The War I Leaders Photo Gallery - 1448 Words

1914 1. Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria killed in cold blood by Serbian youth (June 28th) This photo depicts Archduke of Austria and his wife, Sophie. (World War I Leaders Photo Gallery.) On June 28, 1914, the Archduke of Austria was scheduled to take a visit to the city of Sarajebo. The trip would coincide roughly with his and his wife’s 14th anniversary. However, an anti-Austrian extremist group called The Black Hand caught wind of the Archduke’s visit, and decided that they should take matters into their own hands and kill the Archduke. On the day the Archduke visited, he and his wife were shot dead by an assassin by the name of Gavrilo Princip. The murder of these two political figures intensified Astro-Serbian tensions and†¦show more content†¦(PavelD) Austria was being threatened by Serbians in the Balkans area in Europe. With support from Germany guaranteed, they decided that the best course of action was to prepare to go to war with Serbia. An ultimatum was sent to Serbia on July 23rd, 1914, in which Austria-Hungary demanded that they be given free rein to investigate the Archduke’s assassination within Serbian borders, among other demands. Despite the fact that Serbia accepted every demand outside of the demand for investigation, Austria broke off its relations with Serbia and began preparing for war on July 25th. Russia – one of Serbia’s allies – was alerted to the crisis and began to mobilize against Austria. (Jul 28, 1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia) 4. July 19th: Germany declares war on Russia This is a newspaper headline from 1914. (â€Å"Scraps of Paper†) Germany sent a declaration of war to Russia. Germany declared that it had attempted to bring about a peaceful settlement, despite its encouraging Austria to go to war to Serbia. Germany gave Russia a statement that by not complying with its demands, it was effectively forcing Germany to go to war. (The German Declaration of War on Russia) 1915: 5) May 7th: The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat This picture depicts the RMS Lusitania. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania) The Lusitania was considered one of the