CAN YOU SOLVE THE CRIME OF THE 20TH CENTURY?

On June 28th 1914, the heir to the kingdom of Austria-

Hungary – Archduke Franz Ferdinand – arrived in the
Bosnian city of Sarajevo. It was his wedding anniversary, so
he was joined on the visit by his wife, Sophie. Bosnia was
part of Austria-Hungary – but only since 1908 when it has
been annexed. Many Bosnians were still deeply unhappy
about this. They wanted to join with their neighbours,
Serbia, and many Serbians wanted Bosnia to join with them.
One gang of Serbians, known as the ‘Black Hand’, decided
to take drastic action to highlight their cause – they planned
to assassinate the Archduke.

Extract from a KS3 history textbook.

A drawing printed in a newspaper, July

1914.

Photograph of the open top car the Archduke and his

wife were travelling in when they arrived in Sarajevo on
Photograph of the murder weapon. June 28th 1914.

I saw the assassin, a Serbian called Gavrilo Princip, step out of a shop. Stopped at the corner was the Archduke
Ferdinand in the back of his open car. Princip pulled out his gun, took two steps forward, and shot him in the
neck...dead.

An eyewitness describes the assassination.

Use the sources to solve the crime.

Source Who was How were they Who were they Why were they
murdered? murdered? murdered by? murdered?
On June 28th 1914, the heir to the Many Bosnians were still deeply I saw the assassin, a Serbian
Drawing from a kingdom of Austria-Hungary – Archduke unhappy about this. They wanted to decided to take drastic action
called Gavrilo Princip, step out
Franz Ferdinand – arrived in the Bosnian join with their neighbours, Serbia, of a shop. Stopped at the
newspaper city of Sarajevo. It was his wedding and many Serbians wanted Bosnia
to highlight their cause – they
planned to assassinate the
corner was the Archduke
anniversary, so he was joined on the visit to join with them. One gang of Ferdinand in the back of his
Archduke.
by his wife, Sophie. Bosnia was part of Serbians, known as the ‘Black open car. Princip pulled out his
Austria-Hungary – but only since 1908. Hand’, gun, took two steps forward,
and shot him in the neck...dead.

CAN YOU SOLVE THE CRIME OF THE 20TH CENTURY?

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife arrived at Sarajevo
train station at 9:28am. They were driven towards the Town
Hall to meet the Mayor. Crowds lined the streets and the car
drove slowly so that the royal couple could wave to the
people.

Six Black Hand assassins waited for the car by the Cumurja
Bridge. As the open-topped car passed, one of the Serbians
threw a bomb at the royal couple. The bomb ended up
beneath the car behind and blew up, injuring several people.
The Archduke’s car sped off to the Town Hall.

The Archduke cancelled the rest of the visit but decided to

visit those injured by the bomb before he went home. As Princip in his prison cell in 1915.
they passed Schiller’s cafe, the driver was informed that he
had taken a wrong turn. He stopped to turn around.

After the bomb attack, the assassins had split up and run
into the crowds. By coincidence, one of the gang – 19-year-
old Gavrilo Princip – was standing outside the cafe. He took
out a pistol, walked towards the car and fired two shots.
Ferdinand was hit in the throat; his wife Sophie was shot in
the stomach. Both were killed.

Schiller’s cafe.

How did this murder lead to war?

28th July Austria-Hungary blames Serbia for killing the Archduke and attacks Serbia.

29th July Russia, which has promised to protect Serbia against attack, gets its army ready to
attack Austria-Hungary.

1st August Germany, which supports Austria Hungary, hears about Russian preparations for
war and declares war on Russia.

3rd August Germany declares war on France, hoping to defeat the French quickly then face the
Russians.

4th August Germany marches through Belgium to attack France. Britain, which has a deal to
protect Belgium from attack, declares war on Germany.

WHAT WERE THE MAIN LONG-TERM CAUSES OF WWI?

The MAIN long-term causes of WWI:

Militarism The belief that a country should have a strong armed forces and be prepared to use it.

Alliance Groups of countries that agree to back each other up in war.

Imperialism To gain control of land and people around the world and build an empire.

Nationalism To love your country and think it’s superior to others.

Militarism
People took great pride in their armies and navies. To
make sure that theirs were the best, countries spent
more and more money on bigger and bigger armies.
Nobody wanted the smallest army, so countries got
caught up in an arms race. To many, there was no
point in having a big, expensive army if you weren’t
going to use it, and whenever countries fell out the
temptation to use these weapons was always there.
Imperialism
Alliances
As each country began to feel threatened, they
looked for friends to back them up in a war – known
as allies. Europe split into two alliances. Britain,
France and Russia formed the Triple Entente, and
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the
Triple Alliance. The idea was to put people off
starting a war as it would mean fighting against three
countries instead of one. Although this made them
feel more secure, it meant that one disagreement
between any two countries could drag all of Europe
into a war.

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Britain had conquered lots of land all over the world
by 1914 and had a huge empire. But other countries
wanted big empires too. The race to gain control of
other countries, particularly in Africa, led to fierce
rivalries among European countries. They began to
see each other as a threat to their overseas
possessions and thought war was the only way to
remove this threat permanently.
Nationalism
At the beginning of the 20th century, people started
to take great pride in their countries. This is called
‘nationalism’ – thinking that your country is better
than others. Unfortunately, for many leaders of
Europe, the best way to prove they were the best was
to have a war with their rivals.

WHY DID THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN FAIL?

Outbreak of war
28th July Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

29th July Russia, which has promised to help Serbia, gets its army ready for war.

1st August Germany, which supports Austria Hungary, declares war on Russia.

3rd August Germany declares war on France and invades Belgium (to get to France).

4th August Britain, which has promised to protect Belgium, declares war on Germany.
Germany’s master plan
The generals in charge of Germany’s army had been
expecting a major war for years. To get off to the best
possible start, they had come up with a number of
plans that they could put into action when war was
declared. Their wost nightmare was a war against
France and Russia at the same time – known as a war
on two fronts. A front is the name given to the area
where two armies meet each other. A war against
France and Russia would mean that the Germans
Schlieffen Plan in theory
would have to split their army in two – one going east
to fight Russia and the other going west to fight
France.

The plan they came up with to deal with this problem

was called the Schlieffen Plan, named after the man
who thought it up. The idea was to quickly defeat
France with a knock-out blow through Belgium
before moving soldiers east to face the enormous, but
slow moving, Russian army.

Schlieffen Plan in reality

Germany’s mistaken plan

On August 3rd 1914, the Germans put the Schlieffen Plan into action. Straightaway things started to go wrong.
For a start, the Belgian army – which the Germans expected to be a pushover – put up fierce resistance and
slowed the charge to France right down. Then the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), a highly trained
professional army of 125,000 men, held the Germans back at Mons. On August 19th, the Russians launched an
attack on Germany. This was far quicker than the Germans had expected and before they had a chance to
capture Paris. They were forced to send troops east to face the Russians and, by September, the German army
had retreated 40 miles behind the River Aisne. There, they dug trenches and set up machine gun nests. The
British and French couldn’t break through these defences and dug their own trenches directly opposite. By the
end of 1914 the trenches stretched all the way from the English Channel to Switzerland. Neither side could
find a way through. The war was stuck in a stalemate.

Past its sell by date

The Schlieffen Plan was dreamt up in the nineteenth century. By the time it was put into action not only was
Schlieffen dead, but the world had changed. Railways and lorries moved defending troops far quicker than
they did in Schlieffen’s time and steamships sped the BEF across the Channel. The French even hired over 600
taxi cabs to ferry extra troops into battle!
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