WWI. who is the bad guy. serbia and austria are pissed at each other. one nationalist

from serbia kills the austrian heir. austria says they are going to invade serbia militarily. countries takes sides....

who is the bad guy in world war 1.

my 16 yr old and i are having a debate.

thanks

Serbia and Bosnia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and some of its citizens wanted independence. But the Hapsburgs wouldn't release any of its territories.

An anarchist who claimed he wanted independence for his country assassinated the heir to the throne and his wife. Never mind that their marriage wasn't approved of. (Sophie Chotek was a "commoner" and the couple were married against the wishes of the royal family.) The act of killing anyone of the royal family was considered an act of war. And Serbia-Bosnia wouldn't hand over the accused assassin.

So both parties were at a stalemate, there were treaties in place to incorporate other countries if there were war, and instead of preventing a world war, the treaties created one.

Austria had designs on Serbia and they used the assassination as an excuse to invade. Unfortunately, the Austrian army couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag and Russia and Germany got involved, followed by France and Britain.

which forced them to 'take sides.'

Maybe discuss nature of alliances? Nations have 'interests,' not 'friends.'

Have fun!

:hi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfxrTD-kPps

I wouldn't say there was so much a "bad guy" but lack of anyone stepping back and looking at the situation with common sense and saying "Hey, wait a minute, this is stupid".

"Hey, wait a minute, this is stupid".

My daughters have watched them all on YouTube.

They set up such an interlinked web of alliances that the least little thing would precipitate a major war.

As far as immediate blame, yes, Gavrilo Princip fired the fatal shot, and he was backed by a Serbian nationalist movement. But on the other hand, Austria waaaay overreacted.