Queen Victoria, who had reigned over Britain and its empire for nearly 65 years, died on 22 January 1901. Her death marked the end of an era of relative peace, especially in Europe, which had not witnessed a war for 30 years. It was the longest period of stability that the region had enjoyed for hundreds of years. Queen Victoria's going would, however, mark the beginning of a period of growing uncertainty and tension as rivalry between great power blocks in Europe built up. And just over a decade later, the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne by a Serb nationalist in Sarajevo, started a spiral into war which engulfed most of the continent, and then the world.
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