Why did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian crown prince, bring on World War One? The international alliance system committed European states to fight in one another’s defense, so an unimportant event lead to a war between second-rate powers, but the first-rate powers were obliged to join. The people of Europe had enjoyed a century of relative peace, and they believed it when leaders told them it would be “over by Christmas,” they welcomed the war as an adventure. Germans, Austrians, Russians, and the French all saw the coming of war in 1914 as a way to accomplish longstanding territorial goals. Franz Ferdinand had little to do with it. All of the above None of the above.

Why did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian crown prince, bring on World War One? The international alliance system committed European states to fight in one another’s defense, so an unimportant event lead to a war between second-rate powers, but the first-rate powers were obliged to join. The people of Europe had enjoyed a century of relative peace, and they believed it when leaders told them it would be “over by Christmas,” they welcomed the war as an adventure. Germans, Austrians, Russians, and the French all saw the coming of war in 1914 as a way to accomplish longstanding territorial goals. Franz Ferdinand had little to do with it. All of the above None of the above.