Question

Which event had the immediate effect of causing Germany to declare war on the Allies? A) The Berlin Conference of 1885 sets off the “scramble for Africa.”
B) Russia mobilizes its forces on Germany’s eastern borders. C) Great Britain declares war on Germany. D) The Austrian archduke is assassinated.

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is D. The Austrian archduke is assassinated.

Explanation:

On June 24, 1914, Francisco Fernando, archduke of Austria-Hungary, was visiting with his wife Sofia Chotek  the city of Sarajevo, in the province of Bosnia Herzegovina, which at that time belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  The visit, however, was not seen with good eyes, for many it was even a provocation. Among these was a group of young Serbian nationalists, who were fighting for Serbia to recover the province of Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Several of them went out into the street and waited for the passage of the imperial caravan.  

At around ten in the morning, chaos began.  Nedjelko Cabrinovic, one of the young conspirators, threw a grenade at the decapitated carriage in which Francisco Fernando and Sofia were riding.  The artifact, however, bounced in the back and when it exploded wounded several members of the entourage and spectators of the parade.  The imperial couple was unhurt, but their guard team insisted that they cancel the tour.  Francisco Fernando, however, decided on a new plan, to go to the hospital to visit an officer who had been injured, before continuing with the schedule for the day.  This change of plans caused confusion among the drivers, who directed the convoy through streets where the conspirators were still located.  One of them was Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old boy who ran into the caravan.  The car of the royal couple passed just a few meters from Princip and there he shot Francisco Fernando in the neck and Sofia in the abdomen.  Sofia died in the car, while Francisco Fernando died shortly after arriving at the governor's house.

The assassination of the archduke sparked a series of protests and a month later, on July 28th, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.  That was just the beginning of an unstoppable snowball.  Russia got involved because it already had an alliance with Serbia.  Germany, which was an ally of Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia.  The United Kingdom, in turn, declared war on Germany, after the Germans invaded neutral Belgium, with whom the British had protection agreements, as well as with France.