The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand took place on June 28, 1914. This event, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, is often cited as the immediate catalyst for World War I. Ferdinand was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his assassination by Gavrilo Princip, a member of a nationalist group seeking greater Serbian sovereignty, escalated tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. The assassination triggered a chain reaction of alliances and declarations of war, leading to a widespread conflict that involved many nations and drastically altered the political landscape of Europe and the world.