Question

What was the spark that ignited the "powder keg" of Europe

Answer 1

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Answer 2

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Answer 3

The spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. In 1908, Austria-Hungary had annexed the largely Slavic province of Bosnia. Serbia had wanted Bosnia to create a Slavic (Eastern European ethnic group) empire. In 1914, Ferdinand was invited by Bosnia's governor to see the army run through maneuvers. A Serbian nationalist group, the Black Hand, made multiple attempts on his life. Gavrilo Princip's was a success.

After the assassination, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia. If the smaller nation didn't comply, there would be war. Russia stepped in to aid its fellow Slavic country. It sent troops to its border with Germany, Austria's ally, as a precaution, but Germany took it as a threat and went to war. Events continued to spiral, dragging Belgium, England, France, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, Japan and all of those countries colonies into a world-wide conflict.