Today we began to review the causes of WWI that included militarism, nationalism, a fragile alliance system, imperialism, struggling independence movements under weakening empires and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The assassination, in July of 1914 happened in Sarajevo, located in the Balkan Peninsula in the "Powder Keg of Europe." The Powder Keg of Europe is a term used to describe the situation in the Balkan Peninsula before World War I. This situation involved the wish of many Slavic people living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to be free of Austrian rule. This desire was supported by Russia, the largest Slavic nation in Europe. This movement was an important factor that created the Powder Keg of Europe. Another factor was the Black Hand, a secret society made up of mostly young ethnic Serbs who wanted to free Slavs living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Gavrilo Princip, the man who shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was a member of the Black Hand. He shot the archduke and his wife to make a political statement. This act was the spark that triggered WWI. Alliances then fell into two sides: the Triple Entente & the Central Power. The Triple Entente was made up of Britain, France, and Russia. Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Italy became the Central Powers. These alliances, together with German militarism, more or less made the crisis that erupted in Europe in July of 1914 brought Europe to the brink of what will be a horrific conflict and history's first, modernized war.