Ferdinand's Assassination Causes

The world is a complicated place and there are many factors to consider when thinking about the first world war and how it began. How had Europe erupted into war after knowing a time of relative peace for a century? The short answer is alliances, militarism, and rampant nationalism. The shorter answer is the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand which was a catalyst for the things to come.
The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28th, 1914 by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip kick-started everything that would lead up to the first world war. Because of this singular event, Austria feared that Russia would intervene on Serbia’s behalf, so they reached out to Germany. Germany, then hands Austria-Hungary
By 1914, the six major powers of Europe were split into two alliances; the triple alliance and the triple entente. The triple alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The triple entente was Great Britain, France, and Russia. The Russians knew that the complete mobilization of their forces would be perceived as an act of war to Germany and went ahead with their plan. Germany responded to Russia with an ultimatum that demanded that they halt their mobilization within twelve hours and Russia ignored the demand. Germany then declared war on Russia on August 1st. Germany then declared war on France because they knew that France would keep its alliance with Russia. To fight a war on two fronts, General Alfred von Schlieffen came up with a plan that would have Germany go through Belgium. Because the Germans violated the Belgian neutrality treaty, Great Britain had no choice but to declare war on Germany on August 4th,
Every citizen wants to be proud of and protect their country. In the case of 1914, the people on both sides believed that the war would not last over a month. They also want to believe that their country is the best and that unifies them. There were glorified views that people had about the war, like that it was noble and heroic to fight for your country and that war was glorious. Unfortunately, those who went off to war would learn the truth too late. Each country was in the war for their own interests, regardless of their alliances. Each wanted to prove who had the best military and how easily they could win and gain