Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated 100 years ago today.
The fatal bullet that started the First World War wasn’t the first attempt on Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s life on June 28, 1914, a century ago.
Earlier that day, while on his way to inspect Austro-Hungarian troops in Sarajevo, Ferdinand was attacked by members of the Black Hand, a group of young Serbian nationalists. Their first attempt on Ferdinand’s life was a disaster.
“Two of the attackers don’t even use their weapons,” says Dr. Nic Clarke, associate First World War historian at the Canadian War Museum. “They either chicken out or decide they’re too close to police.”
A third member of the group threw a grenade and missed the Archduke’s car, only managing to injure a few people standing near it. The remaining four members of the Black Hand, including a young man named Gavrilo Princip, didn’t have a chance to attack in the confusion, as the Archduke’s car sped away.
After a stop at city hall, Ferdinand’s entourage was moving again through the city when the Archduke’s driver became lost and stopped right across the street from where the 19-year-old Princip was standing.
Seeing the opportunity fall onto his lap, Princip ran forward and fired two bullets into the Archduke’s roofless car. The first shot struck Ferdinand’s wife, Sophie, in the stomach. While Ferdinand tried to help the Duchess, Princip’s second bullet hit him in the throat. Both died, and the First World War began soon after, as the Austro-Hungarian empire’s hostile response towards Serbia triggered a domino-like series of actions driven by military alliances involving all of the powerful nations of Europe.
“It’s the spark that lights the powder keg,” says Dr. Clarke. “Most historians would agree that it’s the spark.”
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand is only one moment in a long series of events that led to the war, but it’s one that’s entrenched itself in our collective knowledge. The murder has even developed its own legends. A popular version says Princip gave up after the failed attack and bought a sandwich for lunch. He was still eating the snack when the Archduke’s car rounded the corner in front of him.
This story is likely not true, as history blogger Mike Dash pointed out in an article for Smithsonian.com. There are no eyewitness reports of this sandwich stop, Princip never mentioned it, and 10:55 a.m. is a little early for lunch.
Rumors aside, the assassination is one of the key points in the process that took Europe from one of its longest periods of peace and threw it into a conflict that eventually claimed more than 10 million lives.
“In the space of four and a half years, Europe guts itself,” says Clarke. “(The assassination) is undeniably what pushes things over the edge.”
Canada was also changed fundamentally by the conflict. Of the roughly 400,000 soldiers who left to fight in Europe, more than 50,000 died and another 130,000 were wounded.
Clarke’s research is geared to the Canadian home front, focusing on war volunteers who were rejected by military recruiters. He is also working on the museum’s “Gas, Mud and Memory” exhibit, highlighting Canada’s battles in Belgium.
The LeBreton Flats museum has more than a dozen First World War exhibits planned between now and 2018, the 100th anniversary of the end of the conflict. The CWM’s current exhibits, “Witness” and “Transformations,” both of which look at official Canadian war art and art inspired from the war, will continue until Sept. 21.