Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

On June 28^th, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were visiting the Bosnian capital of Saravejo. As they were driving, a revolutionary by the name of Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Ferdinand and his wife. Princip was part of the Serbian nationalist group called the “Black Hand”. The desired outcome was to start a war that would destroy the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Ferdinand’s assassination triggered instant tension between the Austro-Hungarian government and Serbia. This caused alliances to build with Germany and Austro-Hungaria as they prepared to attack Serbia, since they knew that Russia would help Serbia. The Russians had alliances with France, making them have a slight upper hand in the war to come. On July 28^th, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Afterwards, on August 1^st, Germany declared war on France. Thus, all due to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, World War I began.

Germany was one of the first to be prepared for war against France and Russia. They began an invasion on France, believing that it would terminate them from the war so they could continue with Russia. Their plan was flawed though, since they had to travel through Belgium, which was neutral to the war. Belgium had been guaranteed neutrality by Britain, so when Germany proceeded through Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany. Those who fought for the Triple Entente were called the Allies (book). The main components of the Allies were France, Russia, and Great Britain. Afterwards, Germany and Austria-Hungary joined the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria to form the Central Powers. They had great success in the Eastern Front when it came to war.