How did the shooting of archduke start world war 1?

Question

How did the shooting of archduke start world war 1?

Answer 1

Complementing the answer above mine, Here is a good theory. The socialist in Germany didn't want the spread of Marxism/Communism in Germany for the plain fact that Socialists hate Communists vice versa. Whats better than a nation thats been brought into a war and looks like the good guys? They needed a war to get the nation "wrapped up in the flag", or to get patriotism for their government shooting to the sky. But to do this correctly and without looking bad, Germany knew that if they provoked the war it would look bad.... Hence they needed to be provoked into war. Theres a couple of other Historic theories, but I find this one to be the most fascinating and reasonable explanation.

Answer 2

Austria-Hungary were allies with Germany. Meaning that when they declared war on Serbia (which was technically a Civil War of sorts), Germany had to back them due to agreements made between the countries in the post-Napoeon era. Germany used the Schleiffen (that might be mis-spelled) Plan thinking that it would enable them to win the war quickly. The plan called for them to invade France and Russia to support Austria-Hungary. Needless to say, the Schleiffen Plan backfired. This eventually caused many battles throughout Europe. 2 years later, the US entered the war after the Zimmerman Telegram.