World War I was a global war that lasted from 1914 to 1918. It was a war full of advanced weapons, great tactics and gruesome fighting resulting in over 40 million casualties. There were a lot of pivotal events that could have changed the outcome of the war. The three pivotal events to happen before or during World War I are the formation of the Triple Alliance, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the sinking of Lusitania.
The first pivotal event to happen before the World War I was the creation of the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1895. The new Kaiser of Germany, William II, did not want to renew his treaty with Russia. Therefore, Germany abandoned Russia and began to look for new alliance partners. Once Germany formed the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy, it was the first powerful alliance to emerge in Europe. If William II decided to renew his treaty of Russia, Germany and Russia would still be allied and would fight the World War I together. This would change the outcome of the war because there would be completely different alliances. With Russia on their side, Germany could have been victorious after all.
The second pivotal event to happen before the World War I was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by the Black Hand. The Black Hand was a Serbian terrorist group that saw Austrians as foreign oppressors. On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo, Bosnia with his wife. Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand, assassinated Ferdinand and his wife with two shots. This was the event that triggered the World War I. If the Black Hand never attacked Franz Ferdinand, the war wouldn’t have happened so soon. Austria-Hungary wouldn’t have declared war on Serbia due to their archduke being dead. Therefore, another event would need to occur in order for the World War I to begin.
The third pivotal event to happen during the World War I was the sinking of a British ship,...