What led to World War I?

Answer 1

First, we have Austria-Hungary. Franz Josef and then his grandson the archduke Franz Ferdinand. Franz Ferdinand gained control of portions of the Balkan Peninsula (i.e. Bosnia). So he and his wife, Sophie, went to Bosnia and basically tried to get them to "be happy" under Austrian-Hungarian rule. Just the opposite happened...on June 28, 1914, Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serb named Princip. See, Serbia was trying to protect Bosnia. None of the countries in the Balkan Peninsula wanted to be ruled by stronger foreign nations, so they were all helping each other win independence (even if they had to assassinate someone!). After Franz Ferdinand died, a new leader ruled Austria, and declared war on Serbia because a Serb had killed Ferdinand. Russia had always been friends with Serbia, so it supported them. Austria-Hungary sent out an "ultimatium" to Serbia, saying that they had to agree to certain policies because they had caused so much trouble and had killed their former ruler. Serbia wanted to negotiate to certain terms of the ultimatium, but Austria-Hungary was SO against that. That's why they declared war on Serbia. This got Russia involved too.

AND Austria-Hungary and Germany were allies through the Triple Alliance. So when Russia and Serbia started fighting with Austria-Hungary, they were basically fighting with Germany as well. Soon enough, Germany declared war on Russia. At this point, Russia was allies with Great Britain and France through the Triple Entente. The tiny conflict in the Balkan Peninsula got SO many different countries involved in what soon became the First World War (then known as the Great War). The Triple Alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary became known as the Central Powers and grew to include Bulgaria and the remaining Ottoman Empire. Also, the Triple Entente of Russia, Great Britain, and France became known as the Allied Powers and grew to include Japan, Italy, and the United States.

Hope that helps!