On 28 June 1914,  Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, visited Sarajevo, the capital of the recently annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. After several failed attempts he was finally killed by Gavrilo Princip who fired two pistol shots, fatally wounding Ferdinand and his wife Sophie.

This triggered off not only the brutal suppression of the Serbian population but because of the system of political alliances formed between Western nations – a World War.

After millions of deaths, a massive refugee crisis, political and social upheaval, the Treaty of Versailles with Germany was signed on 28 June 1919. This was, however, not the ending of the war as more treaties had to be signed and ratified by the various countries involved.