[BroJoeK]

"Mobilization in World War I in 1914, under the laws and customs of warfare then observed (not to mention the desire to avoid compromising national security), general mobilization of one nation's military forces was invariably considered an act of war by that country's likely enemies. As the proverb claims, no army has ever mobilized without going to war."

The facts clearly show that Germany first pushed Austria into declaring war on Serbia.
When Serbia's ally Russia then began a PARTIAL MOBILIZATION against AUSTRIA, (not Germany), Germany issued an ultimatum that Russia must demobilize and NOT defend their ally Serbia.
When the Russians refused, Germany, completely unprovoked, declared war on Russia, THEN INVADED NEUTRAL BELGIUM!

There is simply no logical explanation for Germany's behavior EXCEPT that Germany WANTED WAR in 1914. And the reason why is absolutely clear as well: German leaders believed they could WIN a war in 1914, but not if they waited too much longer.

[PoliticsAndSausages]

I’m far from arguing that Germany is blameless of WW1. But you have to admit that the war started because of some damned thing in the Balkans, like Bismarck predicted. And the Russians had no right to side with Serbia, which at that time belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. War could have been avoided, but Russia decided to support Serbia in clear violation of Ausro Hungarian territory. Nowadays we play that like it’s not a big thing, like we play it down if Russia snatches territory from Georgia.

[PoliticsAndSausages]

And yes, the German military wanted war, due to their mobilisation advantages. Meanwhile, France and Russia were of course cute little lambs, and it is just a mere coincidence that the precedent comes from Russia siding with Serbia.