Assassination

   


Context: In the early 1900s, Austria-Hungary wanted to stop nationalist movements within their multi-national empire, especially in the Balkans (Southeast Europe). The Austria-Hungary Empire included millions of Croats, Bohemians, and other Slavic people, many of whom wanted political freedom and self-rule. Austria-Hungry however, wanted to maintain rule over its minority populations in Eastern Europe.

Serbia has a large Slavic population. It hoped to absorb all the Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula. Russia, itself a mostly Slavic nation, supported Serbian nationalism. Austria-Hungary vowed to crush and Serbian effort to undermine its authority in the Balkans.

Russia was part of the Triple Entente, while Austria-Hungary was part of the Triple Alliance. The Balkans was a “powder keg” which threatened peace in an already unstable Europe. All it needed was a spark to set it off. 

The Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand

Gavrilo Princip was a Serbian nationalist whose assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Countess Sophie in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, prompted the Austrian action against Serbia that led to World War I.

Having grown up in Bosnia under Austrian rule, Princip felt that he must take action against the oppressors. Princip became a member of the secret society called the Black Hand. The Black Hand was an ethnic Serbian terrorist organization composed mainly of teenagers. They were committed to ridding Serbia of Austrian rule.

On June 28^th, 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and his wife Sophie were visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, in the Balkans. Sarajevo was a Serbian-populated region in the Austrian Empire. The royal pair was shot at point-blank range by 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip as they rode through the streets of Sarajevo in an open car.

An Assassin’s Story

The incident that finally brought the nations of Europe to war involved a secret society and the actions of one of its members in the city of Sarajevo. The Austrian archduke was assassinated (murdered). Word War I had begun.

            See if you can learn why this one incident was explosive enough to lead to war. Why did Princip feel that it was his duty to kill the archduke?

Sarajevo July 1, 1914

My name is Gavrilo Princip. I am a Bosnian Serb who dreams. I dream that someday all the Slavic people will be united under the flag of one country: Serbia.

I hate the rulers of Austria-Hungary. They do not like the Slavic people. They do not give us the same rights as the other peoples who live in their empire. It is my duty to wake up the Slavic people. They must revolt and join their brothers and sisters in building a greater Serbia!

For months, I trained with members of a secret society called the Black Hand. We believed that only violence and terror would make our dream come true. My friends taught me how to use a pistol. I hoped to use this skill very soon.

My friends and I were now ready for our most important mission. We knew that the Austrian archduke, Francis Ferdinand and his wife were visiting Bosnia on June 28. They were not to leave the country alive! Our leaders told us that the archduke planned to make life easier for the Slavic people when he became emperor. We could not have this! If his reforms helped the Slavic people, they would never revolt. The archduke had to be stopped before he ruined our dreams of a greater Serbia!

The archduke and his wife were riding in an open car. One of our leaders had prepared a bomb. The car stopped at a bride and the bomb was thrown. The crowd screamed as the bomb exploded. When the smoke cleared, I saw wounded people lying in the street. But the archduke and his wife were not hurt. I shivered to think that we had failed in our mission.

The driver turned the car past the corner where I was standing. It seemed too late for me to do anything. But wait! The car was slowly backing up. I could see the archduke and his wife very clearly. They were sitting just a few yards in front of me. The car was moving very, very slowly. I reached for my gun, moved forward, and pointed it at my enemy. I shot once and hit the archduke in the neck. Then his wife covered him with her body. I shot her too! Long live the Slavic people! Long Live Serbia!

Postscript

            Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated on June 28, 1914. One month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia, Serbia’s protector, alerted its troops and sent them to the borders of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany responded by declaring war on Russia.

            Believing that the French would soon attack, Germany declared war on France. The British warned that they would enter the war if neutral Belgium was invaded by any of the nations at war. On August 4, 1914, Germany invaded Belgium in an effort to attack France. Britain then declared war on Germany. The two armed camps now tried to settle their differences on the battlefield.

            The Triple Entente countries – France, Britain, and Russia – were joined by Italy and Japan. They were now called the Allies. These powers were confronted by the Central Powers which now included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), and Bulgaria.