Archduke Franz Ferdinand: How a Wrong Turn Changed the World
The story of Archduke Franz Ferdinand has always fascinated me. If you think about it, his assassination was a pivotal point in history. It set things in motion which changed the world forever. Many believe that not only did this cause WW I, but root causes of WWII, Cold War, and present day events can be traced back to June 28, 1914.
The Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne decides he and his wife Sopie will visit one of the empire’s territories, Bosnia. Things are not stable in Bosnia, in fact, things are hot, and the Archduke is not popular. And among those who despised the Archduke was a 19-year-old named Gavilo Princip, a Slavic Nationalist. In Princip’s mind killing the Archduke meant freedom for the people of Bosnia, Serbia joined forces with Bosnia to rid themselves of what they thought was an oppressor of the people.
June 28th comes, and the Archduke and his wife are in a motorcade in Bosnia. The plot is to kill him as he drives through Sarajevo. One of the would-be assassins throws a bomb at the Archduke’s car. The Archduke narrowly escapes. The story goes that the Archduke insisted on visiting an aid at a hospital, who had been hurt in the blast. His driver completely unfamiliar with the roads makes a wrong turn and decides to ask for directions of a young man on the road. The young man on the road must’ve looked defeated, lifeless, as he, unbeknownst to the driver, was one of the conspirators involved in the foiled plot. You can imagine his surprise when he realizes, he’s got a second chance to kill the Archduke! And so he drew his pistol and killed the Archduke and his wife. And the course of events started from that point on. It was as if this part of the world was boiling for a very long time and the shot sparked a flame which started an explosion which has reverberated up on until the present day.
References: Rick Beyer, The Greatest Stories Never Told
“Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, 1914,” EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (1998)
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