Bosnia and Herzegovina the annexation proclamation on 6 October 1908. Despite international furor and objections to the Austro-Hungarian annexation, Russians and their client state, Serbia, were compelled to accept the Austrian-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia Herzegovina in March 1909. In 1910, Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph proclaimed the first constitution in Bosnia, which led to relaxation of earlier laws, elections and formation of the Bosnian parliament, and growth of new political life. On 28 June 1914, a Yugoslav nationalist youth named Gavrilo Princip, a member of the secret Serbian-supported movement, Young Bosnia, assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo—an event
French entry into World War I was not sincere in seeking peace. The French consensus was that war was inevitable. The war arose from conflict between two alliances: the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy, and the Triple Entente of France, Russia and Britain. France had had a military alliance with Russia since 1894, designed primarily to neutralize the German threat to both countries. Germany had a military alliance with Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, was assassinated. The government of Austria decided to destroy Serbia once and for all, for stirring up trouble among ethnic Slavs. Berlin