World war one was caused by the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He was murdered by a gang called the Black hand gang. The leader of this notorious gang was Dragutin Dimitrijevic. He was a Serbian who wanted freedom for his country. What he didn't know was that Franz Ferdinand was actually trying to negotiate with Serbia. He was shot by Gavrilo Princip (one of the members of the Black Hand gang. Princip was 19) Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were killed on 28th June 1914. Sophie was pregnant at that time so their child (soon to be born) didn't survive. This caused anger but there was another series of events which actually caused the war. Through her alliance with Britain, Japan declares war on Germany and attacks the German colony of Tsingtau in China. World War one officially started on 28th July 1914.
