World War I: Archduke Franz Ferdinard

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World War I: Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Shot and killed in 1914 as a result of disharmony between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s death is considered to have been the spark that initiated World War I. Contrary to Woodrow Wilson’s wishes of staying neutral throughout the war, the United States eventually joined forces with the Triple Entente against the Triple Alliance. Based on the beliefs and actions of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, it was in the national interest of the United States to declare war in 1917 due to Austria-Hungary and Serbia’s relationship, the cause and effect of the archduke’s death, and the formation of alliances.
Disputes between Austria-Hungary and Serbia provided a basis for the archduke’s assassination. By the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, Austria-Hungary was permitted to occupy and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina. When Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia in 1908, it stirred an upsetting reaction from the West, and many Serbians wanted a pan-Slav state directed by Serbia, a province that had better relations with Russia than with Austro-Hungary. Serbia protested for independence and Serbian newspapers demanded a strip of territory extending across Novi-Bazar and Bosnia-Herzegovina to the Adriatic. The Government of the Dual Monarchy refused to receive the Serbian protest by denying that Serbia had any right to raise question the annexation. Austria-Hungary, which was a dynastic empire, comprising of many different races, hated Pan Slavism, the nationalism which Slav races of the Balkan aspire to set up in their own nation-states. Austro-Hungarians felt the threat of losing the southern territories inhabited by Slavs to Serbia as imminent. As a result, Dimitrijevic planned to assassinate Archduke ...

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... not be able to pay back the U.S. debt of almost 2 million dollars. Germany proposed an alliance with Mexico on the following basics: if the U.S. goes to war, Mexico must fight on the home front in a financially supported alliance with Germany. Wilson protested that sinking merchant ships without protecting the lives of passengers and crews violated international law and the U.S. would hold Germany to “strict accountability” for any American causalities in such attacks.
Therefore, despite President Woodrow Wilson’s wishes to stay neutral during the war, it was in the best interest of the United States to declare war in 1917 due to Austria-Hungary’s relationship, the cause and effect of the archduke’s death, and the formation of alliances based on the actions and beliefs of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Europe was in a state of open warfare, better known as World War I.

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