The First World War was the bloodiest and most destructive war of all time. At this time, many new weapons and machines were being built and millions of soldiers were headed off to fight. There were a few causes of the war, but one in particular was just enough to finally push Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated during a visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia. They were shot by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian terrorist. Austria-Hungary and Serbia had problems before, but this was the last straw. The Austrian-Hungarian government made many demands and requested an apology from Serbia, but when Serbia refused, Austria-Hungary used that as an excuse to declare war. The declaration of war had a chain reaction that worked its way through Europe. Russia was involved through a promise that protected Serbia from Russia. Russia started gathering troops and a couple days later Germany ordered that Russia quit its mobilization. After Russia refused, France (Russia’s ally) started to get their troops ready and mobilized. Germany realized that they would be trapped between Russia attacking from the west and Russia from the east. Germany was already mobilized and declared war on Russia on August 1. With the fear that the French were ready to attack, Germany’s military leaders decided to strike first. Germany had to go through Luxemburg and Belgium to get to France, which dragged Great Britain into the chaos of war. All five of Europe’s major powers were now at war. Germany and Austria-Hungary made up one side known as the Central Powers. The other side consisted of Russia, France, and Great Britain, who became known as the Allies. The war was expected to last six weeks and be over, but instead lasted more than four years. The two sides were pretty equal in size and ability and quickly covered the battle field with a bloody mess. The number of wounded soldiers and deaths was terrifying. Soldiers were ripped apart by machine guns, hand grenades, or artillery shells, and disabled by poisonous gases. The troops turned to acts of desperation and started to slaughter prisoners of war, burn fields, and poison wells. Pretty soon, the Central Powers and the Allies started to make life miserable for everyone who supported their enemy. Americans were not too pleased with what was happening between the Central