ABSTRACT
From 1914 to 1918, Europe was ravaged by a major war. Discussions have been going on since about the precise cause. A large part of the blame has been placed on the landed aristocracy, whose belligerent ideology is believed to have poisoned the minds of European peoples and statesmen.1Furthermore, aristocratic rule is thought to have generated dangerous domestic tensions in some countries. In Germany, especially, these tensions were diverted into an aggressive, reckless foreign policy which finally led to disaster.2An implication of this view is that Germany should be charged with the guilt for the war. Actually, much of the recent discussion about Junkers in Germany is rooted in a revision, initiated by Fischer in the 1960s, which has altered an earlier consensus that divided the responsibility more equally over the Central and Entente powers.3Indeed, few historians will deny today that the bellicose policy of the German rulers was a decisive factor in the outbreak of war. Yet it should be remembered that the chain reaction of the July crisis was not really controlled by them.4Escalation into a major war was determined by the sharp polarization of foreign relations in Europe. This cannot be blamed on Germany alone, but was, in the last instance, caused by inter-imperialist rivalry.5 It is also not clear that, within the countries involved, the main impulse for war came from the agrarian elite. In Germany, the driving force of expansionism came first of all from the urban bourgeoisie, large industry, and organizations like the Pan-German League (Alldeutscher Verband), which were rooted in these social categories.6 Of course, the army leadership, which had pushed for a pre-emptive war, was thoroughly aristocratic, but this does not mean that it should be equated to an executive committee of the landlord class.7 In the United Kingdom too, the army was officered by aristocrats harbouring ideas about the healing effects of war on society. Yet the decision to enter the war was taken by a Liberal government, while it was encouraged by a blockade plan thought up by Liberal men in the Admiralty.8
