Assassination in Sarajevo
Also called: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Gavrilo Princip, a young Bosnian Serb, shot dead the Austrian heir and his wife on their visit to Sarajevo. The killing set off the First World War.
Le Petit Journal · Public domain · Source
When Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908, Serbia and the Serbs of Bosnia, who dreamed of uniting the South Slavs, were outraged. On 28 June 1914 young men linked to the Serbian secret society the Black Hand lay in wait for Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, who had come to Sarajevo to observe army manoeuvres. A first bomb attack failed, but that afternoon, when the couple’s car took a wrong turn and stopped near the Latin Bridge, nineteen-year-old Gavrilo Princip shot them both dead.
With German backing Austria sent Serbia an ultimatum on 23 July and declared war on 28 July. When Russia, Serbia’s protector, ordered general mobilization, Germany declared war on Russia and France and invaded Belgium, and Britain entered the war. Within a month the rivalry between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente had become a world war.