Causes of world war one

Causes of world war one

On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, of the Black Hand Gang, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand while he was visiting Sarajevo. The Archduke was there to assert imperial authority over a disputed province. Though this assassination started the cascade of events that quickly produced war, the causes of the war were multiple and complex. Historians and political scientists have grappled with this question for nearly a century without reaching a consensus. Some of the more prominent explanations are outlined below.