In the 19th century, there was a new way of thinking that was in many ways a great departure from the previous centuries. The Modernism movement encompassed many aspects of life, from science to psychology, to music and literature. The scientific discoveries of the day lead many people to believe that the universe was not so rational and constant as had been thought in the Enlightenment. In 1913 it was found that electrons orbiting a nucleus did not appear to obey Newton’s law of motion. Even things as constant seeming as time were found unconstant when Einstein found that time at the speed of light slowed down. Thinkers such as Sigmund Freud believed that people had violent tendencies but suppressed them because it would be unconventional in society. However, they might come out in your dreams when you cannot control what you think about. Writers such as Franz Kafka and James Joyce express themes of not knowing what is going on or completely fantastical subjects in their writing. Art from this time has an emphasis on what the painter sees or wants to portray, rather than a lifelike painting of something. Overall Modernism was a movement away from thinking the world was rational and orderly, to something more obscure and chaotic.
There were many events and factors leading up to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which triggered World War 1. Bismarck in Germany had been trying to make alliances with countries to isolate France diplomatically and avoid a two-front war. However, when Bismark was removed from power the king of Germany, Wilhelm II, backed off from the alliance plan believing that absolutist tsar ruled Russia would never form an alliance with republican revolutionary France. Russia and France did, however, form an alliance and at the same time, Germany began building up its Navy, which caused Britain, who relied on its navy, to do the same. At this time, Serbia was being ruled by the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, and many of the Serbians that lived in Austria-Hungary were treated as second-class citizens. Serbia launched several wars to try and unite Serbians leading up to 1914 but these were unsuccessful. Though as a result of these wars and some of their circumstances, Russia felt that it could not back down if war was declared in the Balkans again. Franz Ferdinand was sympathetic to the Serbians living in Austria-Hungary, and was planning on making Austria- Hungary a triple monarchy with Serbians having the same self-rule that everyone else had. This made Ferdinand the most dangerous person to the Serbian nationalists. If Serbians actually enjoyed living in Austria-Hungary they would not help them to create a powerful Serbia. This is the reason that the Serbian terrorist group, the Black Hand, decide to assassinate Franz Ferdinand.