The era of economic and diplomatic tensions in the early 20th century were
the ideal conditions for a global war to be produced. In 1914, any single major could have
sparked the beginning of a war involving all the super powers of Europe. How ironic that
the event to bring about this all-out war was to be exasperated in a section of Europe
dubbed "the Powder Keg of Europe." On June 28, 1914, with the assassination or Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the heated
country of Serbia, history was made. The shots from Gavrilo Princip began what is known as
one of the biggest turning points in history. The question of what would have occurred if
Francis Ferdinand’s life were spared enters into the minds of all people. However,
that was not the case. There an assassination did occur. There was a major global war.
There was the slaughter of 8 million people. There were technological developments that
were designed to kill the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time. And the
list proceeds further. The question of "what ifs" seems innumerable. This event was truly a turning
point. However, it may have just been the catalyst to events that were inevitable. This
will never be known, but speculations can be made at the importance of the assassination. History cannot be altered, however, it can be used to better the future, which this
event also failed to do as seen with the introduction of World War II just 21 years later.
