Germany ' s Aims in the First World War Germany ' s Aims in the First World War ( German title : Griff nach der Weltmacht : Die Kriegzielpolitik des kaiserlichen Deutschland 1914 – 1918 ) was a book by German Historian Fritz Fischer . It is one of the leading contributions to historical analysis of the Causes of World War I , and along with this work " War of Illusions " " ( Krieg der Illusionen ) " gave rise to the " Fischer Thesis " on the causes of the war . The title translates as " Grab for World Power " . or " Bid for World Power " . Essentially Fischer attempts to link together a continuum of German belligerence in their " grab for power " weaving it all together into a cohesive theme of German " Weltpolitik " . Publication . " Griff nach der Weltmacht " was published in October 1961 . It was published in Britain under the title " Germany ' s Aims in the First World War " in 1967 , translated by C . A . Macartney with an introduction by James Joll . The book included a memorandum by the then German Chancellor Bethmann - Hollweg dated 9 September 1914 which set out a plan for Germany to dominate Europe . Controversy . Fischer argued that Germany had a policy of deliberately provoking war during July 1914 and that during the war Germany developed a set of annexationist war aims similar to those of Adolf Hitler during the Second World War . On publication , the book caused controversy in West Germany as it challenged the view that Hitler was an aberration by emphasising the continuity in German foreign policy in 1914 and 1939 . The book was also controversial for challenging the established view that Germany did not bear the primary responsibility for outbreak of the war , the so - called " war guilt lie " . Fischer also claimed that German elites had wanted war since as early as 1902 . Academic reaction . The historian John Moses stated in his 1975 work " The Politics of Illusion " that " No serious German historian today can venture to pit himself against the evidence compiled by the Fischer school . " Fischer inspired several disciples , including the historian Imanuel Geiss . However , Fischer was ridiculed by conservative German historians who created a backlash against his ideas . The most notable critic was conservative historian and patriot Gerhard Ritter , who is said to have broken down in tears when lecturing on Fischer ' s line of argument in " Griff nach der Weltmacht " . Fischer ' s ideas were welcomed by historians in communist East Germany ; Fritz Klein considered Fischer ' s views to be uncontroversial . Impact . Mombauer argues that Fischer ' s work led to greater discussion of the Holocaust by German history professors . A number of German and even British historians find the assertions of Fischer a glaring oversimplification of how the First World War developed , arguing that is decidedly disingenuous given the complexity of the situation as a whole - especially since parts of the evidence for German war aims ( i . e . belligerence ) from before the Great War were collected amid the fringe writings of Pan - Germans or were parceled together from Kaiser Wilhelm ' s rantings ; none of which constituted official state policy . Even many times more outrageous than Fischer ’ s reductionist explanation for the outbreak of World War I are the ruminations of Stig Förster , whose " causa causans " for the Great War is likewise aimed at the Germans , albeit from an alarming perspective . Förster ’ s verdict upon the Germans is that they triggered the Great War in a suicidal manner , preferring annihilation and death over life in a modern pluralistic , industrial society . Unsurprisingly , Fischer ' s thesis still arouses much debate among historians even to this day .