..and just like that, Issue #10 already. Thanks for the support so far, truly appreciated.
Big one for you today. The first drops of blood in a war that would spill so much, the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Arguably the event that commenced The Great War in Europe, and possibly the most well known case of the butterfly effect in modern history. A story of sheer coincidence, and one that very nearly didn’t happen.
Grab a coffee and take a break from work. In fact, fuck it, have the rest of the day off, you can’t work too hard can you.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Born 18th December 1863, Franz was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and the heir presumptive* to the Austria-Hungary throne.
Franz, like most in his family, lived a military life, entering the Austro-Hungarian army at a young age. He climbed the ranks quickly, becoming a Lieutenant and 14, Captain at 22, Colonel at 27 and Major General at 31.
He also held honorary ranks in the Navy, and received the rank of Admiral at the close of the Austro-Hungarian naval manoeuvres in September 1902.
*For you folk wondering - Heir Presumptive means the person entitled to inherit the throne next, unless they’re displaced by the birth of another with a stronger claim.
Not alike Heir Apparent, meaning the heirs claim cannot be displaced.
- Look at that, smarter every day.
Gavrilo Princip
Born 25th July 1894 to a poor Serb family in western Bosnia, Gavrilo Princip was the man who assassinated both Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.
At the age of 13, Princip moved to Sarajevo to study at a Merchants’ school where he became politically aware.
In 1911, aged 17, Gavrilo joined Young Bosnia, a secret society aimed at freeing Bosnia from Austrian rule, aimed at unifying the South Slavs.
Princip was eventually expelled from school and found himself in Belgrade, Serbia. Where, during the first Balkan War in 1912, he volunteered for the Serbian army, but was rejected for being ‘too small and weak’ - the start of little man syndrome?
In 1913, Princip and two other young Bosnians plotted to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand during his visit to Sarajevo. Unknown to them, another secret society named The Black Hand had the same idea..
The Black Hand was led by Bosnian Serb Danilo Ilić
Upon discovering about each others plot, Ilić and his men joined Princip and gathered equipment for the job. Preparing themselves with four Browning FN 1910 automatic pistols, 6 hand grenades and a handful of cyanide pills.
Including Ilić & Princip, there were 7 confidants in total.
Gavrilo Princip - 1915
Sunday, June 28th 1914
The day of the assassination was an eventful one to say the least, with were being multiple attempts on the Archdukes’ life throughout the day.
The morning of June 28th, Ilić positioned his 6 accomplices along the planned motorcade route the Archduke was to take.
Once Archduke Ferdinand arrived at Sarajevo train station, there were 6 cars waiting for him.
By mistake, three local police officers got into the first car with the Chief Officer of Special Security. The other officers who were supposed to accompany their Chief got left behind.
The second car carried the Mayor and the Chief of Police of Sarajevo.
The third car was an open sports car with the top folded down. Archduke Ferdinand, Sophie, Governor Potiorek and Colonel Count Franz von Harrach all rode in the car.
The 1911 Gräf & Stift 28/32 PS in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding in the day of his assassination - Museum of Military History, Vienna
Ilić had placed the first assassin, Mehmedbašić, in front of the Mostar Cafe armed with a grenade.
But as the motorcade passed him, Mehmedbašić failed to act.
Ilić had positioned second assassin, Vaso Čubrilović next to Mehmedbašić, armed with a pistol and a grenade.
But he too failed to act.
- I don’t think The Black Hand were paying enough, not the best fucking start eh lads?
At 10:10 am, Ferdinand’s car approached Nedeljko Čabrinović, the third assassin.
Čabrinović threw his grenade at the car, which bounced off the back of the convertible and rolled under the car behind, blowing it up and wounding 20 people.
- Wrong car, Ned.
Čabrinović then swallowed his cyanide pill and jumped into the adjacent river. The suicide attempt failed.
The old cyanide only caused Ned to vomit, and the river was only 13 cm deep in summer..
Ned was pulled out of the river and was badly beaten up by onlookers before being taken away by police.
- I sort of feel sorry for the man, what a shit day he had.
Ferdinand’s car proceeded to speed away towards the Town Hall, leaving the wrecked car behind.
The final three aspiring assassins - Gavrilo Princip, Cvjetko Popović and Trifun Grabež all failed to act as Ferdinand passed them. - Good going, boys.
After arriving at the Town Hall, the Archduke was noticeably and understandably stressed. Interrupting the Mayors welcome speech, Ferdinand said “Mr. Mayor, I came here on a visit and I am greeted with bombs. It is outrageous.”
Ferdinand had to wait to speak, as his written speech, still wet with blood from being in the destroyed vehicle, was brought to him.
Ferdinand ad libbed over his prepared words - “as I see in them an expression of their joy at the failure of the attempt at assassination.”
At 10:45 am, Franz and Sophie got back into their vehicle and set off to Sarajevo Hospital, again in the third car. They intended on avoiding the crowded city centre, differing from the original route.
However, Governor Potiorek failed to announce the new plan. This resulted in the Archdukes chauffeur, Leopold Lojka taking a wrong turn over the Latin Bridge (Lateiner Bridge).
Assassination
After hearing that all attempts resulted in failure, Princip decided to reposition himself at a cafe (Schiller's delicatessen) near the Latin Bridge, hoping to catch Ferdinand on his return route.
Once the motorcade arrived near the cafe, both the first and second car suddenly turned into a side street, leaving the third car with the Archduke in, all alone.
Governor Potiorek, who again was a passenger in the car, shouted to the driver to stop. Lojka braked, but when he tried to put the car in reverse, he stalled.
To his amazement, Princip was sat outside the cafe just a few feet from a stalled Ferdinand. He immediately stepped up onto the footboard of the car and shot both Ferdinand & Sophie at point blank range.
The first bullet pierced Franz in the jugular, the second tore through the Duchess’ abdomen.
Princip subsequently tried to shoot himself, but was immediately apprehended by onlookers.
In his sentencing, Princip stated that his intention had been to kill Governor Potiorek, and not the Duchess.
Ferdinand final words were - "Sophie, Sophie! Don't die! Live for our children!” Followed by several utterances of "It is nothing" in response to the inquiry of his injuries.
Both were dead by 11:30 am, Sophie on arrival to the Governors residence, and Ferdinand just 10 minutes later.
A popular myth surrounding the event is that Princip had been eating a sandwich outside the cafe when Ferdinand arrived. There’s no evidence to suggest this is true. - At least that I can find. I say believe what you want, sounds cooler that way.
Illustration in an Italian newspaper - Achille Beltrame, 12 July 1914
Aftermath
All of the confidants were eventually caught. Those in Austro-Hungarian custody were tried together with members of the infiltration route who had helped deliver their weapons to Sarajevo.
Mehmedbašić, the only Bosnian Muslim in the gang, was arrested in Montenegro.
The majority of the defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit high treason in the Kingdom of Serbia.
This carried the maximum sentence of death, whereas conspiracy to commit simple murder did not. - Fucked up there didn’t you lads.
The defendants facing the death penalty preached innocence, portraying themselves as unwilling participants in Gavrilo Princip’s conspiracy.
Čubrilović stated to the court -
“Princip glared at me and very forcefully said 'If you want to know, it is for that reason and we are going to carry out an assassination of the Heir and if you know about it, you have to be quiet. If you betray it, you and your family will be destroyed.”
The prison terms and death sentences were as follows -
Gavrilo Princip - 20 years
Nedjelko Čabrinović - 20 years
Vaso Čubrilović - 16 years
Trifun Grabež - 20 years
Cvjetko Popović - 13 years
Danilo Ilić - Death by Hanging (executed 3rd February, 1915)
Final assassin Mehmedbašić managed to escaped from his Montenegro prison, he later resurfaced in Serbia and in 1916, the Serbian government imprisoned him on fabricated charges of treason.
Mehmedbašić was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was pardoned in 1919.
He then went on to fight in World War II, and was killed in combat on May 29th, 1943.
The Sarajevo trial in progress. Princip is sat in the front row, centre.
The consequences of that day led to one of the worst wars mankind has ever seen.
Tensions were high in Europe in 1914, making it seem that the events that occurred that day were the straw on the camels back, if you will.
It’s crazy how one thing leads to another, if that day never played out the way it did, who knows what the world would look like today.
Here’s one for you -
The Armistice of WWI began on 11/11/18. Franz Ferdinand’s car license plate read ‘A11 11 18’
Maybe he should have had a plate that read ‘I3ITCHES’ instead.
- M.
On This Day -
1796 - Napoléon Bonaparte is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in Italy.
1807 - US Congress bans the slave trade within the US, effective January 1, 1808.
1946 - Ho Chi Minh elected President of North Vietnam.
2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. US conventional forces first deployed as part of Operation Anaconda.
Sources -
Wikipedia - Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Gavrilo Princip, Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand