The Causes of World War One

The Causes of World War One

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.

In 1908 Bosnia was annexed by Austria-Hungary. Serbia, a small country

next to Bosnia, was very concerned that it would be taken over next.

On 28th June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was making a state visit to

Sarajevo in Bosnia. A terrorist group the Black Hand knew about the

state visit and sent 6 assassins trained in Serbia to the state visit.

Only one of the assassins threw their bomb at the car as the Archduke

was driving past. The bomb bounced off the Duke's car and exploded

under the car behind him. The Archduke was then rushed off to the town

hall and was advised to leave Sarajevo at once. The Duke wanted to

visit the injured in hospital before he left and on his way to the

hospital the driver took a wrong turn. As he was reversing back down

the street Gavrilo Princip, one of the assassins was sitting in a

care. When he saw the car dashed out of the cafe, jumped on the car

and shot the Archduke and his wife at point blank range.

The assassination lead to a chain of events, which brought about the

war between the major powers of Europe.

Colonial Rivalry

Kaiser Wilhelm envied Britain and France's huge empires. He believed

the time had come for Germany to have its own empire. This worried

Britain because any gains made by Germany could well be at Britain's

expense. By the beginning of the twentieth century Germany's highly

trained and efficient army was a match of any in Europe. The Kaiser

had already given the Boers of South Africa his support against the

British in the war of 1899 - 1902; and talked about building a great

German navy. This was now threatening Britain's empire.

Arms and Naval Race

Britain needed a strong navy to protect its long coastline, large

empire and valuable trade routes. For most of the nineteenth century