On this day, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire along with his wife, Duchess Sofie were assassinated while visiting Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip. He was part of a secret movement called the Black Hand to fight for Bosnian independence from Austrian control. While they succeeded in their mission of eliminating the Archduke, it would have long-lasting consequences as this assassination was one of the main causes of World War I.
Assassination Plot
By the time of the 20th century, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in decline. Although still considered a great power on paper, the empire was beset by countless issues. The largest of these crises was the never-ending racial tensions within the empire. Although the ruling elite consisted of Germans and Hungarians, much of the population came from different minorities such as Serbs, Italians, Croats, and Bosnians. All of these minorities felt underrepresented by the ruling Habsburg Dynasty.
Tensions only grew as Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, a disputed territory between the empire and the Kingdom of Serbia. This led to Serbia secretly supporting underground Bosnian nationalist movements, including the Black Hand which Gavrilo Princip was a member. The Serbs secretly provided them with training, weapons, and information.
On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand decided to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina alongside his wife, Sophie to observe military drills as the archduke was the inspector general of the imperial army. However, this visit caused controversy as the Balkans remained unstable and turbulent. This visit was seen as a show of force as June 28 was also the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, when Serbia was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1389.
Despite these warnings, the royal couple continued through with their plans, traveling to Sarajevo in an open-topped car. This provided assassins such as Gavrilo Princip the opportunity to strike. One member of the Black Hand, Nedjelko Cabrinovic attempted to throw a grenade at the royal couple’s car, but the bomb instead struck the car behind them and injured several of the Archhduke’s entourage.
Rather than leave the city, the royal couple instead redirected their trip to visit the injured soldiers from the attack. However, confusion in the plan changes led the driver to take a wrong turn and head to a street where Gavrilo Princip happened to be. Seeing them so close, the young man pulled out his pistol and shot both Sophie and Franz Ferdinand. Shortly after he was arrested along with twenty-five other conspirators.
As most of the assassins were under 20, they were spared the death penalty. However, Gavrilo would be sentenced to 20 years in prison where he would eventually die of tuberculosis. However, his actions caused a political crisis between Serbia and Austria-Hungary.
Some took this as an opportunity to settle old scores as some in the Austro-Hungarian military used this as an opportunity to invade Serbia. Over time their complex web of alliance across Europe would bring more nations into the conflict.
“Yet it may be doubted whether the Archduke, hated and disliked by all the races of his future empire, is, even after the Scythian fashion, worth all this carnage. The willingness of Servia to make all amends and comply with all the conditions except one demanded of her, shows that avenging the Archduke is a mere pretext for a Servian invasion.”
-The Independent
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