Who Caused World War One?

Which nation bears the most responsibility for the outbreak of World War 1?

The cause of world war one can be shared out to many different countries in turn; however the main blame can be pointed at Germany. Germany can be seen as the main cause of the war for many reasons, the first of three main reasons being Germany’s rapid growth and hunger for a ‘place in the sun’. The second reason, and quite easily the largest, was newly appointed Kaiser Wilhelm II’s decision to sack the German chancellor Otto Von Bismarck. The third reason was the ‘blank check’ that was sent to Serbia.
The rapid growth of newly united Germany was one of the main causes of the war as it left the great powers of Europe feeling threatened. In the early days of German unification the great powers saw no reason to believe that Germany was a strong country, however as the country started to expand at such a rapid rate with their military forces, industry and colonial desire growing quickly the powers began to feel that their place was threatened by Germany. When the German Kaiser announced in 1900 that they would be building a large navy in order to protect their growing global interests, the British became concerned as they had long relied on their navy to protect them from Europe in the case of a war. Germany presented itself as a threat to Russia when they failed to renew the Three Emperors League, Germany wished to remain ‘honorable’ and as they would evidently side with Austro-Hungary in the case of a war they let the treaty lapse with Russia. This drove Russia into the waiting arms of the French who had long been searching for an ally. Since the announcement of Germany’s plans to build a large navy Britain had also been looking to find an ally they first turned to Germany, as France had long been their natural rival, but when Germany refused their proposal they turned to France who agreed to put aside their differences to form an agreement in order to defeat Germany. Britain agreed to...