On what date was Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated, an event that helped trigger WWI?

• A. June 28, 1913.
• B. June 28, 1914.
• C. July 28, 1914.
• D. August 4, 1914.

Answer: (B)

The date tested is the actual assassination that acted as the immediate spark for the war. On June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist. This event triggered a chain reaction among the European powers: Austria-Hungary moved against Serbia, and through a web of alliances and mobilizations, the conflict expanded into World War I. The other dates don’t mark the assassination itself (one is an earlier year) or they refer to actions that followed the assassination (like declarations of war or invasion) rather than the triggering event. So the assassination date, June 28, 1914, is the best answer because it identifies the moment historians regard as the immediate catalyst.