Was World War 1 started because of an assassination?

Answer 1

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated by a Serb, Gavrilo Princip. That started the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and due to a complex system of treaties, other countries were soon involved.

Although the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the spark that started the war, the war probably would have started before long anyway. This had a lot to do with the alliances and treaties between countries- Europe was basically divided in two and one disagreement could start a world war. Competition between nations was common- Germany and Britain competing for best national fleet, certain countries that had broke free of the Ottoman Empire being fought over. In fact, that was the reason the assassination occured in the first place- Gavilo Princeep was a member of the Black Hand, a Serb revolutionist group. They laid the plans. Also, you have to realize that none of the countries involved in the war thought it would last so long. Each nation thought they could win the war in a short amount of time. The people each believed their country was the best and each government thought they had the best military plan. In fact, in the beginning, the war was more of a competition to prove the better nation than a real war.

Answer 2

No. The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo (then Hungary) on June 28, 1914, lead to the start of WWI.

Answer 3

yes yes

Answer 4

Sarajevo.