How did ww1 start? in 1914 ?

Question: How did ww1 start!? in 1914 !?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

The act which is considered to have triggered the succession of events which led to war was the 28 June 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb citizen of Austria-Hungary and member of the Young Bosnia!. The retaliation by Austria-Hungary against the Kingdom of Serbia activated a series of alliances that set off a chain reaction of war declarations!. Within a month, much of Europe was in a state of open warfare!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There were a number of reasons behind WWI, dating back to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 where the agressors, France, were soundly beaten by the Prussians and lost the profitable coal and steel region of Alsace-Lorraine which left them spoiling for another fight!.

The victory of Prussia led to the unification of other northern european states and principalities (of which Prussia was the largest) and created Germany!. The chancellor of this new country, Otto von Bismarck, formed an alliance with it's neighbour Austro-Hungary which made the French extremely nervous!. Therefore to counteract it, the French made a treaty with Russia and thus surrounded the central powers!. Another alliance with Russia was made by Serbia who was not happy with Austro-Hungary's influence on it and the surrounding Balkan states!.

The French were desperate to draw into this tangle of treaties the one major power of the age, Great Britain!. Britain, however, preferred to stay in "splendid isolation" but it did offer the French a loosely worded statement that it would be "morally obliged" to support them if they were attacked!. The only real treaty it had was with Belgium whereby Britain had guaranteed Belgium's neutrality for the past 75 years!.
It was only when Germany began to try and expand it's Empire that Britain began to take notice!. It also began to build German versions of the Royal Navy "Dreadnoughts" and any threat to the RN was not to be stomached!.

Then on June 28th 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Principe, a member of the Black Hand Group a Serbian nationlist movement and the fuse was lit!.

Austro-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum to hand over all conspiritors believing the Serbian government was behind the plot and thus being able to finally stamp it's authority on Serbia!. A-H called on Germany's support if the Russians got involved and Germany readily agreed!. The Serbs called on their treaty with Russia and Russia began to mobilise against A-H and Germany and consequently France found itself at war with them too as directed by their alliance with Russia!.
In an effort to knock France out of the war early so not to be fighting on 2 fronts, Germany tried to advance on Paris quickly, avoiding the French defences by invading Belgium!.
Because of this violation of neutrality this brought Britain into the conflict along with a number of it's colonies including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and India!.
Turkey and the Ottoman Empire had secretly signed an alliance with Germany 2 days before Britain entered the war justifying it by citing Germany's early victories!. Being on the winning side would provide the opportunity to forge a swift victory over neighbouring enemies and avoid the imminent disintegration of the Ottoman Empire!.
This also encouraged Romania and Bulgaria to join alongside the central powers to see what either could gain from land grabs in the Balkans!. Turkey declared their intentions when they attacked Russian ports in the Black Sea in October 1914!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October 1914, followed a year later by Bulgaria!. By the conclusion of the war, only The Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and the Scandinavian nations remained officially neutral among the European countries, though several of those may have provided financial and materiel support to one side or the other!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne is said to have been the key trigger to the start of the war but there are other mitigating factorsWww@QuestionHome@Com

it was called the great war!. franz ferdinan was assasinated and that caused the war to start!.Www@QuestionHome@Com