Assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip
Franz Ferdinand was entitled to inherit the throne of Austria-Hungary. He along with his wife Sophie were shot to death during an official visit to the Bosnian which was the capital of Sarajevo by a Bosnian Serb nationalist on 28th June 1914. This assassination worked as a spark in a chain of events that were responsible for leading to the outbreak of World War I. After five years later of the death of Franz Ferdinand on 28th June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany and the Allied Powers to officially mark the end of World War I.
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This assassination was done by Gavrilo Princip whose political aim was to free Bosnia of Austria-Hungarian rule and the development of a common South Slav state. The assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia and a factor causing the First World War.
Who was Gavrilo Princip?
On 25th July 1894, Gavrilo Princip was born in Obljaj, Bosnia. He was a South Slav nationalist who he famous for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife Sophie at Sarajevo, Bosnia in 1914. This act of Garvilo Princip provided an excuse to Austria-Hungary that plotted against Serbia and later precipitated World War I.
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He was born into a Bosnian Serb peasant family. He was given training in terrorism by the Serbian secret society known as the Black Hand. He wanted to destroy the rule of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans and to unite the people of South Slav into a federal nation. To accomplish his aim, he thought that the assassination of a member of the Habsburg imperial family or a high official of the government would be the first step.
Details of the Assassination
The eldest son of Archduke Charles Louis and brother of the emperor Franz Joseph, Franz Ferdinand tried to restore Austro-Russian understanding. In 1914, He was in Bosnia, the Austro-Hungarian province. His wife named Sophie accompanied him. He was appointed there as inspector general of the imperial army. The politics of Balkan were turbulent, and Bosnia was coveted by the neighboring Kingdom of Serbia. The date selected for this royal visit and Hapsburg (prominent royal house of Europe) presentation of force was 28 June which is a black date in the history of Serbia. It was the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo (1389) when the Turkish won over Serbia.
The royal couple was ignorant of the fact that many assassins were waiting for them on the way to their preannounced stops. They were riding in a motorcade through Sarajevo in an open-topped car. In the morning huge crowd was cheering in the wide avenue called Appel Quay. They’re one of the attackers named Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a grenade at the car of the royal couple. The bomb exploded behind them by bouncing off the back of the vehicle and the injured members of the entourage were in the next car.
The royal couple was shaken by this incident but they attended the planned reception at City Hall. They insisted to change their pre-decided schedule. They visited the hospital to check on one of the officers injured in the morning attack. The drivers drove the motorcade in the wrong direction where the conspirators were still present. This opportunity of killing the royal couple was sized by Garvilo Princip, a compatriot of Cabrinovic who was just 19 years old. When the royal motorcade ran on a side street and in order to turn it stopped. He shot Franz Ferdinand and Sophie with a Browning pistol by approaching the car of the royal couple. The royal couple died because of the shot.
Assassination Led to World War I
After killing the royal couple, Garvilo Princip tried to shoot himself but was apprehended by bystanders. In the wake of the assassination riots and anti-Serb protests followed throughout Austria-Hungary. One month later of this assassination, Austria-Hungary had announced a war on Serbia, the country behind the murders. The set of the Triple Alliance was among Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy against allies of Serbia in the Triple Entente (Russia, France, and Britain). This momentum became unstoppable and became the reason for World War I which is the deadliest in history. Later all of the conspirators were arrested. Princip was at a young age so he was exempted from the death penalty was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In 1918, he died in prison from tuberculosis.
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Did You Know?
Entente Powers or the Allies of World War I was a coalition of countries led by, Britain, Italy, Russia, Japan, France, and the United States against the Central Powers of Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, etc. during the First World War (1914–1918).
Hence we get to know why was archduke Ferdinand assassinated and how the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip became the initial spark of World War I. The countries of the world are divided into two groups. This was a cruel and unethical assassination because they were guests in Bosnia as they came for a state visit but led to death.
FAQs on Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
1. What happened on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo?
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated while on an official visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina. A group of assassins made an initial attempt on their lives with a bomb, which failed. However, later that day, their motorcade took a wrong turn, bringing them face-to-face with another assassin, Gavrilo Princip, who shot and killed both of them at point-blank range.
2. Who was Archduke Franz Ferdinand and why was he important?
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph and the heir presumptive to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His assassination was politically significant because it removed the future ruler of a major European power. He was visiting Sarajevo to inspect imperial armed forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a region that Austria-Hungary had annexed in 1908, much to the anger of Serbian nationalists who wished for the territory to be part of a greater Serbian state.
3. Who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and what group was he a part of?
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb. Princip was a member of a revolutionary movement called Young Bosnia and was part of a group of assassins trained and armed by a secret society known as the Black Hand (Ujedinjenje ili Smrt – 'Union or Death'). This group was dedicated to the cause of Serbian nationalism and the liberation of South Slavs from Austro-Hungarian rule.
4. What were the main political goals behind the assassination?
The primary political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's South Slav provinces so they could be combined into a new nation, Yugoslavia. The assassins and their backers believed that killing the Archduke would:
Destabilise the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Provoke a crisis that could lead to the liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Advance the cause of Serbian nationalism and Pan-Slavism.
5. How did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand lead to World War I?
The assassination was the immediate catalyst for World War I, but not its sole cause. It triggered a series of events that escalated due to a rigid system of military alliances and pre-existing tensions. The sequence was as follows:
Austria-Hungary, with a 'blank check' of support from Germany, issued a harsh ultimatum to Serbia, which was partially rejected.
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.
Russia, an ally of Serbia, began to mobilise its army.
Germany, an ally of Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia and then on France.
Germany invaded Belgium to attack France, which led Britain to declare war on Germany.
6. What was the 'July Crisis' that followed the assassination?
The 'July Crisis' refers to the month-long period of diplomatic and military escalation among the major powers of Europe that followed the assassination. It began with Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia and ended with the declarations of war that marked the beginning of WWI. This crisis was characterised by a series of ultimatums, mobilisations, and failed diplomatic efforts, as the interlocking system of alliances leading to World War I pulled each nation into the conflict.
7. Why is the assassination considered the 'spark' and not the main cause of WWI?
The assassination is called the 'spark' because it ignited a continent already saturated with the 'fuel' for a major war. The true, long-term causes had been building for decades and are often summarised by the acronym M.A.I.N.:
Militarism: An arms race and the build-up of large, powerful armies and navies.
Alliances: The rigid Triple Entente and Triple Alliance systems that committed nations to defend each other.
Imperialism: Competition between European powers for colonies and resources.
Nationalism: Intense patriotism and the desire of ethnic groups (like the Serbs) for self-determination.
