World War I Annotated Timeline

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Jun 28, 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and his wife, had decided to inspect Austro-Hungarian troops in Bosnia. The date chosen for the inspection was a national day in Bosnia. The Black Hand supplied a group of students with weapons for an assassination attempt to mark the occasion. A Serbian nationalist student, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, when their open car stopped at a corner on its way out of the town.

Austria declared war on Serbia

Jul 28, 1914

The Austrian government blamed the Serbian government for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife and declared war on Serbia.
Although Russia was allied with Serbia, Germany did not believe that she would mobilise and offered to support Austria if necessary. However, Russia did mobilise and, through their alliance with France, called on the French to mobilise.