Militarism

=Militarism= This is a phenomenon wherby the military has an undue level of influence in affairs of state, beyond that of defence. The militaristic culture of Prussia permiated the new Germany.

**__Source A__**
__Summary:__ Source A is a letter written by Count Helmuth von Moltke to Johann Kaspar Bluntschli, the international law expert, concerning the necessity for war according to von Moltke's philosophical ideas. The letter was written on the 11th of December 1880, soon after the German wars of Unification against the French and Austrians.

__Reliability:__ The reliability of this source is very important as it gives us an insight into the thinking of the high-ranking Prussian Helmuth von Moltke and his militaristic views which could go along way into understanding the phenomenon of militarism in Germany. The origin of the letter is from Count Helmuth von Moltke, and was written in the German winter of 1880. Von Moltke's purpose in writing this letter was to defend and to justify the ways in which the Prussians had acted in the recent wars against the Austrians and the French. the following quote from the document shows how the Moltke defends the way in which the Prussians had used their military strength in war to quickly and effectively eliminate the threat of the French:

" With this sort of energy, and yet with greater moderation than ever before, the recent war in France was waged. The campaign was decided after two months, and only after a revolutionary government continued the struggle for four more months, to the ruination of its own country, did the battle take on an embittered character." - Moltke to Bluntschli.

﻿The reliability of the source is increased because of the fact that it was written by Moltke to Bluntschli, two very significant figures at the time in question. Bluntschli, the audience of the letter, was an international law expert and could offer sound advice to Moltke if the Prussians had been in the wrong with any of their conduct in the wars with the French or the Austrians.

__Usefulness:__ The usefulness of this document, in conjunction with the German responsibility for World War One, Is clear. This document presents that the growing sense of militarism, fueled by the high end military, Is a core factor of then German responsibility for World War One. In this letter, Moltke explains that in even in modern times, war is an essential part of political affairs 'Without war the world would sink into a swamp of materialism". He emphasis that disputes and tensions rising between countries should be decided through the military and military action. This is clear example of the mind set of the high end German military at the time. A mind set of militarism and the coming of inevitable war. Although this source doesn't address many other aspects of the German responsibility, it does provide a reliable perspective of the high end German military at this time which would certainly be useful when studying the German responsibility for World War One.

__ Source B __
__Summary:__ Source B is an excerpt of a book called "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers" from the chapter: "The Coming of a Bipolar World, 1885-1918". the book was written in 1987 by the British historian Paul Kennedy and this particular section looks at Germany's invovlement.

__Reliability:__ __Origin__ - Kennedy published the book in the late 1980's and this means that it is a secondary source. This means that although some points raised by the Author may be useful, he might not always be reliable. Kennedy works at Yale University and this would allow him to access many privileged pieces of information and therefore allow him to gain a great knowledge of the subject matter which adds to his **ability to know**. __Opinion/Fact?__ - Kennedy, born in 1945, looking from British perspective on the war, should make a perfect example of an opinion-based source. However, his extensive use of facts and figures in his writing leads me to believe that although there was a level of opinion or **bias** in writing, it did not take away from the reliability to an extent where the source becomes un-usable. __Motive__ - The motive of Kennedy has a relatively small imapct on the reliability of the source as he was purely writing to inform the public of what had occured prior to World War One.

__Usefulness:__ This source is quite useful in conjunction with other sources as it backs up the notion that militarism in Germany did play a part in the start of World War One, however it wasn't the only cause for the conflict.

__Source C__
Source C is a secondary source; a quote taken from the historian Gordon Craig's book 'Germany 1866 - 1945', conveying that The Kaiser William II's personal timetable was dominated by his love of military matters. This book was written in 1981, well after both the first and second world wars.
 * Summary: **

__Origin__:Gordon Craig, whom Stansky described as "the most distinguished historian of modern Germany in this country and possibly one of the greatest in the world," was highly regarded for his numerous books and articles. The reliability of this source is very high, Craig has obvious experience in this area of study. __Bias__: The bias of this source is fairly grey, Gordon has spent a considerable amount of time in America and in America's military which would have a significant anti-German influence on his views. To consider Gordon's knowledge is also an important factor, Gordon has extensive experience and research into this area which balances out a number of his American veiws and gives his opinion more authenticity. From this we draw that there is only a limited amount of bias found on this document. __Opinion or Fact: __In this document ther are a number of statements made that make outright judgements about the Kaiser. Some of these statements are supported by evidence, there are examples though of Gordon making these judgements based on his own opinion to give his document are stronger argument "To be sure, he never worked for very long even when at home, but there is no doubt that a disproportionate amount of the time he spent on official business was devoted to military matters." Outright judgements such as this, only based on opinion, makes this source less reliable in different aspects.
 * Reliability: **

This document provides both a usefull and fairly reliable insight into the Kaiser's love for the military and aspects of the German responsibility for World War One.
 * Usefuless: **

__Conclusion__
Sources A, B and C all provide information on the role of Militarism in Germany leading up to the First World War. They provide information which would lead us as historians to believe that Militarism had a significant role in Germany's role in starting the international conflict known as World War One. Taking into account other information provided by secondary sources, the overall view by historians is that Militarism in Germany preceding WWI was a significant factor in the cause of the conflict, but it was not the only reason. Other reasons such as Nationalism, Germany's Colonial Ambition and the Arms Race across Europe at the time all played important roles in the culmination the First World War.