On June 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s Archduke Ferdinand was shot and killed by a Serbian nationalist. The event set off World War I.

Four years later the war ended with a loss of 10 million combatants and 7 million civilians. But the causes of WWI were much deeper than Ferdinand’s murder.

Newtown Historical Society will examine those causes as presented by Dr Robert Jacobs in a program titled “Remembering WWI, 100 Years Later” on Monday, October 6, beginning at 7:30 pm, in the community room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street.

While the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was the catalyst allowing nations to bluster their way into war, the real causes were complex. Empires centuries old were in competition with parvenu empires still on the make, and both were beset by nationalist feelings and revolts.

France was still seething from the disastrous results of the Franco-Prussian War and wanted revenge as well as restoration of lost territory. The Ottoman Empire was dying piece by piece as independence movements gained ground, while Germany, unified only some 40 years earlier, was desperate to expand into Africa.

What were to become the Allied and Central Powers were tied to one another with alliances that pledged military intervention if any one were attacked.

Throughout the first three years of the war, America strove to maintain neutrality and avoid the entanglement of European affairs. In addition Americans were filled with conflicting allegiances: we spoke English and measured things in English terms, but Germans were perhaps our largest immigrant group after 1850, and the Irish wanted no part of helping England.

While we practiced our war skills in extensive maneuvers such as those that led to the full scale mock battles in Newtown in 1912 and expeditions into Mexico chasing Pancho Villa in 1915, President Woodrow Wilson had pledged to keep us out of war in his 1916 campaign. Following Germany’s desperate resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and the subsequent sinking of five American ships in March 1917, however, the pressure was too much and Wilson called for and received a declaration of war against Germany in April.

Still on the moral high ground, fighting a war to end all wars and to make the world safe for democracy, it was not until December that war was declared on Austria-Hungary.

Dr Robert Jacobs is a practicing dentist in New Fairfield. He has a lifelong interest in history, and has studied WWI in particular. He is president of the American Veterans Historical Museum, and has spoken widely about WWI at groups including the Retired Officers Club of CT and Sherman Veterans Association.

His talk will explore the multitude of events that led to the war and America’s entrance three years later, together with American mobilization and the military activities of the American Expeditionary Force. He will be bringing a number of WWI artifacts to show the audience.

Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.

For further information call 203-426-5937 or visit www.newtownhistory.org.