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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo was a direct cause of WWI. Many countries around the world blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Slav nationalism once and for all.
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Russia moves its army to intervene against Austria-Hungary in favor of its ally, Serbia. This move starts a chain reaction that leads to the mobilization of the rest of the European Great Powers, and inevitably to the outbreak of hostilities.
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The British employ the first tanks ever used in battle, although they failed to be the decisive weapons, since they are still primitive and could only clear barbed wire.
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Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The U.S. enters World War I on the side of France and Britain.
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Germany was forced to sign the treaty in order to not get attacked by other countries. This included having to pay for all the damage that was caused, even if it was not from them.
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Italy and Russia, which were soon to be part of the Soviet Union, had a declining economy due to the aftereffects of the war. In Russia's situation, they also lost many soldiers.
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Nazi Germany and Imperial japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, an anti-communist pact, which was directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement.
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Japan invades China for the desire to be an imperial power. This led to the initiation of World War II in the Pacific.
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The U.S. unleashes nuclear weapons upon the world by bombing Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
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France and the Vietnamese National Army fought against the communist Viet Minh, who was supported by the USSR and China.
