The trigger cause of World War I was the assassination (murder) of Franz Ferdinand in June 1914. He was shot by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist who was a member of a terrorist group that was angry that Austro-Hungary had recently taken over an area called Bosnia in 1908.

Immediate Response

This directly led to Austro-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. Due to the Alliance System, other countries quickly joined in. Firstly, Russia came to the defence of Serbia, and then Germany joined the war to help her ally, Austro-Hungary.

Britain declared war on Germany

Britain joined the war when Germany invaded neutral Belgium. Germany wanted to defeat France quickly before turning to face Russia in the East. Therefore they developed a plan to take France by surprise. This involved marching their armies through Holland and Belgium. This led to Britain declaring war on Germany on 4th August 1914.

Year 9 Challenges and Change

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand