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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. -
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. -
Germany declared war on Russia. -
Germany declared war on France. German troops poured into Belgium as directed under the Schleiffen Plan, drawn up in 1905. The British foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding their withdrawal from the neutral Belgium. -
Germany did not withdraw from Belgium and Britain declared war on Germany.
