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Inasmuch as the First World War was an event of unparalleled tragedy in European history, much effort has been made to try to discover what caused it. While some historians have attempted to reduce the origins of the war to one single cause, such as Bernadotte E. Schmitt's blaming of the alliance system, they have greatly oversimplified the complexity of European affairs in the prewar era. They have, moreover, made the war appear inevitable, when, in fact, it was not. Unlike 1939, when Hitler actively pursued war, no power in 1914 set out to plot a general European war. There were, however, a number of factors that provided a setting conducive to war. An examination of these will help to explain why the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, provided the spark necessary to set Europe ablaze.