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