The start of WWI is a debated topic among historians. Some historians such as, Christopher Clark argues against the commonly referred narrative of assigning guilt exclusively to Germany. He believes it is nonsensical to focus on the blame game; instead, he examines how things occurred and the actions of political actors. Clark argues that the war started due to decisions made by political actors; by focusing on how means to examine identify the decisions and events that brought WWI about and understand the rationale or emotion behind them. The start of World War I is a debated topic as Clark described, there was no smoking gun, but there was one in the hands of every central character involved. Clark’s analysis on how the war came to be, brings a fresh perspective to the historical debate on how the First World War occurred. Clark's The Sleepwalkers, can help us understand why it is not logical to engage in blame-game as various states and actors at play caused the eruption of a worldwide conflict.
In contrast, Historians akin to Ian Kershaw believe Germany is the most responsible because of they gave a “blank check” in support to the Austrian-Hungarian empire. The blank check was a domino effect for the other parties' actions. Austria-Hungary would not have strong lined an ultimatum to Serbia, and Russia most likely would not have committed to backing up Serbia in the event of war. Allies also became involved for self-interest purposes.
The murder of the Archduke was certainly a spark, but it was the willingness and risky strategy of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia to amount to a actual war that begun WWI. WWI could have been prevented if these actors presented a peaceful resolution to a relatively local conflict, but they took the route of escalation instead. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand well known as the spark of the war, it was symbolic of the political tensions which arose decades before 1914 between the empire of Austria-Hungary and the surrounding Balkan states.1
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