ASSASSINATION OF FRANZ FERDINAND

Two bullets fired on a Sarajevo street on a sunny June morning in 1914 set in
motion a series of events that shaped the world we live in today. World War
One, World War Two, the Cold War and its conclusion all trace their origins
to the gunshots that interrupted that summer day.

The victims, Archduke Franz Ferdinand - heir to the throne of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire, and his wife Sophie, were in the Bosnian city in
conjunction with Austrian troop exercises nearby. The couple was returning
from an official visit to City Hall. The assassin, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip
burned with the fire of Slavic nationalism. He envisioned the death of the
Berliners cheer a regiment of
Archduke as the key that would unlock the shackles binding his people to the
Lancers headed for the Front.
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
August 1914
A third party, Serbia, figured prominently in the plot. Independent Serbia provided the guns, ammunition and training
that made the assassination possible.

The Balkan Region of Europe entered the twentieth century much as she left it: a caldron of seething political intrigue
needing only the slightest increase of heat to boil over into open conflict. The shots that day in Sarajevo pushed the
caldron to the boiling point and beyond.

Seven conspirators joined the crowd lining the Archduke's route to City Hall. Each took a different position, ready to
attack the royal car if the opportunity presented itself. The six-car procession approached one conspirator,
Gabrinovic (or Cabrinovic), who threw his bomb only to see it bounce off the Archduke's car and explode near the
following car.

Unhurt, the Archduke and his wife sped to the reception at City Hall. The ceremonies finished, the Royal procession
amazingly retraced its steps bringing the Archduke into the range of the leader of the conspiracy, Gavrilo Princip.
More amazingly, the royal car stopped right in front of Princip providing him the opportunity to fire two shots. Both
bullets hit home.

A Serbian terrorist group, called The Black Hand, had decided that the Archduke should be assassinated
and the planned visit provided the ideal opportunity. Seven young men who had been trained in bomb
throwing and marksmanship were stationed along the route that Franz Ferdinand's car would follow from
the City Hall to the inspection.

The first two terrorists were unable to throw their grenades because the streets were too crowded and the
car was travelling quite fast. The third terrorist, a young man called Cabrinovic, threw a grenade which
exploded under the car following that of the Archduke. Although the Archduke and his wife were unhurt,
some of his attendants were injured and had to be taken to hospital.

After lunch at the City Hall, Franz Ferdinand insisted on visiting the injured attendants in
hospital. However, on the way to the hospital the driver took a wrong turn. Realising his
mistake he stopped the car and began to reverse. Another terrorist, named Gavrilo
Princip, stepped forward and fired two shots. The first hit the pregnant Sophia in the
stomach, she died almost instantly. The second shot hit the Archduke in the neck. He
died a short while later.
 CAUSES OF WWI
Introduction
World War I was the result of leaders' aggression towards other countries which was supported by the rising
nationalism of the European nations. Economic and imperial competition and fear of war prompted military alliances
and an arms race, which further escalated the tension contributing to the outbreak of war.

Nationalism
At the settlement of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the principle of nationalism was ignored in favor of preserving
the peace. Germany and Italy were left as divided states, but strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the
unification of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871. Another result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was
that France was left seething over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. Revenge was a major goal of the French.
Nationalism posed a problem for Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, areas comprised of many conflicting national
groups. The ardent Panslavism of Serbia and Russia's willingness to support its Slavic brother conflicted with Austria-
Hungary's Pan-Germanism.

Imperialism

Another factor which contributed to the increase in rivalry in Europe was imperialism. Great Britain, Germany and
France needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. These
countries competed for economic expansion in Africa. Although Britain and France resolved their differences in
Africa, several crises foreshadowing the war involved the clash of Germany against Britain and France in North
Africa. In the Middle East, the crumbling Ottoman Empire was alluring to Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia.

Bismarck and Alliances

World War I was caused in part by the two opposing alliances developed by Bismarckian diplomacy after the Franco-
Prussian War. In order to diplomatically isolate France, Bismarck formed the Three Emperor's League in 1872, an
alliance between Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary. When the French occupied Tunisia, Bismarck took
advantage of Italian resentment towards France and created the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy and Austria-
Hungary in 1882. Russia and Austria-Hungary grew suspicious of each other over conflicts in the Balkans in 1887, but
Bismarck repaired the damage to his alliances with a Reinsurance Treaty with Russia, allowing both powers to stay
neutral if the other was at war.

Collapse of Bismarckian Alliances

However, after Otto von Bismarck was fired by German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1890, the traditional dislike of
Slavs kept Bismarck's successors from renewing the understanding with Russia. France took advantage of this
opportunity to get an ally, and the Franco- Russian Entente was formed in 1891, which became a formal alliance in
1894. The Kruger telegram Wilhelm II sent to congratulate the leader of the Boers (in South Africa) for defeating the
British in 1896, his instructions to the German soldiers to behave like Huns in China during the Boxer Rebellion, and
particularly the large- scale navy he was building all contributed to British distrust of Germany.

As a result, Britain and France overlooked all major imperialistic conflict between them and formed the Entente
Cordiale in 1904. Russia formed an Entente with Britain in 1907 after they had reached an understanding with
Britain's ally Japan and Wilhelm II had further alienated Russia by supporting Austrian ambitions in the Balkans. The
Triple Entente, an informal coalition between Great Britain, France and Russia, now countered the Triple Alliance.
International tension was greatly increased by the division of Europe into two armed camps.

Arms Race
The growing hostilities led to an arms race, another cause of World War I. Acknowledging that Germany was the
leader in military organization and efficiency, the great powers of Europe copied the universal conscription (military
draft), large soldier reserves, and detailed planning of the German system. Technological and organizational
developments led to the formation of general staffs with precise plans for mobilization and attack that often could not
be reversed once they were begun.

Armies and navies were greatly expanded. The standing armies of France and Germany doubled in size between 1870
and 1914. Naval expansion was also extremely competitive, particularly between Germany and Great Britain. By
1889, the British had established the principle that in order to maintain naval superiority in the event of war they
would have to have a navy two and a half times as large as the second-largest navy. This motivated the British to
launch the Dreadnought, invented by Admiral Sir John Fisher, in 1906. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 had
demonstrated how effective these battleships were. As Britain increased their output of battleships, Germany
correspondingly stepped up their naval production, including the Dreadnought. Although efforts for worldwide
disarmament were made at the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, international rivalry caused the arms race to
continue to feed on itself.

Crises in Africa

The friction of an armed and divided Europe escalated into several crises in Morocco and the Balkans which nearly
ended in war. In 1905, Germany announced its support of independence for Morocco, the African colony which
Britain had given France in 1904. The British defended the French, and war was avoided by a international conference
in Algeciras in 1906 which allowed France to make Morocco a French protectorate.

Bosnian Crisis of 1908

Another conflict was incited by the Austria-Hungarian annexation of the former Turkish province of Bosnia in 1908.
The Greater Serbian movement had as an object the acquisition of Slavic Bosnia, so Serbia threatened war on Austria-
Hungary. Russia had pledged their support to Serbia, so they began to mobilize, which caused Germany, allied with
Austria-Hungary, to threaten war on Russia. The beginning of World War I was postponed when Russia backed down,
but relations between Austria- Hungary and Serbia were greatly strained.

Assassination in Sarajevo

Europe had reached its breaking point when on June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-
Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by a Serbian nationalist belonging to an organization known
as the Black Hand (Narodna Obrana). Immediately following the assassination Germany pledged its full support
(blank check) to Austria-Hungary, pressuring them to declare war on Serbia, while France strengthened its backing of
Russia. Convinced that the Serbian government had conspired against them, Austria-Hungary issued Serbia an
unacceptable ultimatum, to which Serbia consented almost entirely.

Falling Dominoes

Unsatisfied, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. On July 29, Russia ordered a partial
mobilization only against Austria-Hungary in support of Serbia, which escalated into a general mobilization. The
Germans threatened war on July 31 if the Russians did not demobilize. Upon being asked by Germany what it would
do in the event of a Russo-German War, France responded that it would act in its own interests and mobilized. On
August 1, Germany declared war on Russia, and two days later, on France. The German invasion of Belgium to attack
France, which violated Belgium's official neutrality, prompted Britain to declare war on Germany. World War I had
begun.
Zimmerman Telegram (1917)
U.S. Mobilizes for War
 The trench, when we reached it, was half full of mud and
water. We set to work to try and drain it. Our efforts were
hampered by the fact that the French, who had first
occupied it, had buried their dead in the bottom and sides.
Every stroke of the pick encountered a body. The smell
was awful. Private Pollard

No washing or shaving here, and the demands

of nature answered as quickly as possible in the
The stench of the dead bodies now handiest and deepest shell-hole. Guy Chapman
is awful as they have been
exposed to the sun for several The other one said to me "Chas, I am going home to my
days, many have swollen and wife and kids. I'll be some use to them as a cripple, but
burst. The trench is full of other none at all dead! I am starving here, and so are they at
home, we may as well starve together." With that he
occupants, things with lots of legs, fired a shot through his boot. When the medics got his
also swarms of rats. Sergeant A boot off, two of his toes and a lot of his foot had gone.
Vine But the injuring oneself to get out of it was quite
The othercommon.
soldiers in Charles
the hut Young
took their shirts off after tea.
They were catching lice. We had never seen a louse before, but
they were here in droves. The men were killing them between
their nails. Henry Gregory

All we lived on was tea and dog biscuits. If we got meat once a
week we were lucky, but imagine trying to eat standing in a
trench full of water with the smell of dead bodies nearby.
Richard Beasley

If you have never had trench feet described to you. I will tell you. Your feet swell
to twoActivity
or three times their normal size and go completely dead. You could stick a
bayonet into them and not feel a thing. If you are fortunate enough not to lose
These feet have trench foot
your feet
Imagine andyou
that theare
swelling begins to go down. It is then that
andthe intolerable,
frostbite caused by
aindescribable
soldier fighting inbegins. I have heard men cry and evenstanding
agony screamforwith theinpain
hours a freezing
the
andtrenches.
many hadWrite a their feet and legs amputated.
to have waterlogged
Sergeant trench.
Harry To avoid
Roberts
letter home this condition soldiers were told
to change their socks regularly,
describing the wear waterproof footwear or
conditions in the  2002 gumboots and cover their feet
trenches. www.historyonthenet.com with whale oil.