The Incident that Led to the First World War

1 ) The specific incident that leads to the First World War was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand , heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary in June 28 ,1914 by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo ,Bosnia . The purpose of the assassination was to trigger a massive Slavic revolt in the Slavic states of Bosnia and Herzegovina that would hopefully free Bosnia and Herzegovina from the rule of Austria-Hungary .Serbia and other Balkan States had already gained independence from the Ottoman rule in 1878 and now Serbia was planning unite all the Slavs by creating “Greater Serbia ‘ which would include Bosnia and Herzegovina .The dream of a “Greater Serbia ‘ caused nightmares in Austria , fearing that a Slavic revolt will break up the Empire . They feel then that they must crushed Serbia and they find the assassination an appropriate excuse to launch an attack against Serbia . They sent an ultimatum to Serbia with a list of harsh demands and when one demand was not accepted by Serbia , Austria declared war against Serbia on July 28 ,1914 . To attack Serbia , Austria turned to ask for help from its faithful ally Germany . Russia on the other hand was the protector of the Balkan States especially of Serbia that lie near its border .The aim of German policy was to make a quick attack on Serbia before its allied countries intervenes . When Russia ignored German warnings to stop war preparation , Germany declared war against Russia in August 1 , 1914 .It is argued that Germany was not planning for a general war . Germany helped Austria so that both countries will retain its power status in Continental Europe . Germany cannot afford to lose Austria because no one will help them if Russia will make military advances . However , they knew that attacking Serbia would draw Russia and its allied forces into the War

2 ) the league of nations was founded even without the US. The other benefit is that Germany was not occupied. However the settlement was harsh economically on Germany and plunged it into economic chaos and political chaos which paved the way for Adolf Hitler. Lasting peace is doubtful. when french troops went to pick up the installments of the money Germany was to pay back, they often humiliated the Germans ( see the BBC series The Nazi's a warning from History) Could it been improved, possibly but the war took a dreadful toll in Europe and the winning nations looked to get all that they could get out of Germany whom they blamed for stirring up trouble and political chaos all over the world ( which was a tactic of theirs)