Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Tunanin hadadden jihar Slavic ta Kudu (wanda ake sa ran Serbia mai zaman kanta za ta jagoranci) ya zama sanannen akidar siyasa a yankin a wannan lokacin, gami da Bosnia da Herzegovina. Hukuncin gwamnatin Austro-Hungary na haɗe da Bosnia-Herzegovina a cikin 1908 (rikicin Bosnia
) ya kara da cewa akwai gaggawa a tsakanin wadannan 'yan kasa. Rikicin siyasar da duk wannan ya haifar ya ƙare a ranar 28 ga Yuni, 1914, lokacin da wani matashin juyin juya halin Bosniya mai suna Gavrilo Princip ya kashe magajin kursiyin Austro-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a Sarajevo. Wannan taron ya haifar da jerin abubuwan da suka haifar da barkewar Yaƙin Duniya na 1. Kodayake kashi 10% na yawan mutanen Bosniak sun mutu a cikin sojojin ko kuma wasu jihohin da ke yaƙi sun kashe su, Bosnia da Herzegovina kanta sun sami damar tserewa daga rikici ba tare da wata matsala ba.