Causes, Military Course and Consequences of World War I (continued)

The event that initiated the conflict was the assassination of the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a member of the Serbian nationalist "Black Hand" organization in the city of Sarajevoin the Balkans on June 28, 1914 (Click here for interactive history of this event). Despite attempts at diplomatic settlement, this event triggered the two armed alliences into war a month later.

Historians continue to debate the long range causes of the war and remain divided on identifying a single dominant cause. (Click here to view commentary on the cause of the war). Most historians, however, agree that a number of combined long range causes ultimately led to the First World War:

• the breakdown of the "concert of Europe" established at the Congress of Vienna (1815) and the realignment of the Great Powers after 1870 into hostile armed alliences based on nationalist interests, historical animosities and fears, and territorial differences.
• the emergence of an "arms race" between industrialized nations in Europe, particularly a naval arms race between the historically dominant British navy and the newly developed German navy.
• the rise of the newly unifed nation of Germany in Central Europe and its aggressively nationalistic and militaristic leader Kaiser Wilhelm I.
• the competition between European powers over colonial possessions, particularly in Asian and Africa during the period of the New Imperialism (1880-1914).
• the increasing influence of military staffs and war planning within the civilian governments of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia.

(Click here for overview of competing interpretations of the long-range causes of WWI).