The historical event that involved an assassination leading to global conflict in 1914 was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. On June 28, 1914, Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were shot by Gavrilo Princip, a member of a nationalist group seeking independence for Bosnia from Austro-Hungarian rule. This assassination set off a chain reaction of alliances and treaties among European powers, leading to the onset of World War I. The war fundamentally altered the political landscape of Europe and had deep, lasting effects globally.