The Spark of World War I :: essays research papers

     The conflicting national interests in western and eastern europium drove the major countries to form protective coalitions, even with nations that had once been shrilly enemies. Smaller countries were forced to choose sides, and by 1914, Europe was separated into two heavily armed camps. Any spark would have been enough to hit the ceiling the war everyone expected.     That spark was touched off in Sarajevo, the capital metropolis of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In an attempt to ease tensions between Austria-Hungary and people in the Balkans, the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife do a ceremonial trip to Sarajevo.      Ferdinand was in cables length to be the next emperor of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The Archduke had made enemies in the neighboring region of Serbia because he once favored the reorganization of the empire to create a third kingdom of Croatia. At the same time, Serbia was attempting t o expand its power by bringing all of the ethnic Serbs under its dominion, so it had designs on Croatian territory as well.      As Ferdinands caravan of open cars made its way through Sarajevo, it was attacked by a group of bomb-throwing terrorists who hoped to assassinate Ferdinand. Their grenade baffled the Archduke but killed others in the caravan. Terrified, the Archdukes driver tried to escape by turning the carriage around and racing towards the train depot. In an juiceless twist of fait, he got lost and entered a street where nineteen-year-old Gravilo Princip, a issue Serbian nationalist, was hiding. Princip was part of the terrorist group, and he quickly realized a min opportunity to kill the Archduke was a hand. He pulled out a pistol and began to fire, hitting Sophie, who had tried to shield her husband.