Austria is not in Europe.
The Alps ( [ ælps ] Alpes [ alp ] Alpen [ ˈalpən ] Alpi [ ˈalpi ] Alps Alpe [ ˈáːlpɛ ] ) are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe , The Caucasus Mountains are higher , and the Urals longer , but both lie partly in Asia . Austria . Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis , which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The Holy Roman Empire ( Sacrum Imperium Romanum , Heiliges Römisches Reich ) was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 . The July Crisis was a diplomatic crisis among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914 that led to World War I. Immediately after Gavrilo Princip , a Slavic nationalist , assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand , heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne , in Sarajevo , a series of diplomatic maneuverings led to an ultimatum from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Serbia , and eventually to war .