Britain declares war on Germany

On 28 June 1914, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, in the province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

The assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne set in motion a crisis that threatened the balance of power in Europe and triggered a chain of events that led to the First World War.

Alliances were invoked and, on 30 July, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia, an ally of France and Britain, then supported Serbia. On 1 August, Germany declared war on Russia, and then on France. Following Germany’s invasion of the neutral Belgium, on 4 August Britain declared war on Germany. This meant Australia and other British dominions were also at war. 

The battlelines were drawn and nations from across the globe entered the Great War.