The Allied and Associated Government

The Allied and Associated Governments affirm that Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her Allies.

The “War Guilt Clause  Assigning “war guilt” is a difficult endeavour, and given the amount of historical literature on the causes of the First World War, it seems that any statement about which nation was or which nations was most responsible for the outbreak of the conflict can be met by a host of arguments to counter it.  Perhaps the safest observation to make about the relative war guilt of the European nations is—to use the words of Gordon Craig—”that no power bears the full responsibility for the war and none is completely guiltless.”  But upon weighing the factors that prompted the leaders of Europe to decide to go to war in 1914, it is difficult to avoid concluding that some powers probably bear more responsibility for the outbreak of World War I than others.