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The '''causes of [[World War I]]''' remain hotly contested a century after the war itself concluded. Some authors emphasize the accidental character of the war as an unplanned response to the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in June 1914. Others argue that the German government planned the war in advance and used the assassination as a pretext.

The '''causes of [[World War I]]''' remain hotly contested a century after the war itself concluded. Some authors emphasize the accidental character of the war as an unplanned response to the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in June 1914. Others argue that the German government planned the war in advance and used the assassination as a pretext.

During the war, the German government blamed Russia for the outbreak of hostilities.<ref>"[https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_German_White_Book Germany's Reasons for War with Russia]." From the ''World War I Document Archive'' at the Brigham Young University Library.</ref> This view was undermined when telegrams between Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia were discovered in the Russian archive and published in 1920.<ref>Levine, Isaac Don, "[https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Willy-Nicky_Letters_between_the_Kaiser_and_the_Czar Willy-Nicky Letters between the Kaiser and the Czar]." From the ''World War I Document Archive'' at the Brigham Young University Library.</ref> They show Nicholas making various peace proposals and Wilhelm brushing them aside.

During the war, the German government blamed Russia for the outbreak of hostilities.<ref>"[https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_German_White_Book Germany's Reasons for War with Russia]." From the ''World War I Document Archive'' at the Brigham Young University Library.</ref> This view was undermined when telegrams between Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia were discovered in the Russian archive and published in 1920.<ref>Levine, Isaac Don, "[https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Willy-Nicky_Letters_between_the_Kaiser_and_the_Czar Willy-Nicky Letters between the Kaiser and the Czar]." From the ''World War I Document Archive'' at the Brigham Young University Library.</ref> They show Nicholas making various peace proposals and Wilhelm brushing them aside.

Early on, the debate was on the war's causes was inspired by the "war guilt" clause of the Treaty of Versailles, which was used to justify reparations.

Much of the debate on the war's causes was inspired by the "war guilt" clause of the Treaty of Versailles, which was used to justify reparations. It the 1920s, Germany produced an edited version of its diplomatic archive that left out incriminating material. The view that Germany was no more guilty than other nations was orthodox from the 1920s until the 1960s. The classic work of this type of history is the popular and readable ''Guns of August'' (1962) by Barbara Tuchman.

The classic work on the origin of World War I is ''Guns of August'' (1962) by Barbara Tuchman. Tuchman argued that the war was accidental. For an updated version of this view, see Christopher Clark's ''The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914'' (2014).

That Germany planned to go to war is the thesis of Fritz Fischer's ''Germany's Aims in the First World War'' (1968). Rather than the official archive, Fischer used an archive that was collected privately by Karl Kautsky and published in 1919.

That Germany planned to go to war is the thesis of Fritz Fischer's ''Germany's Aims in the First World War'' (1968), which is based on the German diplomatic archive. Fischer's views were updated by David Fromkin in ''Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?'' (2004). At the end of the Cold War, historians gained access to significant new material from the German military archive in Potsdam. Annika Mombauer deals with this material in ''Helmuth von Moltke and the Origin of the First World War'' (2005).

At the end of the Cold War, historians gained access to significant new material from the German military archive in Potsdam. Annika Mombauer deals with this material in ''Helmuth von Moltke and the Origin of the First World War'' (2005).

 

Fischer's views were updated for the 21st century by David Fromkin in ''Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?'' (2004). Meanwhile, Christopher Clark's ''The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914'' (2014) argues that it is pointless to blame any single nation.

== Four "MAIN" causes==

== Four "MAIN" causes==