Question

when the war was over, germany was forced to sign the treaty of versailles and take full responsibility for starting the war. this excerpt is part of germany’s response to that treaty.
it is demanded of us that we shall confess ourselves to be alone guilty of the war. such a confession from my lips would be a lie. we are far from declining all responsibility for the fact that this great world war took place or that it was fought in the way that it was. . . . but we energetically deny that germany and its people, who were convinced that they fought a war of defense, were alone guilty. no one would want to assert that the disaster began only at that disastrous moment when the successor of austria-hungary fell a victim to murderous hands.
in the last fifty years, the imperialism of all european states has chronically poisoned international relations. policies of retaliation, policies of expansion, and disregard for the right of peoples to determine their own
based on the reading, what can be inferred about germany’s position on the war?
○ they believed that austria was most to blame for the war.
○ they thought that germany was unfairly singled out for blame.
○ they believed that germany had little responsibility for the war.
○ they argued that serbia was most responsible for the war.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the excerpt: Germany says confessing to being "alone guilty" is a lie, admits some responsibility but denies being the sole culprit. Let's evaluate each option:

• Option 1: The excerpt doesn't mention Austria being most to blame. Eliminate.
• Option 2: Germany denies being "alone guilty" and notes European imperialism's role, implying they felt unfairly singled out for blame. This matches.
• Option 3: Germany says "far from declining all responsibility", so they don't think they had little responsibility. Eliminate.
• Option 4: The excerpt doesn't argue Serbia was most responsible. Eliminate.

Answer:

B. They thought that Germany was unfairly singled out for blame.