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The assassination of Franz Ferdinand, arch duke of Austria, by a Serbian nationalist. The Austrians took this assassination as a direct attack from the Serbian government and sent an unreasonable ultimatum to the Serbian officials, knowing that they would refuse. When they did, Austria declared war on July 28th 1914, but not before verifying that they had they complete support of the Germans. When Russia mobilized their troops to show support of the Serbians, Germany issued an ultimatum to them demanding that they back down. France, too, mobilized against Germany, and by August 1, the Germans were fighting a war on two fronts: Russian (Eastern) and French/British (Western)
There are actually two main events that sparked WW1.

The first was the assassination of Archduke Fran Ferdinand that created tension between the two countries that started WW1, Serbia and Austria-Hungary.

The second was when Germany invaded Belgium on August 3rd.
The June 28, 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (and his wife Sophie) of Austria by the Bosnian nationalist Gavrilo Princip age 19.

He shot them point blank while they were riding through the streets of Sarajevo in an open car.

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9y ago

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