Happy Shui

Mr. Kowal
History 2
25 September 2016
Who was responsible For WWI?
Living in a peaceful environment, we hardly know about dramatic events
occurred in the past. As we know, World War I was the first great war of the
20th century which involved countries all over the world. For many people,
these battles represent the essential horror and waste of war where almost
more than ten million people lost their lives. Thus, while we enjoy the
comfort of our resent life, it is important to take the past war apart and get
an insight into how it occurs. In my opinion, the eruption of the WWI can be
mainly attributed to the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand
and a fiercely ambitious nation named Germany.

First of all, I believe it was Gavrilo Princip who was a murderer started the
World War I. In June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie of
Austrian-Hungary were visiting the capital city of Bosnia. As they rode
through the streets in an open car, a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo
Princip shot and killed them. This definitely arouse the skepticism of Austria
on Serbia behind due to Princips close link with a Serbian terrorist group

called the Black Hand. Therefore, I assert that the assassination of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand left Austria no space but to attack back and declare war on
Serbia. It was, for this reason, Serbias ally Russia then threatened to attack
Austria and thus involved the Austrias ally Germany into the conflict. To
conclude, I strongly believe that the tragedy could have been averted if
Gavrilo Princip had not shot Austrian Archduke or he had not belonged to a
Serbian terrorist organization.

Moreover, I also consider the main culprit in the World War crisis was
Germany. While Russian troops mobilize against Austria-Hungary to help his
ally Serbia, the Germans miscalculated its actions and responded by
declaring war on both Russia and its ally France. Soon after Great Britain also
declared war on the Germans. To be honest, I was surprised to learn the
Schlieffen Plan which the German planned to conquer Belgium and France so
that Britain would be unable to bring troops to continental Europe and then
to conquer Russia in the east. In addition, while American wanted to stay
neutral, the Germans not only sank many of American passenger ships, but
also sent the Zimmerman Telegram to persuade Mexico against the United
States. All of its aggressive actions prompted the war. In a nutshell, I think
Germany was responsible for the spark of World War I.

In conclusion, although other countries took some responsibility, I still hold

the view to blame Gavrilo Princip and the Germans for the tragedy of the
World War I.