The First World War Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand Essential Question: How and why did World War I start?
Jul 16, 2015
The First World WarAssassination of Archduke Ferdinand
Essential Question: How and why did World War I start?
The World Focus Centered on the Balkan
Peninsula Known as “the powder
keg of Europe”
Russia wanted access to the Mediterranean Sea
Germany wanted a rail line to the Ottoman Empire
Archduke Franz Ferdinand June of 1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo
Heir to the Austrian throne He and his wife Sophie drove through
the Serbian capital Gavrilo Princip stepped from the
crowd and shot Ferdinand and Sophie
The assassination touched off a diplomatic crisis On July 28 Austria-Hungary declared
war against Serbia The alliance system pulled one nation
after another into the conflict
The Black Hand Means Unification or
Death
A secret society founded in the Kingdom of Serbia in May 1911
Wanted to unite all of the territories containing Slavs that were annexed by Austria-Hungary
The July Ultimatum Under interrogation, the captured assassins
blamed members of the Serbian Military
Within 2 days of the assassination, Austria-Hungary asked Serbia to start an investigation Serbia did nothing
Austria-Hungary then delivered a toughly worded letter to Serbia with ten demands that they said must be accepted
Letter became known as the July Ultimatum Serbia accepted all but one demand
Austria-Hungary recalled its ambassador and prepared for war
The First World War
The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand