The Impact Of Franz Ferdinand 's Assassination On World War I

Gavrilo Princip (1894-1918) was a simple man and son of a postman also a member of the Black Hand. He is credited with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire, along with his wife, Sophie. This action was cause of WWI. Franz Ferdinand assassination gave Austria-Hungary the tools or the excuse that needed to declared war on 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.

World War 1 was fought between the periods of 1914 to 1919. It is also known as the Great War. WW1 began as a conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The conflict spread like wildfire, dragging almost all of the countries in Europe into WW1. Lots of reasons are given onto the cause of the war and what eventually concluded the war. My paper will discuss the different aspects of the war, especially the U.S.’s contribution and involvement to the war.

       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

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

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

World War 1 came to life on the 28 July 1914 after a Serbian nationalist secret society known as ‘The Black Hand’ orchestrated the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The murder took place whilst the Archduke and his wife were riding in a carriage through the streets of civilised Saravejo, and sparked a drastic retaliation by Austria-Hungary. Prior to the assassination, the current holder of the Austria-Hungary throne Franz Josef had been searching for ways to establish a deeper influence in the Balkans and to overthrow abolish the current nationalist movement in Serbia. The slaying of his nephew and heir at the hands of the Serbian gave Franz Josef his long awaited opportunity to commence a rivalry and war between the nations. After a long 3 weeks, a final response was issued from Austria-Hungary whom demanded an answer

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were shot dead in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of a Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand. The Black Hand was derived from a secret Serbian terrorist organization called the Narodna Odbrana, which worked towards the unification of all South Slavs in an independent, sovereign country called Yugoslavia. The Narodna Odbrana was created because South Slavs living in Serbia, as well as in Bosnia and other Slavic provinces, felt a strong nationalistic desire to unify all the members of their cultural group in a new country called Yugoslavia. The Black Hand’s commitment to Serbian nationalism led it to replace the Narodna Odbrana, while adopting its purpose, organization, and terrorist philosophy. Members of the Black Hand, driven by their desire to die as martyrs, assassinated Franz Ferdinand to quickly set the tone for a revolution meant to weaken the powerful state of Austria-Hungary and unite all South Slavs in a Yugoslavic nation.

The First World War initially called “The Great War” was a European conflict fought between 1914-1918. The war started with the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie during a public visit to Sarajevo. The assassin, Gavrilo Princip was a Serbian insurgent who detested Austro-Hungarian rule. This assassination plunged the majority of Europe into conflict with one another due to a delicate system of alliances establish years earlier. While there is little doubt that Princip’s actions helped to initiate the conflict, growing tensions among European powers would have undoubtedly lead to war later on.

While there is never just a single event that has led to the start of a world war, or any other serious war, there is often one thing that triggers long lived tensions and thus war ensues. Such was the case in WWI with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. There were many tensions that existed prior to his assassination, but it was his assassination which triggered the war, his assassination that served as an excuse, and perhaps the last straw, so to speak, which led to the First World War. The following paper examines the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and its relationship to the start of WWI.

In June of 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary is assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. He is assassinated because of the immense dislike of Franz because of his very conservative and even prejudice views toward Serbs and Slavs. This was a time of nationalism and decolonization, so this led to the Serbians wanting their own nation apart from Austria Hungary. While there is tension between the many ethnic backgrounds in Austria Hungary, one thing that most can agree on is their hate for the Archduke and his family. Because of the building hate and need for change in the country, some believed Franz needed to go.

Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke he was a nephew of the Emperor Franz Josef. He was next in line to make a huge impact for Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although many people didn't like him. In the summer of 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were invited to the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo. On the morning of June 28, 1914, he and his wife were attacked by a group of terrorist called the "Black Hand". They weren't injured until the last try they were shot and died instantly. This led to Austria-Hungary the opportunity to take action against Serbia and put an end to their fight for independence. This escalated causing other countries who were allied to join in causing World War

At that moment, Potiorek noticed a young man; soon to be identified as Gavrilo Princip, step towards the car, gun in hand. The man aimed and fired two shots from his pistol at pointblank range towards the royal couple. Potiorek, believing that no-one was hurt; ordered the driver to head to the Governor's residence immediately. As the car sped across Lateiner Bridge, it became obvious that Ferdinand had been shot in the neck, piercing his jugular vein. While all the attention became directed at the Archduke, no one had realized that Sophie had been shot in the abdomen.

Morgan, I feel that your post was very concise and informative. I agree with you that the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was the feather that broke the camel’s back, but I would like to offer a few possibilities as to why tensions were so high in the region to begin with. According to Lieber (2007), “rigid alliance commitments…[and] arms racing” were among the multiple stressors weighing on European countries (para. 2). In addition to these, the majority of these nations were competing with each other for control of less-developed countries, and, thus, raw resources to power their economies (Schultz, 2015, The Reasons section, Economic Competition subsection). One fact you offered that interested me was that U.S. foreign policy on alliances

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