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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 Archduke Francis Ferdinand, 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.

== Historiography ==

== Historiography ==

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. 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.

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. 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.

Fritz Fischer's ''Germany's Aims in the First World War'' (1968) argues that Germany was committed to war at least as early as July 1913, when the Reichstag approved an unsustainably large amount for army expansion. This was a full year before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Fischer's research is based on a diplomatic archive that was collected privately by Karl Kautsky and published in 1919.<ref>''Outbreak of the World War'' (1924). German documents collected by Karl Kautsky and edited by Max Montgelas and Walther Schiicking. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. The German version was published in 1919 as ''Die deutschen Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch''.</ref>

Fritz Fischer's ''Germany's Aims in the First World War'' (1968) argues that Germany was committed to war at least as early as July 1913, when the Reichstag approved an unsustainably large amount for army expansion. This was a full year before Franz Ferdinand's assassination. Fischer's research is based on a diplomatic archive that was collected privately by Karl Kautsky and published in 1919.<ref>''Outbreak of the World War'' (1924). German documents collected by Karl Kautsky and edited by Max Montgelas and Walther Schiicking. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. The German version was published in 1919 as ''Die deutschen Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch''.</ref>

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).