The Shot That Started Everything

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was shot dead in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a nineteen-year-old Bosnian Serb nationalist. Within weeks, those two bullets pulled a chain of alliances taut and dragged Europe into World War I — a war that killed roughly 15 to 20 million people.

One murder should not have toppled a continent. But Europe ran on automatic promises. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia. Russia, Serbia's protector, began to mobilize. Germany backed Austria, France stood with Russia, and Britain stood with France. Each move forced the next, like dominoes nobody could catch.