# History buffs: how much, if any, did the treaty of Versailles contribute to WWII? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 24, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-buffs-how-much-if-any-did-the-treaty-of-versailles-contribute-to-wwii/726080 "2015-07-24T17:38:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 52
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-buffs-how-much-if-any-did-the-treaty-of-versailles-contribute-to-wwii/726080/52 "2015-08-06T17:36:29Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > While the restrictions on Germany’s military after WWI were particularly onerous and unlike in WWII they didn’t intend to commit genocide on an almost unimaginable scale once they had won, WWI pretty much was entirely a black and white case of German aggression, and it entirely deserved to have been assigned the role of the aggressor. Every action it took was either directly aggressive or was clearly intended to fan the flames leading to the war, starting with Kaiser Wilhelm’s blank check to Austria-Hungary to do whatever it felt like with Serbia, an action which was certain to draw Russia into the conflict. Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with the [July Ultimatum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Crisis#Content_of_the_Austro-Hungarian_ultimatum_to_Serbia) which was clearly intended to be unacceptable. Germany’s complaints about Russian mobilization was really a red herring; in a diplomatic clusterfuck the German ambassador to Russia gave both copies of Germany’s declaration of war to the [Russians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Crisis#German_declarations_of_war):It didn’t matter what the Russians did, Germany was going to declare war on them, and notably Germany had already invaded Luxemburg when this happened. This is because when Germany declared mobilization on August 1st, it automatically meant Germany was going to war with at least France, Luxemburg, Belgium, and Russia. That was the insanity of the [Schlieffen plan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Crisis#German_mobilization):It was Germany’s only war plan; any war with Russia would result in the intricately worked out train time tables delivering the bulk of the German Army on the Belgian border where it was committed to invade neutral Belgium and deliver a sweeping stroke towards Paris. Germany presented an entirely _pro forma_ offer to France to not declare war on them if they would agree to an entirely unacceptable ultimatum that would require France to hand over all of its border fortifications to be occupied by the Germans and agree to severely restrict the size of its military for the duration of the war. The same could be said of almost every nation. They were all lusting for war. There was a interlocking series of alliances that assured any war would be over the top, even tho they claimed those alliances would make war impossible. Serbia actively encouraged and aided the Black Hand, the group that Assassinated the Archduke- which was a insanely stupid thing to do (The Archduke was actually pretty liberal). Solid evidence that the Black Hand was part of Serbian Military Intelligence, or perhaps just one of their orgs. Serbian troops cross the AH border before War was declared, making the issue even worse. Altho the Demands were Onerous, both GB and France suggested they agree. \*\*Fault lies with Serbia. \*\* Austro-Hungary was tired of “Yugoslavian” separatists, the terrorism, the uprising, anarchists, etc. The government was old, tired and unstable. They deliberately over-reacted to Serbia’s _Casus belli ._ Fault lies with A-H.\*\* Russia was slavering to add more of the Balkans to it’s empire, thinking that could solve unrest at home. They wanted to go to war, wanted to seize more of the balkans, and thought AH was a easy target.\*\* Fault lies with Russia.\*\* France was eager to avenge the Franco-Prussian war and to seize back Alsace Lorraine. They mobilized early and aggressively, planning on attacking Germany while Germany was busy with Russia. \*\*Fault lies with France. \*\* And so forth. WWI was a clusterfuck. Certainly Germany shoulders the blame- _about 1/6th of it._ Saying is was Germany fault is overly simplistic. > **[Causes of World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_World_War_I)** > > The identification of the causes of World War I remains a debated issue. World War I began in the Balkans on July 28, 1914, and hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, leaving 17 million dead and 25 million wounded. Moreover, the Russian Civil War can in many ways be considered a continuation of World War I, as can various other conflicts in the direct aftermath of 1918. > Scholars looking at the long term seek to explain why two rival sets of powers (the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and the Ot... --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-buffs-how-much-if-any-did-the-treaty-of-versailles-contribute-to-wwii/726080)._