answersLogoWhite

0

There were many conflicts and tensions between countries before the war started, but the assassination of the archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife on 1914 "ignited" the war.
In 1878 Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania with the help of Greece and Russia declared independence and fought a war with the Ottoman Empire. They were successful. Bosnia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria gained independence. In 1908 the Austrian-Hungarian Empire declared its intent to annex Bosnia after Bosnia requested to become part of the empire. Serbia and its people became fearful of bordering the mighty Austrian Empire and thus on July 28, 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was also the crown prince of the empire, was assassinated by a Serbian national while on a state visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. As a result of his soms death, Emperor Joseph of the Austrian Empire declared war on Serbia. Four days later the German Empire who was a strong economic ally of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia. Russia was a strong ally of Serbia and declared war on the German and Austrian Empires. France who was Russia's number one trading ally came to Russia's defense and declared war on the German and Austrian Empires. The Germans decided to quickly wipe out the French armies early in the war so they crossed through Belgium who was a good economic ally of the British Empire. Belgium Congo produced most of the British's rubber. Thus after Belgium requested the British's help, The British Empire gave the Germans three days to withdraw all Germans troops in Belgium or face war. The Germans faced war. WWI officially started.

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

What else can I help you with?