FLASH NEWS
The assassination of Sarajevo and the outbreak of the Great War
2024-12-01 18:40:30 / MISTERE&KURIOZITETE
Franz Ferdinand had been warned. After the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by the Habsburg crown, it would be good if none of the Vienna monarchs went to Sarajevo. June 28, the feast of St. Vita, was a date that reminded the Serbs of the defeat suffered by the Ottomans and the beginning of the hated Turkish occupation.
It was not difficult to imagine that the very pompous visit of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, to take part in the great military exercises of June 1914, seemed a serious provocation to the Serbian nationalists, the Russians who supported them, the independence activists of Bosnia, and even France, the Tsar's ally in the Entente. The Habsburgs and the world were soon plunged into the Great War.
This is how the world went to war
But Arkiduka did not listen to the warnings, repeated by the Serbian Prime Minister. That trip, in which the Viennese monarchy had to show all its military power to transform Bosnia-Herzegovina into a united state and integrated into the empire, was for him the most important mission.
That day he was accompanied by his wife, the Bohemian Countess Sofia Shotek, whom he had married against the will of his uncle Franz Joseph. She was sitting next to him in the car. Of course, winning the long war against the royal court in Sofia's favor made him less cautious. And this made possible the assassination of the century, which was the spark that led to the outbreak of the First World War.
Two fatal pistol shots
The car was reversing slowly, over a bridge in the city of Sarajevo, when a young Bosnian suddenly stepped in front of the car where the couple was and shot twice at them, killing them. It was 10:45 in the morning on June 28, 1914. Exactly one month later, on July 28, Austria declared war on Serbia, supported in its decision by Germany.
As in a game of dominoes, the cross-alliances provoked action and reaction among European powers that had not fought each other for years but were armed to the teeth (especially Germany) and expected nothing more than a pretext.
The result was the immense carnage of World War I which ended in November 1918.
The boy who made history with those two shots was named Gavrilo Princip, and he was one of 9 children of a poor family of peasant origin, living in Obljaj, one of the deepest villages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with today's Croatia .
When he was baptized, the priest made a mistake in recording the date of the child's birth: he wrote July 13, 1894 instead of June 13 (according to the Julian calendar). An unimportant detail? Not so much, after seeing that mistake under the laws of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Gavrilo would have been of legal age when he killed the Archduke and his wife, which would have meant the death penalty. Meanwhile, being 1 month younger, he was only sentenced to prison.
Seven inexperienced but idealistic boys
Judging from today, it is impressive that 7 very young boys, all 17-19 years old, decided to commit the murder of such an important person (except for the organizer, the teacher Danilo Ilic, who was 27 years old), without experience in using weapons , bombs and planning assassinations.
Seven well-bred but very idealistic boys who thought they would expel the foreigners by eliminating a symbol of their power. Gavrilo in particular, was a student imcak had attended high school in Sarajevo.
Passionate about art, literature and poetry, he did not hesitate to get involved in politics, when he came into contact with "New Bosnia", the revolutionary student group, which had the idea of killing the heir to the Habsburg throne, who had dared to included Sarajevo in his tour.
The entire itinerary of the visit, together with the timetables for driving to the city, had been published in the local press for days. So the assassins had all the information, and the right time to organize.
All were sentenced to death
On June 28, 1914, the 7 assassins were positioned along the river that ran through the city. They had 6 bombs and 4 pistols with 7 rounds each, plus 4 more magazines with 6 rounds each. He would act who would shoot closer to the car where the "tyrant" and his wife were traveling.
But who were the others who were ready to risk their lives to kill the Archduke? In addition to Gavrilo Princip and Danilo Ilić, the group consisted of Vaso Čubrilović (the youngest, 17 years old), Nedeljko Čabrinović, Trifko Grabez, Muhamed Mehmedbasic and Cvjetko Popović, all members of the "New Bosnia" group.
Then there were all those (peasants and supporters of the independence movement), who had sheltered them between Belgrade and Sarajevo, helping them with weapons. None of them spoke, nor betrayed the conspirators. In total, at least 15-20 people were involved in the June 28 assassination attempt against the Archduke.
After a hastily conducted investigation, all were sentenced to death. The world outside was on fire, meanwhile he had turned 21 just the day before. Princip, who in prison complained that he could not read, attempted suicide twice, while he died of tuberculosis on April 28, 1918. /Bota.al
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