InxJune 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, together with his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, made a formal visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina to inspect a contingent of imperial troops. Their route was made known in advance and, for some, this was seen as an opportunity not to be missed. Plans for his assassination were drawn up in Belgrade, capital of Serbia, by a revolutionary movement known as Young Bosnia, supported by The Black Hand, a like organisation. Their aim was to incite an armed revolt and make Bosnia-Herzegovina, with its large Serb population, part of a greater Serbia. In this respect Ferdinand was a “legitimate” target, because he favoured a third state within Austria-Hungary, equal in status, encompassing all the Slavic lands in the south. If that were instigated, then the hopes of increasing the territory and, ipso facto, the prestige of Serbia, would be lost.

    On the day of the visit, seven young men lined the route, armed with grenades and pistols, and each carrying a cyanide capsule for use in the event of their being captured. The royal couple, travelling in an open-topped car, were first attacked soon after entering the city. One of the assassins hurled a bomb at the vehicle as it moved along Appel Quay, but it missed its target. It bounced off the folded roofing at the back and exploded under the car following directly behind, wounding two of the guards and a number of bystanders. Although badly shaken, Ferdinand attended a reception at the Town Hall, and then insisted on visiting the hospital to see the two wounded officers before resuming his journey. It was then that disaster struck. Taking a slightly different route, the driver lost his way and, on reversing the car near Latin Bridge, came face to face with another of the assassins, axyoung Bosnian named Gavrilo Princip. He opened fire at point blank range and the royal couple quickly died from their wounds.

     The assassination caused widespread international outrage. In Austria-Hungary itself, there were anti-serbian demonstrations throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina, and serious outbreaks of violence in Sarajevo itself. After a series of trials involving the assassins and those found to be involved in the plot, six were executed and some twenty were given various lengths of imprisonment. Princip, aged nineteen (pictured here) was sentenced to twenty years in prison (the maxium for his age), but died of malnutrition and tuberculosis in April 1918. His guards attempted to hide his bones in an unmarked grave, but they were discovered in 1920 and buried beneath the Vidovdan Heroes Chapel in Sarajevo.

     On the diplomatic front there followed what came to be known as the “July Crisis”. An outraged Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, immediately condemned at what he saw as a Serbian inspired atrocity – as it so seemed – but, aware of Russia’s strong support for the Balkans nationalist movements, he hesitated over what action he should take. But there was no such hesitation on the part of Germany. The Kaiser, Wilhelm II, immediately offered support “as required by alliance obligations and ancient friendship”. This response, could be seen as a “blank cheque” as far as Austria-Hungary was concerned, but it is unlikely that the Kaiser saw this minor matter as leading to a European war. He considered that Czarist Russia, though offering support to the Serbs, was not yet ready to risk a major war at this time. Indeed, it had yet to finish the rearmament programme then being financed by France. So, Austria-Hungary would settle the matter one way or another, and this would be a triumph, politically or militarily, for the Central Powers in the Balkans. The German military also favoured action, but for a very different reason. Well armed and well prepared, they were anxious to stretch their muscles in an all-out conflict. The German military commander Helmuth von Moltke advised Franz Joseph to mobilize against Russia “without delay”.

     As we shall see, on the 23rd of July Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum to the Serb government. Europe was on the brink of the First World War.

     In the summer of 1914, with Europe dominated by two large opposing blocs – the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the looser entente between France, Britain and Russia – the spark that set the First World War alight could have come from a number of sources. The Agardir Crisis of 1911, for example, arose from a colonial dispute. This was but one of many disagreements that could have been “conjured up” in the aftermath of “The Grab for Africa”. But the fact that the causus belli arose in the Balkans – known as the “powder-keg” of Europe at this time – is certainly no cause for surprise. The Austro-Hungarian Empire itself was a multinational, multi-ethnic state, a mixture of race and religion that made for tension and constant calls for independence on the part of minorities. In Austria itself, Germans made up about 35% of the population, but there was a sizeable number of Czechs, Slovaks and Poles. In Bosnia Herzegovina – the area currently in dispute and only part of the Empire since 1908 – Moslems accounted for almost a third of the population, and Serbs were estimated at over 40%. In Hungary, the Magyars (the early settlers) made up close to half the population, but there was a sizeable number of Germans and Slovaks. This was a fertile area for nationalism, a nationalism with a distinct militaristic flavour, be it local or wider afield.

     Incidentally, the region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the Serbian-Bulgarian border to the Black Sea. “Balkan” means mountain in Turkish.

THE ASSASSINATION OF ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND:  28TH JUNE 1914

    ArchdukexFranz Ferdinand (1863-1914) was the eldest son of Archduke Charles Louis, brother of the Emperor Franz Joseph. The death of the heir apparent, Archduke Rudolf, in 1889 made him next in succession to the Austro-Hungarian throne following his father’s death in 1896. He married Sophie, countess of Chotek, a lady-in-waiting, but only after renouncing his future children’s right to the throne. Trained as a soldier, he had significant influence in military matters, and in 1913 was appointed inspector general of the Austro-Hungarian forces. He was in favour of granting greater automony to ethnic groups, but he had little regard for the Hungarians, seeing them as a threat to the Habsburg dynasty. Ironically, he advocated a careful approach towards the Serbs, fearing that any harsh treatment towards them might cause tension or even open conflict with Russia.

     As noted above, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand led to Austria sending a six-point ultimatum to Serbia, the terms of which Belgrade could not possibly accept. War was to be the answer, a war which was to engulf virtually the whole of Europe and many battlefields beyond.

Acknowledgements

Franz Ferdinand: Spartus Educational. Assassination: en.wikipedia.org Italian newspaper Domenica del Corriere 12th July 1914 by Italian painter and illustrator Achille Beltrame. Gavrilo Princip: commons.wikimedia.org. Map of Austro-Hungarian Empire: EncyclopediaBritannica.Inc. Series: detail: BBC; history.com; youtube.com; militarywar art.com; youtube.com. Cartoons:Arms Race: Germany Rising by W.J. Reader. manchester hive, Entente Cordiale: Francois Terrade, francais-a-Londres.org. Balkan Wars: Le Petit Journal, October 1908. Rasool ur-Rahmah-Word Press. com. Russo-Japanese War: alphahistory.com. Archduke Franz Ferdinand: store.steampowered.com. photographer unknown.

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An hour before the attack

THE ASSASSINATION

     The assassination of Franz Ferdinand took place on the 28th June 1914. It can be argued that it proved a truly momentous date in the history of the world. It led not only to the outbreak of the First World War – a conflict of unprecedented slaughter – but also, in its long and troubled wake: the total failure of the Versailles Treaty to establish a formula for peace in Europe; the rise of Nazi Germany as a result; the Second World War (a truly global conflict); and the nuclear threat that dominated the so-called “Cold War”, not concluded until the collapse of Russian communism in 1991. It must be said of course, that in history one can only judge the past, but sometimes a particular historical occurence has the where-with-all to shape events long into the future. Perhaps the outbreak of the First World War, or rather its major cause, was such an event.

     Incidentally, this date also has a special significance in Serbian history. It was on that day in 1389 (15th June in the Julian Calender) that the Muslim Ottomans, led by Bayezid I, son of Sultan Murad, won the Battle of Kosovo, defeating the Serbs and conquering vast parts of what is today known as the Balkans. The Serbs remember this battle as their darkest hour, but also take pride in their endurance and eventual return to nationhood.

MAJOR EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR

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