The origins and nature of the First World War are still a matter of great controversy for historians, as this article suggests. Gary Sheffield describes Germany as an ‘authoritarian, militarist, expansionist enemy’ – but was it? This question lies at the heart of a key part of your A2 course as you examine the question of Germany’s responsibility for the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914. Next year marks the centenary of the outbreak of World War One so look out for a lot of coverage of questions relating to what people at the time hoped would be ‘the war to end all wars’.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/17/1914-18-not-futile-war
