who was assassinated in 1914 and why was it important
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, occurred on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo when they were mortally wounded by Gavrilo Princip. Princip was one of a group of six assassins (five Serbs and one Bosniak) coordinated by Danilo Ilić, a Bosnian Serb and a member of the Black Hand secret society. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's South Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Yugoslavia. The assassins' motives were consistent with the movement that later became known as Young Bosnia. The assassination led directly to the First World War when Austria-Hungary subsequently issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia, which was partially rejected. Austria-Hungary then declared war, triggering actions leading to war between most European states.
Ottoman entry into World War I The Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I began when its navy carried out a surprise attack on Russia's Black Sea coast on 29 October 1914, following which Russia declared war on it on 1 November 1914. Russia's allies, Britain and France, then declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 5 November 1914. The reasons for the Ottoman action were not immediately clear, since the Empire was not formally allied with any of the great powers.[1] This decision would ultimately lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ottomans and the eventual dissolution of the empire and abolition of the Islamic Caliphate.[2][3][4]