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| Sunday, 7 August 2005 |
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Famous trials that shook the world Assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Lionel Wijesiri
Two bullets fired on a Sarajevo street in Bosnia - Herzegovina on a sunny June morning in 1914 set in motion a series of events that shaped the world we live in today. World War One, World War Two and the Cold War, all trace their origins to the gunshots that interrupted that summer day. Let us begin the story with Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914), the nephew of the Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria, and next in line to the crown following the suicide of his cousin Crown Prince Rudolph and the death of his father. In 1988 he met Sophie von Chotkovato at a dance in Prague and immediately fell in love with her. Although Sophie came from a noble Bohemian family, she was not entitled to marry Franz Ferdinand since she did not descend from one of the ruling dynasties of Europe. Emperor Franz Josef approved the marriage, but with stipulation that her descendants would not be allowed to succeed to the throne. Over the next few years the couple had three children. Considered a prideful man, and not overly cultured, Franz Ferdinand lacked the necessary charisma to guarantee popularity. The primary source of Franz Ferdinand's unpopularity however related to the policies he intended to apply once he assumed the throne. To understand the events thereafter, one should have at least an elementary knowledge of the social and political conditions in the region at that time. Austria-Hungary, also known as the dual monarchy, was a nation in central Europe ruled by the Habsburg monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was established in 1867 under Francis Joseph I, the emperor of Austria and king of Hungary. Austria-Hungary was regarded as a great European power along with France, Germany, Russia and Britain. It included, what are now Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, as well as parts of present-day Poland, Romania, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro. Austria and Hungary were united as a result of the compromise of March 1867. The compromise was an agreement between the Emperor Francis Joseph and the Magyar rulers of the kingdom of Hungary. The new entity had a single army and a unified monetary system. Each kingdom had its ruling class: the German-speaking people in Austria and the Magyars in Hungary. However, the Empire included a significant number of Slavs. In the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire of approximately 50 million people, about 23 million were Slavs. Since the compromise was primarily an agreement between the Habsburgs and the Magyars, the Slavic peoples were not consulted before the compromise was enacted. Consequently, most Slavs never supported the compromise and Slavic discontent later became an important issue. By the beginning of 20th Century the relationship between Austria and her neighbour - Serbia was becoming very fragile. At this time, the Ottoman Empire, which had once controlled much of south-eastern Europe was in its final stages of disintegration. In 1908, Austria-Hungary took the Ottoman possessions it wanted when it annexed the Balkan states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, both of which were populated by Slavs. Greek and Serbian nationalists carved up the balance Ottoman Empire during a conflict known as the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). Serbia was the major victor, emerging as a much enlarged nation that posed a direct threat to Austro-Hungarian holdings in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It appeared to Austria-Hungary that Russia, a Slavic nation, was encouraging the growth of new, predominantly Slavic states, thus tipping the regional balance of power in favour of Russia and against Austria-Hungary. The Slavic peoples who were for the most part, denied a voice in the affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were calling for nationalistic self-determination. The leaders of Austria-Hungary believed that Slavic unrest in the Balkans presented a serious threat to the dual monarchy. In 1913 Franz Ferdinand was appointed Inspector General of the Austro-Hungarian Army. A promoter of military modernisation, Ferdinand was popular with the armed forces and in the summer of 1914 Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina, invited him to watch his troops on manoeuvres. When it was made clear that his wife, would also be made welcome, Franz Ferdinand agreed to make the visit.Franz Ferdinand knew that the journey would be dangerous. He knew that a large number of people living in Bosnia-Herzegovina were unhappy with Austro-Hungarian rule and favoured union with Serbia. A Serbian terrorist group, the Black Hand, resolved to assassinate Franz Ferdinand during his visit to Sarajevo. They considered Franz Ferdinand a serious threat to a union between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and that his plans to grant concessions to the South Slavs would make an independent Serbian state more difficult to achieve. Seven conspirators joined the crowd, lining the Archduke's route to City Hall. Each took a different position, ready to attack the royal car if the opportunity presented itself. The six-car procession approached one conspirator, Gabrinovic who threw his bomb only to see it bounce off the Archduke's car and explode near the following car. Unhurt, the Archduke and his wife sped to the reception at City Hall. The ceremonies finished, the Royal procession amazingly retraced its steps bringing the Archduke into the range of the leader of the conspiracy, Garvrilo Princip. More amazingly, the royal car stopped right in front of Princip providing him the opportunity to fire two shots. Both bullets hit home. The two assassins were arrested and interrogated by the police and both seemed to glory in their exploit. Princip was 18-years-old and his accomplice, was 21. Both of them treated the tragedy with cynical indifference. Within weeks Austria declared war on Serbia. Germany sided with Austria; Russia supported Serbia as required by treaty. France was obligated to support Russia in any war with Germany or Austria-Hungary. Britain was obligated to support France in an any war with Germany. The conflict lasted four years, cost $350 billion, and claimed the lives
of twenty-two million. The bullets fired by Garvrilo Princip in the
Archduke's assassination, sometimes referred to as "the bullets that started
World War I", is stored as a museum exhibit in the Konopiste Castle near the
town of Benesov, Czech Republic. |
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