World War1

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e desire to attach themselves to Serbia and create an independent state to be known as Yugoslavia, or ‘The Land of the South Slavs.’ This was seen as the reason for the assassination of Ferdinand and his wife.

The assassination gave Austria-Hungary the ideal excuse to declare war against Serbia. An ultimatum was issued to Serbia stating that it must agree to all terms described in the ultimatum in order to avoid war. Austria-Hungary gave Serbia 48 hours to reply and clearly stated that all terms must be met and complied with. Serbia agreed to all terms of the ultimatum bar one. This concerned Austro-Hungarian officials entering Serbia to perform an investigation into the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife. As the Serbians denied this request, it is believed by some historians that the young operatives sent to kill Ferdinand were not only nationalistic students but also as scapegoats used by the Serbian government to carry out their dirty work.

Imperialism was present in Europe for some time before the war broke out, as each of the great powers aimed to expand theirs boundaries into new areas in order to exploit the opportunities that the new land held. Just as England had done for centuries, it had become desirable to seek out new land to rule under the laws and cultural beliefs of the ‘mother’ country.

The numerous conflicts raging within the confines of the Balkans sin...