Remember no one is at war yet.  There are tensions between countries and as each country begins to buy more weapons (militarism) and align themselves into alliances, the countries surrounding them become very nervous.  Each country continues to arm itself and create alliances.  Nationalism, Militarism, and the Alliance Systems spread like gossip.

Source: Map 1914 WWI Alliances, Wikipedia.

Imagine that Canada is threatening to take over the United States.  Pretend they are stronger, more powerful, and have a larger army than the United States.  Now imagine that the Canadian Prime Minister is going to be driving down your street next week.  What would you do?  If you think you would do nothing click “Do Nothing.”  If you would want to try and stop the Canadian Prime Minister click “Stop That Man.”

You may have chosen more wisely than others before you. Click "Stop That Man" to see how choosing differently might have changed our history.

You chose a similar option to a man named Gavrilo Princip. Gavrilo was a 19 year old who did not want Austria-Hungary to annex (take over) his country, Bosnia-Herzegovina. He chose to assassinate Austria-Hungary's heir to the throne (an heir to the throne is the next in line to be King), Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This assassination led to WWI. Austria declared war on Bosnia-Herzegovina, which had an alliance with Russia, so Russia declared war on Austria and Germany because Austria and Germany were in an alliance. Before you knew it, all of Europe was engaged in a war.

Look at each of the following photographs.

Ask yourself who is this? What is happening in this picture?  How are these related to the beginning of a World War?

Click on each photograph below to see what is happening in each one.