<P> The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the Austrian throne, sent deep shockwaves through Austrian elites, and the murder has been described as a "9 / 11 effect, a terrorist event charged with historic meaning, transforming the political chemistry in Vienna ." </P> <P> Although they were not personally close, the Emperor Franz Joseph was profoundly shocked and upset . It quickly emerged that three leading members of the assassination squad had spent long periods of time in Belgrade, had only recently crossed the border from Serbia, and were carrying weapons and bombs of Serbian manufacture . They were secretly sponsored by the Black Hand, whose objectives included the liberation of all Bosnian Slavs from Austrian rule, and masterminded by the Head of Serbian Military intelligence, Apis . </P> <P> Two days after the assassination, Foreign Minister Berchtold and the Emperor agreed that the "policy of patience" with Serbia was at an end . Austria feared that if she displayed weakness, their neighbours to the South and East would be emboldened, whereas war with Serbia would put to an end the problems the dual monarchy had experienced with Serbia . Chief of Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf stated of Serbia:" If you have a poisonous adder at your heel, you stamp on its head, you don't wait for the bite ." </P> <P> There was also a feeling that the moral effects of military action would breathe new life into the exhausted structures of the Habsburg monarchy, restoring it to the vigour and virility of an imagined past, and that Serbia must be dealt with before it became too powerful to defeat militarily . The principal voices for peace in previous years included Franz Ferdinand himself . His removal not only provided the casus belli but removed one of the most prominent doves from policymaking . </P>

What were some of the causes of the first world war