of World War I.

World War I Lecture #1: The Outbreak

Assassination at Sarajevo Happened because of nationalistic tensions in the Balkan region of Europe The Serbs, an ethnic group, had been under control of the Ottoman Empire until 1912. Serbs considered Austria-Hungary an Imperial Power

Assassination at Sarajevo The Balkans were considered the “Powder Keg” of Europe because of the Nationalistic Tension When the Serbs learned that Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia (territory of A-H) tensions increased even more.

Assassination at Sarajevo A Serbian Terrorist Group called the “Black Hand” decided to take action against the archduke’s visit. On June 28, 1914, Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie rode through Sarajevo in an open car. A bomb ignited but missed. Later that day, the car set out again and a member of the Black Hand fired two shots killing both Francis and Sophie. This is known as the start of World War I.

The Road to War The next phase was escalated because of the system of alliances A-H saw the incident as an excuse to end Serbian nationalism and independence for good A-H sent Serbia a harsh Ultimatuum, Serbia must end all anti-Austrian aggression and punish the conspirators who killed the archduke Serbia agreed to some, but not all. A-H declared war on Serbia on July 28th, 1914

The Road to War Word spread across Europe about the Balkan Crisis The Kaiser of Germany assured A-H that Germany would support A-H with a “Blank Check” Serbia asked Russia for help, another slavic ethnicity. Russia began to mobilize its military Germany responded by declaring war on Russia Russia asked France for help against Germany

The Road to War France, seeking revenge for the FrancoPrussian War (a war lost to Germany), decided to back Russia Germany declared war on France

By August 1914, the battle lines in Europe had been drawn.

Connecting the Causes How could one assassination lead to an all out World War of epic proportions in just a few weeks? 1. Alliance System- each country had a commitment to the other once war was declared 2. Nationalism- Russia and Serbia saw A-H as oppressors of Slavic peoples 3. Imperialism- each country had to maintain and defend their power in the world 4. Militarism- once the guns were fired, it was impossible to stop