1. Immediate Causes
June 28, 1914: Gavrilo Princip (a Bosnian-Serb who was part of The Black Hand) murders Franz Ferdinand, the archduke of A-H
Ferdinand was next-in-line to rule Austria
the nationalist desires of the minorities and the self –interest of other great powers came into direct conflict.
A-H Emperor obviously wanted to hit Serbia back BUT!
Serbia and the Russian Empire were allies (common Slavic ancestry)
A-H afraid that if she declares war on Serbia, then Russia will declare war on her
July 5-6, 1914: Germany and A-H had a good relationship. So, after quiet talks, Germany pledged total support, a “blank check”, to A-H
“We promise unlimited money, weapons, and soldiers if Russia comes to the aid of Serbia/declares war on you.

2. Immediate Causes July 23, 1914: A-H delivers an “ultimatum” to Serbia
Publicly apologize for the assassination
Arrest members of the Black Hand
Promise to “be a good neighbour”
Stop any anti-AH groups from causing problems
Teach its students that A-H was a good country
Would you accept this if you were Serbia?
Obviously, Serbia rejects this.
July 28, 1914, Austria declares war on Serbia

3. Immediate Causes
Next, Russia announces a “blank cheque” for Serbia and mobilizes against A-H (July 30)
NEXT, Germany declares war on Russia to protect A-H (August 1)
NEXT, France declares war on Germany, since France had a similar kind of “blank cheque” agreement with Russia (August 1)
NEXT, Germany declares war on France (August 3), and decides to send its army through Belgium (who were neutral) to avoid the French defenses
Britain had a blank cheque agreement to defend Belgium, so (August 4)