Final answer:
The assassination by Gavrilo Princip was driven by nationalist and ideological motives aimed at establishing a Greater Serbia, free from Austro-Hungarian rule, and is considered the catalyst for World War I.
Step-by-step explanation:
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip was a politically charged event rooted in nationalist and ideological beliefs. Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand organization, along with six other conspirators, sought to advance the cause of Serbian nationalism and promote the idea of a Greater Serbia by detaching territories from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Archduke represented the ruling power and his visit to Sarajevo was seen as an opportunity to strike a blow to the empire, hoping to inspire similar movements towards independence among other ethnic groups under Austro-Hungarian rule. Their motivation was not rooted in personal vendetta, economic, diplomatic, or religious reasons, but rather in the political and ideological vision of nationhood and independence for ethnic Serbs.
The event of their action propelled the Austro-Hungarian government to seek restitution, and when that failed, it led to a cascade of military alignments activating, contributing to the start of World War I. Franz Ferdinand himself was known to be a proponent of peaceful diplomacy, which makes the assassination all the more ironic, as it led to an unprecedented global conflict.