Why did the Assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand Start WW1?

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James Gardiner                         WW1 assessment                                            25/09/02

Why did the Assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand Start WW1?

The assassination

‘Sunday the 28th of June 1914 was a very bright and extremely hot day in Sarajevo. Sarajevo in Bosnia was preparing for a very rare royal visit. The streets had been specially decked out for the royal visit and colourful Turkish rugs had bean hung out along Apel Quay where the procession was going to take place.’ The Austrian-Hungarian empire in central Europe had expanded; it had taken control of Bosnia. (A small country in the Balkans) Serbia, who was close neighbour to Bosnia and shared the nationality of being a Slav along side countries such as Russia. Russia and Serbia tried to stand up to Serbia. However, Germany told Russia that it supported Austria. Russia and Serbia backed down so not to risk war but by building up, their army’s they would not be caught out again. This made situations even tenser than they already were inside Austria as there were many different nationalities being treated as unfairly as minorities. There were a series of local wars in the Balkan area where Serbia had emerged as the strongest nation. A group called the Black Hand were hidden among the crowds waiting for the procession to pass. When the procession took place, the archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated.

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To wipe out Serbia altogether Austria blamed it for the terrorist attacks. Even so there was no evidence to attach Serbia to the attacks.

Russia their ally declared war on Austria. Germany tried the same as previously and told Russia to back down but Russia was ready and did not so Germany declared war on Russia. This was the spark in the gigantic bonfire of causes that started the First World War.

                 Empires and Alliances

           Germany had recently become united in to a country from squabbling ...

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