the countries that allied with each other, but also All the Europeancountries in greater or lesser degree. Either way, the alliances and relations between European

nations was a perfect set-up for a war to inevitably break out.

The blame of the outbreak was also attributed to several nations, creating conflict upon

declaring the final cause of the war. Document 4, an excerpt from the Treaty of Versailles, statesthat Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and

damage. It is impossible to place the entire blame of a war upon one nation, and especially

declaring Germany the chief cause when they did not even initiate or enter the war first.Document 5, written by Count Brockdorff-Rantzau, the leader of the German delegation at the

Versailles Peace Conference, protests the absolute guilt of Germany in causing World War One.

He states that its people, who were convinced that they fought a war of defense, were notguilty; however, he also denied the assassination of Ferdinand as the starting point, directing

blame from Austria as well. He relates the blame to policies of retaliation andexpansion of

the leading powers, and says that imperialismhas chronically poisoned international

relations. Of course historians must consider the source; the losing nation arguing forthemselves after being beaten. Even so, Brockdorff-Rantzaus argument is much more logical

and fair than the blame set by the Treaty of Versailles; this will become evident as the treaty will

hurt international relations even more and lead into World War 2.

The causes of World War One are chaotic and convoluted, just like the conflict itself.Based on the documents presented, neither Germany, Austria-Hungary, nor any other nation was

directly and singularly responsible war; rather, it was caused by a series of alliances, European

imperialism, and poor foreign relations. The best we can do as a nation is to recognize themistakes made all around and work to prevent a situation like this from arising ever again.