Assassinating the ArchdukeHOW THE ASSASSINATION OF ONE RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT PERSON LED TO WORLD WAR I

Some background:

During this period of time there was much unrest in the Balkan Penninsula

1) As the Ottoman Empire was losing control of the region smaller states such as Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro wanted to either be independent or Serbia wanted them to be part of its empire

2) Austria formally annexes Bosnia in 1908 3) Serbia is not particularly happy about the annexation

Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne travels to Bosnia

He was sent by his uncle, the King of Austria, Franz Jospeph to Sarajevo

He was there to evaluate Austrian Army troop practice maneuvers going on outside of the city.

He capped off the trip with a parade through the city The entire parade route along the Appel Quay road was published

in newspapers

A group of Serbians try an assassination attempt

Serbia gathers a radical group of students into a group called “The Black Hand”

A young man named Cabrinovic hurls a grenade at the open car in which the Archduke and his wife are riding on the parade route

The bomb bounces off their car and explodes under the following car. There were a few injuries

The Archduke and his wife continue their meetings at city hall in Sarajevo

Cabrinovic, who threw the grenade was quickly captured

He tried to kill himself by taking a cyanide pill and drowning himself in the river

The cyanide pill that was supposed to kill him only made him vomit

The river was only a few inches deep so he had trouble trying to kill himself

The Police quickly captured him

The Driver of the Archduke’s car makes a wrong turn on the return route

While the car is stopped, another member of the Black Hand, Gavrilo Princip shoots both the Archduke and his wife

He is captured by surrounding crowds and turned over to the police

So how does the assassination of this person plunge a whole world into war?

It is connected to the long-term causes of militarism, imperialism and secret alliances come into play

The countries of Europe were looking for an excuse to fight1) Austria blames Serbia for the assassination declares war on Serbia2) Serbia turns to the Russians for help and Russia declares war on

Austria3) Austria asks for help from Germany because the Russians are involved.4) Russia asks France for help now that the Russians are involved5) When the Germans attack Belgium the British get involved6) Remember, that each of these places had colonies all over the world

who also became involved.

So what happened to Cabrinovic and Princip?

They died in prison from tuberculosis

Works Cited: History.com Staff. "Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Assassinated." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.