The direct cause of WWI was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. However historians feel that a number of factors contributed to the rivalry between the Great powers that allowed war on such a wide-scale to break out.
In respect to this, what country started the first world war?
The war was started by the leaders of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Vienna seized the opportunity presented by the assassination of the archduke to attempt to destroy its Balkan rival Serbia.
Who started World War One?
Today I found out what started World War I. The commonly held notion that it was started out of outrage over the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie at the hands of Serbian nationalist secret society known as the “Black Hand” isn't entirely correct.
Who is to blame for the First World War?
One hundred years ago today, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, setting off a series of events that led to World War I.* One year ago today, Matthew Yglesias looked at that historical moment and what it does and doesn't say about Germany, which assumed much of the blame for the war.