On June 28, 1914, the presumptive heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie Chotek, were killed in Sarajevo, Bosnia. At the time, Austria-Hungary formed part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Italy, and the archduke’s murder by Gavrilo Princip sparked the international conflict now known as World War I.
Gavrilo Princip, the 19 year old assassin, was a Serbian nationalist, opposed to Austro-Hungarian rule in the Balkan region of east Europe. He, along with five collaborators and with help from the secret Serbian military organization the Black Hand, coordinated and executed the killings as the couple moved through the city on a diplomatic visit.
The assassination prompted outrage from the Austro-Hungarian government, who sought retribution for their future monarch’s death. Eventually, after Germany had pledged complete support, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia, allied with Serbia, mobilized their military against both the Austro-Hungarians and the Germans.
In addition to an alliance with Serbia, Russia had a formal diplomatic union with France, whose troops had partially mobilized to defend against a German attack on their shared border. In response, Germany attacked France’s neighbors Luxembourg and Belgium, violating a treaty shared by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Declarations of war were sent across Europe and World War I officially began in August, 1914.
The Great War, as it came to be known, raged violently in Europe and across the globe for four long years. French, German, and British troops fought viciously on the western front, where trench warfare often led to years-long stalemates. In the European east, Russia and Romania battled Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Bulgaria in a series of conflicts that spanned the continent, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. The Ottoman Empire in present day Turkey secretly entered the war in 1914 and fought in the eastern European, African, and west Asian theatres as an ally to the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. Bitter conflict between many smaller nations throughout the world took hold as well.
The United States entered World War I in April, 1917, after Germany gained the upper hand in Europe and became more aggressive internationally. Russia underwent a tumultuous revolution earlier that year and its leadership under Tsar Nicholas II was replaced by socialist revolutionaries, first in the Russian Provisional Government and later the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Embroiled in domestic turmoil, the Russian military saw significant losses from German and Ottoman forces. France and Britain, bloodied from the conflict, saw failed offensives, mutiny, and German fortification of the front lines before American troops entered the conflict in June, 1917.
The new Russian government signed a peace treaty in March, 1918, ending the war on the eastern front. The Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires were dissolved in October, 1918, and an armistice between the Allies of WWI and Germany was signed the following month.
The events of World War I initiated a period of instability that culminated in the rise of Nazi Germany and the onset of World War II. Additionally, the Russian Revolution of 1917 set the stage for a century long conflict, the effects of which are still felt today; the Cold War. Many factors contributed to the Great War but the assassination of Franz Ferdinand is regarded as the most immediate and set off the series of global conflicts that defined the 20th century
Anthony Bringaze 