Road to WWI

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on June 28, 1914, was the spark that ignited the Great War.

As Serbia has conflicted with Austria-Hungary since 1906, the "Pig War" happened in the March of 1906 between Serbia and Austria-Hungary: Austria-Hungary banned all imports of Serbia pork, which resulted in a decrease in Serb economics.

Hence, due to the gradual increase in Serb hostility to Austria-Hungary, most Serbians supported the Sarajevo assassination:

“Make no mistake. We are proud of the event, not because it started the war, but because it was the beginning of our liberation.”

After the assassination, failed diplomatic exchanges led to the following series of events:

July 28 - Austria declared war on Serbia.

August 1 - As Austria's ally, Germany declares war on Russia, a supporter of Serbia.

August 3 - Germany declares war on France, an ally of Russia, and immediately begins an invasion of neutral Belgium.

August 4 - Great Britain, a supporter of France, declares war against German.

War swept across Europe in the summer of 1914.

However, "the war to end all wars" did not solve any problems. All warring nations suffered heavy losses and signed the Treaty of Versailles. Thus,

Why not skip the war and sign the peace directedly?