After the relative peace of the 19th Century, the rivalries between European powers came to a head in 1914. Following the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by a Bosnian Serb Austrian citizen, Austria invaded Serbia. This in turn set in motion a series of events which predicated full-scale war on the European continent. Germany and Austria-Hungary had a long-standing alliance, and were joined by the Ottoman Empire in a war against France, Russia and several smaller powers.