The day itself: history has made its first move, and the next one is yours.
Briefing
28 June 1914. In Sarajevo the Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip has shot Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Europe is split between the Entente and the Triple Alliance, fleets and armies keep growing, and the Balkans after two wars are a powder keg. In real history Vienna sends Serbia an ultimatum and by 4 August every great power is at war. You have the chance to play it differently.
Real history stays a strong tendency: what happened later is planned for its date – until your actions change the world.
You govern: the orders are the state's.
Click a country on the map or pick one from the list.
The world on 28 June 1914
On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie are shot dead in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a young Bosnian Serb of the Young Bosnia movement, armed with the help of officers from Serbia's secret Black Hand society. Bosnia, annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908, is the empire's most restless province, and Vienna holds Belgrade to blame.
Europe is split into two armed camps. Germany and Austria-Hungary stand together, with Italy a doubtful third partner; France and Russia are allies, and Britain is tied to them by the looser Entente. Russia sees itself as the protector of Serbia and the Slavs, and Germany has promised to stand by Vienna. Every great power has mobilisation plans which, once begun, run on timetables of railways and days.
The Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 have just redrawn the peninsula: the Ottoman Empire has lost nearly all its European lands, and Serbia has doubled in size and confidence. In the capitals few expect a general war, and the summer holidays have begun. What Vienna demands of Belgrade, and how Berlin, St Petersburg, Paris and London answer, will decide whether this stays a Balkan quarrel or becomes a world war.