World War I

The spark that set off World War 1, one of the most devastating conflicts in history, was the assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, and Austria-Hungary in turn blamed the Serbian government for the attack, and demanded an official apology. However, Serbia refused, resulting in Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia on July 29, 1914. Subsequently, secret alliances both Serbia and Austria-Hungary had made with other European nations were revealed, and World War I began.