Describe what is happening in this picture.
On June 28, 1914, a 19-year-old Serbian named Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was to be the emperor of the Austria-Hungary Empire. The assassination set off a chain of events that would lead to the start of World War I. But the seeds of this terrible "Great War" had been planted long before Princip fired those fatal bullets.
Who was assassinated?
Read and Respond
Europe by 1914
From 1814 to 1815, Austria, Prussia, Russia, England and France met at the Congress of Vienna to set up borders and rules for countries in Europe. However, 100 years later, by 1914, Europe was about to be torn apart by the Great War.
Problems began as a result of the Franco-Prussian War (1870 to 1871). France was defeated by Prussia. France lost land and had to pay money to Prussia. Prussia grew stronger and became the German Empire, so France felt it needed a partner. Russia agreed to be France's ally in 1892. England was also worried Germany was getting too strong, so it became allies with France and Russia.
What was the Franco-Prussian War?
Read and Respond
Soon after, Austria-Hungary and Russia wanted control of lands in the Balkans. The Balkans included several countries like Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1908, Austria-Hungary claimed Bosnia-Herzegovina, but Serbia felt it should be part of its country. The German Empire supported Austria-Hungary. This grab for territory angered Serbia and also Russia.
Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria then formed the Balkan League and in back-to-back Balkan wars with the Ottoman Turks (1912 and 1913), they got control of more Balkan lands away from the Ottoman Empire. This was seen as a threat by both Austria-Hungary and Russia.
What was the Balkan League?
Read and Respond
As 1914 began, the German Empire and Austria-Hungary were allies. France, England and Russia had their own alliance, so this meant that any conflict in Europe could lead to war.
How does an alliance mean war could happen?
Read and Respond
Summarize what you just read in your own words by telling me what happened first, what happened next, and what happened last.
First | Then | Finally |
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Use the map on the previous page to list who is in the triple alliance and who is the in the triple entente.
Triple Alliance Countries | Triple Entente Countries |
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Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a great friend of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. He met with him in June 1914 to discuss the tense situation in the Balkans. Two weeks later, on June 28, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, came to inspect the army in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Gavrilo Princip, who was part of the Young Bosnia movement that hated Austria-Hungary and wanted to join Serbia, learned of the archduke’s visit. Supplied with weapons by a Serbian revolutionary group called the Black Hand, Princip and five others traveled to the city of Sarajevo in time for the archduke’s visit.
The royal couple was touring the city in an open car. One of the Serbs threw a bomb at their car, but it rolled off the back of the vehicle, wounding an army officer and some bystanders. Later that day, the archduke's car took a wrong turn near where Princip happened to be standing. Seeing his chance, Princip fired into the car, shooting Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range. He then turned the gun on himself, but before he could fire, he was tackled and held until the police arrived. The archduke and his wife died within the hour.
Summarize what you just read on the last two slides in your own words by telling me what happened first, what happened next, and what happened last.
First | Then | Finally |
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Austria-Hungary wanted to show the Balkan countries it was strong and would respond to this terrible crime. However, Russia also wanted Balkan lands and Austria-Hungary was not prepared for a war with Russia. So the emperor of Austria-Hungary, Franz Josef, wrote a personal letter to Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany asking for his support. Wilhelm wrote back, promising Germany’s full support.
On July 23, Austria-Hungary told the Serbian government to wipe out terrorist organizations within its borders. It also demanded the right to investigate who was responsible for Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. It threatened military action if these demands were not met. Serbia asked Russia for help. The leaders of the Russian Empire were always called the czar. Now, the czar started getting his army ready. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28. On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia. The German army then launched its attack, moving through Belgium, on Russia’s ally, France. This attack on Belgium brought England into the war.
Over the next four years, the Great War (as World War I was then called) would grow to involve Italy, Japan, the Middle East, the United States and other countries.
More than 20 million soldiers died or went missing and 21 million more were wounded. Millions of other people fell victim to the flu epidemic that the war helped to spread.
The war ended the reigns of royal leaders in Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey and also led to the Russian Revolution that ended the rule of the czar. In the end, an uneasy peace was signed in Versailles, France, in 1919. Tensions began to grow over the next 20 years and would lead to another devastating world war in 1939.
Timeline of Events
Use the reading to find the events that go in each box of the timeline.
1814
1908
1914
1871-1872
1912-1913
1919