Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1896: Archduke Franz Ferdinand Essay

Relations between the French and Germans were additionally beset, while France and Russia likewise had their disparities. The leaders of Austria-Hungary considered Serbia in charge of Archduke Francis Ferdinand 's demise in a terrorist assault in 1914. Leaders of Austria-Hungary wanted to rally the people of their vanishing empire going to war against the minuscule Serbia, trusting a

Franz Ferdinand traveled to Sarajevo, Bosnia to inspect their imperial armed forces. At Sarajevo, Franz and Sophie Ferdinand were traveling to City Hall for their official reception. However, the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group, planned to assassinate Franz. The 7 group members were stationed evenly along

Serbia was upset of Bosnia being placed under Austrian rule because of their devotion to Slavic nationalism, and Austria was aware of their disappointment and unhappiness. Austria suggested eliminating Pan-Slavism because they were worried about the idea of Serbian terrorists in their country because of Serbia's aggression towards them. Austria was aware that Bosnia favored Slavic nationalism just like Serbia. Austria-Hungary could have avoided intervening in the social and political ideas of getting rid of Slavic nationalism and being oppressive to the Serbian people. By sending an Austrian political figure to Serbia during the turmoil was an unintelligent action for Austria to make because it was a fact that the Archduke's life would be put in danger and that he would most likely be killed. The Austrian government even expressed how the atmosphere created by the malicious agitation in Serbia sprang up a series of murderous attacks on high functionaries of the Monarchy, which ended in the execrable crime against the exalted person of the heir to the throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which had been carefully prepared in Serbia(The Austro-Hungarian Red Book). Austria knew that Serbia

A young generation was emerging within Serbia and Bosnia whose experience of national and social struggles had taught them the effectiveness of violence as a means to achieve goals (as seen in the Balkan Wars 1912-13). It was a generation that demanded action and sacrifice instead of words and political wisdom (Cirkovic 246). Russia repeatedly assured their Slav brethren that they only had to wait (MacKenzie 58). Serbian agitation against Austria-Hungary was increased and the more the Austro-Hungarians attempted to subvert it, the more violent and fanatical it became. The fearlessness that was born from the support of Russia led those seeking Slavic unity to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, thereby triggering the cascade that began WWI.

       The Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum to Serbia was one of the examples of imperialism during WW1. On July 23 1914, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was to be the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austro-Hungary, realizing they were stronger than Serbia, issued an ultimatum with ridiculous demands, along with statements such as “The Royal Serbian Government [is]… to suppress any publication which incites to hatred and contempt of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the general tendency of which is directed against its territorial

A serbian terrorist group called the “Black Hand” killed Francis Ferdinand. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum or a final set of demands (457). In the ultimatum Austria-Hungary accused Serbia for not having a strict enough government and restricting the press. Also for allowing crimes to happen against the monarchy. The ultimatum demanded Serbia to stop all propaganda against their government and allow the Austria-Hungarian government representatives to suppress the subversive movement (Document 3).

On June 28th, 1914, Austria-Hungary’s Archduke “Francis Ferdinand, Austrian heir, and [his] wife [were] murdered (Doc 10)” in Sarajevo, Bosnia. His assassin was Gavrilo Princip, who was a Bosnian Serb and was in an organization that seeked to end Austro-Hungarian rule in his home of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Princip was said to have “fired the shot that started World War 1”, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was considered one of the, if not THE, main cause(s) of The First World

Nationalistic ego on part of Europe as a whole boiled Ferdinand’s assassination into action, pushing Europe into war. “[Serbia] has done nothing to suppress these[rebellious] movements”(Doc 3). Austria-Hungary had no compassion to the thoughts of the Serbian citizens while they ruled over them, only thinking of more territory they could dominate, and in turn, terrorist groups like The Black Hand, sprouted and eventually were successful in their mission. However, Austria-Hungary and Serbia were not alone in blame. The entirety of Europe were imperializing areas in Africa, Asia, and North America. Due to their land conquests, much of Europe was zealously fighting over who would get what area. No one stood up to be the bigger man

It was supposed to be implemented by 1916, when Schlieffen felt that Germany would be strong enough to be victorious; however, when Schlieffen designed his plan, he did not take politcs or the chaos that it would lead to into account. Two years before they were prepared to implement the Plan, in 1914, a Serbian nationalist killed the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It is believed that the tension between Serbia and Austria-Hungary goes back to the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary. Serbia was infuriated because it ruined their hope of Slavic unity and freedom by using Bosnia to establish a large Serbian Kingdom.

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand on the 28th June, 1914, precipitated WW1. He was shot by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian group set up to fight for the unification of all South Slav territories that had been annexed by Austria-Hungary. Two months after the shooting Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, setting off the next chain of events that brought

The Serbian nationalists were the main cause of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and aided in the start of World War I. After the Austria-Hungary Empire annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, the country of Serbia encouraged Serbians living there to rebel “against Austria-Hungarian rule in frequent protests and civil disturbances” (Pendergast 16). The Serbians began to fight for independence against rule of Austria-Hungary which led to the assassination of the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire, Franz Ferdinand. The Black Hand was the terrorist group that murdered Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. Not only was it “led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the head of Serbian military intelligence” but Austria’s Serbian ambassador is said to have known about the assassination beforehand (Pendergast 21). Serbian’s were sick of being ruled in an empire, so “militant groups like the Black Hand, wanted to untie the Slavic people in an independent pan-Slavic state” (Pendergast 45). They were determined to put all the Slavic people together as a separate nationality and destroyed people who got in their way, including Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire. With Franz Ferdinand being the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, the Austria-Hungarian Empire began to call for a war against the Serbians but needed allies in order to have a chance of winning.

World War I was built up by many things; however the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo June 1914 was what started the war. Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir was in the works for about three weeks. The Austro-Hungarians took this as an opportunity to exercise its authority upon the Serbians, wanting to crush any nationalist movement there. This was also an effort in cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans. It did so by declaring an ultimatum to Serbia which, the extent of the demands was that the assassins be brought to justice. Sir Edward Grey, the British Secretary, commented that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character." Austria-Hungary expected that Serbia would reject the terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving them a reason for launching a war against Serbia.

The circumstances leading to Franz Ferdinand’s death are far more complex than just a Serbian man shooting an Archduke; there were many other components that contributed to this. There were tensions so great that they were almost

Ferdinand and his wife had arranged to tour Bosnia. As the couple rode through Sarajevo, the capital of Austro-Hungarian, on June 28, 1914, a man by the name of Gavrilo Princip jumped on their car and fired two shots, killing Ferdinand and his wife. Gavrilo Princip, was linked to a Serbian terrorist group called the Black hand("World War I History." ).

One of the reasons led to World War One was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian (Fromkin 121). Although multiple reasons have been affiliated to his assassination, most of those reasons revolve around upholding Serbia’s power. On the one hand, Austria-Hungary had planned to attack Serbia since it was at its weakest point due to the adverse effects of the Balkan War they had just undergone (Fromkin 122). On the other hand, Serbia was making an effort to regain control over Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of Austria-Hungary (Fromkin 122). Before the assassination of Franz, the Bosnia-Herzegovina crisis had heightened to a point where Austria intended to invade Serbia (Fromkin 74). It was evident that Serbia, through the assassination of Franz, was seeking to retain its independence and protect its regions from Austria-Hungary’s influence by intimidating