ASSASSINATION OF FRANCISCO FERNANDO: CAUSES, EVENTS, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The assassination of Francisco Fernando, heir to the crown of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, occurred on June 28, 1914. This crime took place in Sarajevo, then capital of the imperial province of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Empire of Austria-Hungary. This death is considered the immediate trigger for the First World War.

The Balkans had been a politically unstable territory for years. The loss of influence of the Ottoman Empire had caused that several powers tried to dominate the territory. Thus, Bosnia ended up in Austro-Hungarian hands, while Serbia was recognized as an independent state, ally of the Russian Empire.

Moment in which the Archdukes of Austria, after the first attack of which they were victims, arrived at the City Hall -Source: Trampus

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Serbian nationalism had emerged strongly. Its main purpose was to create a Greater Serbia to control the Balkans. On the other hand, movements such as Young Bosnia sought to emancipate that Paris from Austro-Hungarian rule.

Archduke Francisco Ferdinand's visit to Sarajevo became a military objective for these organizations. While his entourage toured the city, members of Young Bosnia were stationed in various locations to carry out the attack. Although the first attempt failed, Gavrilo Princip achieved his goal and killed the heir by shooting him from close range.

Background

The Treaty of Berlin, signed during the Congress held in that German city, redefined the map of Europe. In the Balkan area, Bosnia came to be administered by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, despite the fact that it was officially part of the Ottoman Empire. Similarly, the Treaty recognized Serbia as an independent state.

Assassination of Alexander I of Serbia

However, the recognition of Serbia did not bring stability to the area. In 1903 there was the assassination of King Alexander I by a group of officials from his country.

The leader of these insurgents was Dragutin Dimitrijević, who, years later, would also participate in the death of Francisco Fernando. The reason for this attack was to replace the monarch by Pedro I, of the Royal House of Karađorđević.

Armed incidents

Faced with the previous monarchs, who respected the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, the kings of the new dynasty developed a nationalist policy. First, they distanced themselves from Austria-Hungary and proceeded to strengthen their ties with Russia.

Between 1904 and 1914, Serbia carried out several armed incidents with its neighbors, trying to recover the territory of the former Serbian Empire of the 14th century. Among the most important clashes are the "War of the Pigs", in 1906, and the Bosnian Crisis, between 1908 and 1909.

Somewhat later, the two Balkan Wars broke out, in 1912 and 1913 respectively. In these conflicts, Serbia annexed Macedonia and Kosovo.

The following year, Serbian nationalists began a campaign of attacks against the Austro-Hungarian authorities in Croatia and Bosnia.

Francisco Fernando and Countess Sofía

In this context, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Francisco José I, commissioned his heir, his nephew Francisco José, to attend some military exercises that were to take place in Bosnia. The expected date was June 1914.

Some historians point out that Francisco Fernando's wife, ignored in court due to her status as a Czech citizen, insisted on accompanying her husband out of fear for his safety.

Causes

In addition to the nationalist upheaval in Serbia, one of the main causes of the attack was the project that Francisco Fernando had to stabilize the area.

The Archduke was in favor of the creation of a United States of Greater Austria, a kind of federal state of which all the Slavic states would be part. In that territorial entity, each nation would have greater autonomy.

This idea did not like Serbian nationalists. Principle himself, the author of the shots that killed the archduke, declared at his trial that he was trying to prevent such reform.

Bosnian crisis

The Balkan area was feared for the great instability it generated. Otto von Bismarck himself had claimed that "if there is ever another war in Europe, it will be the result of some bloody stupidity in the Balkans."

The weakness of the Ottoman Empire, the former dominator of the area, had left a power vacuum in the area from the second half of the 19th century. It was then that new states appeared, although the great powers did not renounce to increase their influence.

In 1908, Austria-Hungary declared the total annexation of Bosnia, contradicting the Treaty of Berlin. Serbia and its great ally, the Russian Empire, opposed this fact. This caused the so-called Bosnian Crisis. After half a year of negotiations, open warfare was avoided, although relations between the three countries involved were badly damaged.

Serbian nationalism

Serbian nationalism was designed to resurrect the Greater Serbia of the fourteenth century. As we entered the 20th century, numerous groups began to appear that resorted to terrorism and coups to achieve this goal.

Among the most important groups were Young Bosnia, in which Gavrilo Princip was a member. This organization was integrated into a larger group, the Black Hand, whose leader was Dragutin Dimitrijević, one of the authors of the coup in 1903.

Events

As noted above, Archduke Franz Ferdinand's visit to Bosnia was scheduled for June 1914.

As heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand did not have much sympathy among Serbian nationalists, who longed to incorporate Bosnia into their territory.

In addition, the date of the visit, June 28, was the anniversary of the Turkish victory in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, marked by Serbian nationalism as a fundamental event in their homeland.

Preparation of the attack

The leader of the Black Hand in Sarajevo was Danilo Ilić, a Bosnian Serb. As recounted in the post-murder trial, in late 1913 he met Dragutin Dimitrijević, Although there is no account of what happened in the meeting between Ilić and the Serbian military man, it is suspected that it was the beginning of the preparation of a major attack in Belgrade against some Austro-Hungarian authority.

After this first meeting, there was another meeting of members of the Black Hand in Toulouse, France. In this, in addition to the group's military training officer, Vojislav Tankosić, Mohamed Mehmedbašić participated, who was sent to Sarajevo with weapons to kill the Bosnian governor.

However, during the journey from France to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the police searched the train in which Mehmedbašić was traveling. The frightened man threw his weapons out the window. For this reason, when he arrived in Sarajevo he had to look for new weapons to carry out his order.

Election of Francisco Fernando

Just when Mehmedbašić was ready to assassinate the governor, on May 26, 1914, the plans changed. Ilić announced that Belgrade had chosen a new victim: Francisco Fernando.

Ilić recruited a group of young Serbian nationalists to participate in the attack. In addition to Mehmedbašić, the members of the group would be Vaso Čubrilović, Cvjetko Popović, Gavrilo Princip, Trifko Grabež, Nedeljko Čabrinović and Milan Ciganović.

Eve of the attacks

On June 27, Ilić handed over his weapons to the conspirators. For the next morning, date of the visit, he organized the group, placing them along the route that the archduke had to follow.

Failure of the first attempt

Although it ended successfully, the execution of the attack has been described as disastrous. In the first place, when the procession passed Mehmedbašić's place, he failed to throw the bomb he had prepared at him. Čubrilović, who was carrying a pistol and another bomb, also did not succeed.

A little further from the first two terrorists, Nedeljko Čabrinović was armed with a bomb. When Francisco Fernando's car approached his position, the attacker launched the explosive. This, however, bounced off the hood of the vehicle and fell into the street, exploding under the next car.

Despite the injuries, the archduke was unhurt. Čabrinović attempted suicide with a cyanide capsule he was carrying, but vomited the poison. He was then arrested by the police.

Meanwhile, the procession quickly headed towards the town hall, without the rest of the terrorist cell being able to react.

Reception at the town hall

Although Francisco Fernando complained about what happened, the authorities decided to continue with the planned program. Thus, the archduke had to give a speech at the town hall.

After this, they decided to change the agenda and go to the hospital to which the injured by the bomb had been transferred. To avoid the center of the city, they agreed to continue in a straight line, along the piers. However, the driver of the car in which Francisco Fernando, the third in line, was not warned of this change of route and turned where he should not.

the murder

Meanwhile, Princip, thinking the plan had failed, entered a nearby store. From there, by chance, he saw Francisco Fernando's car, which was maneuvering to get back on the correct route to the hospital.

Seeing his chance, Princip approached the car and fired two shots from close range. The first reached the archduke and the second his wife. Both were seriously injured, passing away shortly after.

Consequences

The members of the group that had attacked Francisco Fernando were arrested in a short time and, later, tried. Princip was sentenced to 20 years in prison, since, being a minor, he avoided the death penalty.

July crisis in Europe

The crime unleashed a series of events that would end up leading to war. Austria-Hungary and its ally, the German Empire, demanded that Serbia open an investigation, but the Belgrade government claimed it had nothing to do with the attack.

Faced with this response, the Austrians sent a formal letter to the Serbian government reminding them of their commitment to respect the Bosnian agreement. Likewise, he requested that the propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Empire be ended and that all those involved in the attack be arrested.

Austria-Hungary gave Serbia a 48-hour ultimatum to accept all their demands. If not, she threatened to withdraw her ambassador.

Ultimatum

Before replying to the ultimatum, Serbia waited to confirm that it had the support of Russia. When she obtained this confirmation, she responded to Austria-Hungary accepting a part of what was demanded, although she rejected other conditions.

This did not convince the Austro-Hungarian government, which broke diplomatic relations with Serbia. The following day, the Serbian reservists crossed the border into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, being met with shots in the air by the soldiers.

First World War

Austria-Hungary, faced with the violation of its borders, declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. From that moment on, previous alliances between the great powers began to function. According to the agreement between Russia and France, both countries had to mobilize their troops to defend Serbia.

Before long, all the great powers, except Great Britain and Italy, who would later enter the conflict, took the first steps to start World War I.

References

1. BBC News Mundo writing. The Sarajevo attack against Francisco Fernando: the assassination that was the trigger for the First World War. Retrieved from bbc.com
2. Lozano, Álvaro. The Archduke in Sarajevo, an attempt to detonate war. Obtained from elmundo.es
3. Altars, Guillermo. The botch with which the First World War broke out. Obtained from elpais.com
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5. Biography.com Editors. Franz Ferdinand Biography. Retrieved from biography.com
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8. The Guardian. Archduke Franz Ferdinand shot dead by student. Retrieved from theguardian.com