Friday, July 11, 2008

Causes of World War I

Main article: Causes of World War I
A graphic depiction of the state of international relations in pre-WWI Europe. Italy joined the Triple Entente in April 1915
A graphic depiction of the state of international relations in pre-WWI Europe. Italy joined the Triple Entente in April 1915

On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb student, shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in Sarajevo. Princip was a member of Young Bosnia, a group whose aims included the unification of the South Slavs and independence from Austria-Hungary. The assassination in Sarajevo set into motion a series of fast-moving events that eventually escalated into full-scale war.[6] Austria-Hungary demanded action by Serbia to punish those responsible and, when Austria-Hungary deemed Serbia had not complied, declared war. Major European powers were at war within weeks because of overlapping agreements for collective defense and the complex nature of international alliances.

See also: Black Hand

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