The moment the Russian invasion became reality on Feb. 24, it compared to that one shot heard round the world a little over 100 years ago. Or were the shots fired at the protesters on Feb. 24, 2014 - the Maidan massacre - the true spark of events leading to military escalation between East and West culminating in the Ukraine War of 2022.

In addition to the American Revolution, the "shot heard round the world" became associated with other historical events, such as the 1914 assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which helped trigger World War I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand with his wife on the day they were assassinated in 1914, an event that helped spark WW1. pic.twitter.com/Kzh9pcFowb

— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPics) October 15, 2013

Bosnia marks end of Europe's violent century | TOI - June 29, 2014 |

On June 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian crown prince Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, where he had come to inspect his occupying troops in the empire's eastern province.

The shots fired by Serb teenager Gavrilo Princip sparked the Great War, which was followed decades later by a second world conflict. Together the two wars cost some 80 million European their lives, ended four empires -- including the Austro-Hungarian -- and changed the world forever.

Europe living on a knife's edge ... in reality there is no cultural unity or stability in internal security. The flag of nationalism is flying high.

Eastern European Nationalism in the Twentieth Century (1995)

'Sapere aude'