World War I (1914 - 1918)

World War I was the first global war but was mainly fought in the Europe. Series of events resulted in the war and forced many countries to join the war on behalf of their allies.

It is believed that the first act that triggered the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir of Austro-Hungarian throne, on June 28th 1914. Now into the details -

Bosnia-Herzigovina region was under Austria-Hungarian rule. But, majority of people who lived in that area were Serb's and they were unhappy with the Austria-Hungarian rule. They wanted to unite with Serbia. So, they were attracted to Black Hand - a terrorist organization based in Serbia which claimed "Unification of all Serbs" as its main objective.




Franz Ferdinand was invited to Sarajevo, Bosnia by general Oskar Potiorek, governor of the Austro-hungarian province in Bosnia-Herzigovina, to watch his troops. Though Franz Ferdinand knew it was dangerous to travel, he decided to visit Sarajevo in June 1914. Dragutin Dimitrijevic, Milan Ciganovic, Voja Tankosic of Black Hand plotted to assassin him during this visit. They employed suicide bomber's to commit the deed. Three people who were then suffering from TB decide to join hands with Black hand and commit the crime - kill Franz Ferdinand and commit suicide, for what they believed to be a great cause - to free Bosnia from Austro-Hungarian rule. On the day of the visit, they succeeded in their motive of killing Franz Ferdinand. However, they get caught by the police before they could commit suicide. In the interrogation that followed, they revealed the names of Black Hand team who were responsible for the plot.

Austria-Hungarian government demanded Serbia to hand over the three men of Black Hand responsible for the act. Serbia denies that saying it was against the law. As a result of which, Austro-Hungarian government declared war on Serbia.