How did the First World War start? The shooting of Austro-Hungarian Archduke and the bloody campaign that followed
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand - the nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire - was shot dead.
He was assassinated in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with his Serbian wife, Sophie, on June 28, 1914.
Eventually killed by 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, the couple had earlier that day been attacked by another man who threw a grenade at their car.
Archduke Ferdinand was shot in the neck, while his wife was hit in the abdomen.
The assassination started a domino effect which led to the outbreak of the First World War a month later.
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand - the nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire - was shot dead
Princip and others wanted Bosnia to become part of Serbia. Austria-Hungary, like many in countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Slav nationalism once and for all.
As Russia supported Serbia, an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war was delayed until its leaders received assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm that Germany would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention–which would likely involve Russia’s ally, France, and possibly Britain as well.
On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe’s great powers collapsed.
Eventually killed by 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, the couple had earlier that day been attacked by another man who threw a grenade at their car
Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and the First World War had begun.
Artillery units of Austria-Hungary began to rain down shells on Belgrade, the Serbian capital - the very first shots of World War One.
That attack was to start a chain reaction that, within weeks, embroiled all of the world's great powers into a global war which mobilised more than 70 million military personnel.
The Great War - as it was soon to be known - was the first military conflict to be fought on an industrial scale.
But the technological advances that led to increases in the lethality of weapons were not matched by changes in strategy, with both sides resorting to practically suicidal human wave attacks.
By 1918, the powers of Central Europe were exhausted by fighting.
A final last-ditch offensive along the Western Front by Germany was successfully repelled and, as U.S. forces began to enter the trenches, the Allies staged a series of successful advances, forcing the enemy to surrender on November 11.
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