Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1896. He represented a threat to the Austro-Hungarian Black Hand, a group of radical Serbian nationalists. They pledged to “destabilize the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire in order to incorporate their Serbian population into a greater Serbia” (CITE). However, the Archduke's goals were to "strengthen the Austro-Hungarian Empire" (CITE), which was contrary to the Serbs' desires. They feared that if he came to power, he would continue to persecute the Serbs, hence the decision to assassinate him. On June 28, 1914, Francis Ferdinand and his wife went to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, to inspect the army. At the same time, seven young Bosnian Serbs, members of a terrorist group known as the Black Hand, carried out their plan to assassinate Francis Ferdinand. Franz Ferdinand and his wife were in the procession when one of the members threw a grenade at him. He missed it and the car was following them. At this point, Francis Ferdinand decided to abandon the visit and return home by another route. However, no one warned the driver and he ended up taking the wrong route. He passed Gavrilo Princip, one of the conspirators, who was returning home at the time thinking he had failed. When he saw the procession, he realized he still had a chance. Princip took out his revolver and shot Franz Ferdinand and his wife. They were dead within minutes. The Austrian government was looking for a reason to send an ultimatum to Serbia and finally had a chance. Serbia refused to comply and Austria declared war. Europe's "long-simmering feuds" had finally boiled over into war. At that particular time, Europe was suffering from a... middle of paper ...... Hungary, did not fully trust him, so Italy made a decision. secret treaty with France after its accession to the Triple Alliance. “A conflict involving one of the Triple Alliance countries could, under the terms of the treaty, involve the other two. Rather than having a deterrent effect, the Treaty could be used as an intimidation tactic” (BBC). Therefore, a local conflict could easily become a general war. When the war began, the Triple Entente became known as the Allied Powers and the Triple Alliance became known as the Central Powers. So, in addition to building a large fighting force, the major European powers were also building up their military strength. Along with all the growing tensions, the major European powers further expanded their armies and navies. The expansion of armies and navies led to an arms race that increased suspicion and made war even more likely..