Many things had been beginning to pile up but there is one event that stood out. This is the event that started the beginning of the war. An archduke by the name of Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. Ferdinand’s death was at the hand of Serbian secret society. Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir was three weeks in coming. Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the machinations of the Black Hand, the Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans.
It did so by offering Serbia an ultimatum to Serbia, which, in the extent of its demand that the assassins be brought to justice effectively nullified Serbia's sovereignty. Austria-Hungary's expectation was that Serbia would reject the remarkably severe terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war against Serbia. However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties with Russia, an altogether different proposition for Austria-Hungary. Whilst not really expecting that Russia would be drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic protest, the Austro-Hungarian government sought assurances from her ally, Germany, that she would come to her aid should the unthinkable happen and Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary.
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