The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was one of the most important causes of the First World War. However, there were many other factors involved, including the alliance system and the balance of power, the tension in Europe at the time and Naval rivalry and Arms race. This essay will assess all of these important factors and conclude whether the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the most important cause in the First World War. In Sarajevo on June 28th 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, along with their unborn child, were assassinated by the Black hand gang, which were a group of teenage terrorists. This incident is often described as the cause of World War 1 and the reason for this is because it caused a ripple effect on all of the countries. As soon as the assassination happened Serbia was blamed by Austria for the murder as Serbia was near to Bosnia and it had encouraged the Black Hand Gang and given them weapons. Austria-Hungary then planned to invade Serbia, except Russia got involved. This is where the alliance system came into play. Russia threatened to attack Austria-Hungary If they attacked Serbia, which happened in the end and because of the alliances, once Russia attacked Austria Germany got involved, leading to France and Britain getting involved, leading to Italy getting involved etc. Therefore, it is clear that the assassination in Sarajevo was the trigger cause of the war because without it, the countries would not have had a reason to turn on each other and start a war.
Although the assassination was the trigger cause, the cause would have been less of a threat if the alliance system and the balance of power had not been in place. The Triple Alliance, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy had been in place since 1882 and created by Otto von Bismarck. The Triple Entente was another alliance, consisting of France, Britain and Russia.