Dodged a Bullet.

If Archduke Ferdinand weren't assassinated, would World War I have started?

~I think that the assassination caused the war by spreading war feelings to a large amount of people. It was an attention grabber, and stirred up a lot of emotion around the world. I don't think that quarreling over colonies alone would have caused the outbreak of World War I. Say Ferdinand had dodged the bullet, and the assassination didn't happen... it would be easy to say no, the war would not have started, but I think it would have been just a matter of time. I think some event would have had to happen that caused a similar uproar for the war to start, however.. a war of that caliber would not have started based on previous events alone.