for Alsace-Lorraine, to end Francophobic remarks in the German-language press in Alsace, Ritter claimed that was proof of Germany's desire not to have a wider war in 1914. He accordingly claimed also that Fischer's contrary interpretation of Bethmann Hollweg's order was not supported by the facts. Contrary to Fischer's interpretation, Ritter maintained that Bethmann Hollweg's warnings to Vienna were sincerely meant to stop a war, rather than not window dressing intended to distract historical attention from Germany's responsibility for the war. Ritter claimed that Fischer's interpretation of Bethmann Hollweg's meeting with British Ambassador Sir Edward Goschen was mistaken since in Ritter's opinion, if Bethmann Hollweg was serious about securing British neutrality, it made no sense to express the German war aims to Goschen that Fischer attributed to him. Ritter strongly disagreed with Fischer's interpretation of the meeting of Moltke, Bethmann Hollweg and General Erich von Falkenhayn (the Prussian war minister) on 30 July 1914. Rather than a conscious decision to wage an aggressive war, as Fischer argued, Ritter's claim was that news of Russia's mobilisation led the German generals into persuading a reluctant Bethmann Hollweg to activate the Schlieffen Plan. Ritter was strongly critical of what he regarded as Fischer's "biased" view of Moltke's reaction to the outbreak of the war and argued that Moltke's opposition to the sudden last-minute suggestion of Wilhelm II for the German attack on France to be cancelled was for logistical concerns, rather than a desire to provoke a world war. Finally, Ritter faults Fischer for his reliance on the memories of Austro-Hungarian leaders such as Count István Tisza and Count Ottokar Czernin, who sought to shift all of the responsibility for the war onto Germany. Ritter argued there were no lines of continuity between the German Empire and Nazi Germany and considered the Sonderweg view of German history to be a myth. Ritter clearly denied Fischer's arguments that both world wars were "wars for hegemony" by Germany. In 1964, Ritter successfully lobbied the West German Foreign Ministry to cancel the travel funds that had been allocated for Fischer to visit the United States. In Ritter's opinion, giving Fischer a chance to express his "anti-German" views would be a "national tragedy" and so Fischer should not be allowed to have the government funds for his trip. Writing in 1962, Ritter stated that he felt profound "sadness" over the prospect that Germans may not be as