Causes of World War I

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 60. Chapters: Balkan Wars, Gavrilo Princip, Black Hand, July Crisis, Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Historiography of the causes of World War I, Triple Entente, Kurt Riezler, Treaty of London, Cult of the offensive, Germany's Aims in the First World War, World War I naval arms race, Operational Plan Three, Muhamed Mehmedba i, Dreadnought. Excerpt: The July Crisis was a diplomatic crisis among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914 that led to the First World War. Immediately after Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo, a series of diplomatic maneuverings led to an ultimatum from Austria-Hungary to Serbia, and ultimately to war. This ultimatum was part of a coercive program meant to weaken the Kingdom of Serbia as a threat to Austria-Hungary's occupation of the northern Balkans which had a significant southern Slavic population, including a majority Serbian community in Bosnia. This was supposed to be achieved either through diplomacy or by a localized war if the ultimatum were rejected. Austria-Hungary preferred war, and to ensure war the terms of the ultimatum were so harsh that they were certain to be rejected. One month after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, thus initiating the First World War. Emperor Franz Joseph ordered Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, to attend military exercises scheduled for Bosnia in the summer of 1914. After the exercises, on 28 June, Franz Ferdinand toured Sarajevo with his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg. Six armed irredentist Serbs coordinated by Danilo Ili lay in wait along Sarajevo's Appel Quay because Franz Ferdinand's motorcade was announced to be going to use that...