Don't be silly. There is no such thing as a conspiracy. After all it's not like a bunch of assasins trained by a state's decret service started World War I.

Clearly a conspiracy, which is why all the assassins were objectively incompetent, only succeeded by sheer stupid luck, and both Germany and Austro-Hungary were itching and planning to start a war regardless.

Ferdinand's death didn't cause WW1, it just started it.

And yet they were still more competent than the Austrian secret services because they, you know, managed to kill their target.

Don't forget the money printing machine at maximum speed.

Although small businesses didn't really shut down, at least that I could see. Pubs sold delivery beer, restaurants went full-on collection and delivery, coffee shops turned into walk-throughs.

Tougher time absolutely, but almost all the visible small businesses in my area survived lockdown.