Changes

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 is the popular and highly readable ''Guns of August'' (1962) by Barbara Tuchman. Tuchman's book was published around the time of the Cuban missile crisis and became well known due to contemporary comparisons.

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 is the popular and highly readable ''Guns of August'' (1962) by Barbara Tuchman. Tuchman's book was published around the time of the Cuban missile crisis and became well known due to contemporary comparisons.

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 unsustainable emergency spending for army expansion. This was a full year before Franz Ferdinand's assassination. Fischer's supports his argument with material from a diplomatic archive that was collected privately by Karl Kautsky.<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> The Kautsky documents include incriminating material that was left out of the official archival set.

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 unsustainable emergency spending for army expansion. This was a full year before Franz Ferdinand's assassination. Fischer supports his argument with material from a diplomatic archive that was collected privately by Karl Kautsky.<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> The Kautsky documents include incriminating material that was left out of the official archival set.

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