The Origins of The First World War This is an essay on the origins of the First World War. Here I will explain what, when and where it happened, but more importantly why. Short Term The main short-term cause was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip. Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austrian throne and so Austria declared war on Gavrilos' home country Serbia. The Serbs wanted independence from their ruling …showed first 75 words of 723 total…

…showed last 75 words of 723 total…to have more than Britain. Conclusion It was the Entente that started the war because of the assassination but it was inevitable. The two sides were increasing their power and the world was not big enough for two imperial powers. War was necessary, it was something that was going to happen but it did bring about advances in technology, a great sense of national pride and showed that nothing like it should ever happen again.