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The assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Bosnia, triggered World War I, an unprecedented catastrophe which led to Fascist and Communist states, World War II, anti-Communist wars in Korea and Vietnam, and a world bristling with nuclear missiles.

Why do the history books tell us so little about the triggering event? Some do not even mention the assassination. Most leave the impression that the gunman was a lone wolf. He was not a lone wolf. Sixteen men were convicted at trial. Not tried were the higher-ups outside of Bosnia in Serbia and Russia. This was a multinational operation involving cutouts, safe houses, and poison for suicides. The intent was to start a short European war, but it grew into a world war.

Wars often begin in ways unknown. The American Civil War began when the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter. But did you know the fort was trying to surrender? Why was it fired upon?