The Archduke of Austria-Hungary assassinated by a Serb in 1914, whose murder helped trigger World War I.

• A. Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• B. Gavrilo Princip
• C. Kaiser Wilhelm II
• D. Tsar Nicholas II

Answer: (A)

The event being tested shows how a single high-profile assassination can ignite a larger war because of a tangled system of alliances and rising nationalist tensions. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 by a Bosnian Serb nationalist sparked a chain reaction: Austria-Hungary moved to punish Serbia, Russia mobilized to support Serbia, Germany backed Austria-Hungary, and the conflict expanded rapidly to involve France, Britain, and others. This is why his murder is described as the spark that helped trigger World War I.

Gavrilo Princip was the assassin, not the Archduke. The other two names were leaders of countries involved in the crisis—Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia—not the Archduke who was killed.