Editing Central Powers (section)

== History ==
[[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria]], heir presumptive to the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] throne, and his wife, [[Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg]], were [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand|assassinated]] on 28 June 1914 by [[Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian Serb]] student [[Gavrilo Princip]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacMillan |first=Margaret |author-link=Margaret MacMillan |title=The War That Ended Peace: How Europe Abandoned Peace for the First World War |date=2014 |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=978-1-84765-416-8 |editor-last= |editor-first= |edition=Paperback |location=London |pages=518}}</ref> This provoked Austria to deliver an [[July Ultimatum|ultimatum]] to Serbia, listing ten demands made intentionally unacceptable to provide an excuse for starting hostilities.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Willmott |first=H.P. |title=World War I |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7894-9627-0}}</ref> Serbia ordered general [[mobilization]] on 25{{nbsp}}July, but accepted almost all of the terms, the only ones not accepted were the ones empowering Austrian representatives to suppress "subversive elements" in Serbia, and to take part in the investigation and trial of Serbians linked to the assassination.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fromkin |first=David |title=Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914? |publisher=[[Knopf]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-375-41156-4 |edition=1st |series= |location=New York |pages=196–197}}</ref> After claiming that was rejection, Austria broke off diplomatic relations with Serbia. They then declared war and began shelling [[Belgrade]]. Russia ordered general mobilization in support of Serbia on 30 July.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lieven |first=Dominic |title=Towards the Flame: Empire, War and the End of Tsarist Russia |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-14-139974-4 |location=London |pages=326}}</ref> When Russia mobilized, Germany saw it as provocative. Despite Russia's claim that it was responding to the events in Serbia and not Germany, Germany dismissed this and mobilized as well. Later, France, allied with Russia, also mobilized.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Herwig |first1=Holger H. |title=Decisions for War, 1914–1917 |last2=Hamilton |first2=Richard F. |date=13 December 2004 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-54530-3 |editor-first= |location=Cambridge, New York |pages=70–91 }}</ref> On 29 October 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered the war by launching a [[Black Sea raid|naval raid]] on Russian ports.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":11" /> Bulgaria joined the Central Powers last, which it did in October 1915 by declaring war on Serbia.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Robbins |first=Keith |year=1971 |title=British Diplomacy and Bulgaria 1914–1915 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4206453 |journal=[[The Slavonic and East European Review]] |volume=49 |issue=117 |pages=560–585 |jstor=4206453}}</ref>