Germany was mainly to blame for the outbreak Great War. Although other countries were partially to blame for there actions, which lead to the outbreak of war; it is clear that they only played a minor role in the eruption of the Great War. The Great War was caused by countless reasons and the extent to which these reasons were caused Germany depends on what actions the German leaders and ministers engaged in, to the lead up of 1914. We must consider Germany's lust for European domination, their entangled web of alliances, there strong sense of militarism, imperialism and nationalism which lead to many short term crises when we conclude that Germany was mainly responsible for the outbreak of the Great War.
             The major cause of the First World War was militarism and it is clear that Germany played a major role in this. Germany was always in favor of settling their problems though war. This is evident from some forty-four years before the start of the Great War; where Prussia, the leading state in Germany fought against France. The French where quickly defeated by Germany, and had to accept the peace treaty which gave Germany Alsace-Lorraine, rich in coal and iron. From the onset of the 20th century Germany had expected and stated planning for a future War against France. Germany had already stated increasing its arms spending by three hundred and fifty percent since 1870. Germany already had the biggest army in the world which was quite understandable as they were boarded by nine countries. However there was no justification for Germany stating to compete with the size of Britain's royal navy to see if Germany itself could have the biggest navy. The Germans 'claimed' that they were protecting their trade and empire however they already had the biggest army and there was no need for them to have the biggest navy. This naval and arms race lead to even higher tensions between the great powers, and Germany became more c...