How did the powder keg of Europe help to start world war 1?

Answer 1

The Balkan Peninsula, the so-called Powder Keg of Europe, was full of a mix of ethnicities, most of which didn't have their own country and had been or were still under the control of one of two powerful empires in the area, The Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires. Conflict was abundant in the region because of it.

One major conflict during the months before the 1914 outbreak of World War I was between Serbia, a country of Slavs, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire over Bosnia. Serbia wanted it to create a Slavic empire. Austria-Hungary wanted it for the additional land. Austria-Hungary was the one to annex the territory.

When the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Ferdinand, went to Sarejevo, the Bosnian capital, Serbian nationalists assassinated him to send their message. The killing and the Austrian ultimatum which followed was the final straw that ended a century of uneasy peace and began the first world war.