when did the first and second world war start
World War I Prior to World War II, the events of 1914â€“1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply the World War.[28][29] Contemporary Europeans also referred to it as "the war to end war" or "the war to end all wars" due to their perception of its then-unparalleled scale and devastation.[30] After World War II began in 1939, the terms became more standard, with British Empire historians, including Canadians, favouring "The First World War" and Americans "World War I".[31]
World War I The trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia[12][13] and, as a result, entangled international alliances formed over the previous decades were invoked. Within weeks the major powers were at war, and the conflict soon spread around the world.
World War I The trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia[11][12] and, as a result, entangled-international-alliances, formed over the previous decades, were invoked. Within weeks the major powers were at war, and the conflict soon spread around the world.
World War I On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb supporter of Yugoslav nationalism, assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand while he was visiting Sarajevo. The instability caused by competing Russian and Austro-Hungarian objectives in the Balkans meant this led to a diplomatic crisis, which ended with Austria-Hungary issuing an ultimatum to Serbia. [12][13] Interlocking alliances meant the crisis ultimately involved all the major European powers as well as their respective colonial empires and the conflict rapidly spread across the globe.