On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was shot dead along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo (Bosnia), detonating the start of World War I. Below we bring you some essential information to understand this important historical fact.
- The roots of World War I are in a dispute between opposing ethnic groups along the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The dispute quickly turned into a continental conflict due to alliances, suspicions and rivalries. The murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, was one of the triggers of this event.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. On June 28, he and his wife, Sophie, traveled to the Bosnian city of Sarajevo - then part of Austria-Hungary - to open a state museum. Sarajevo was the center of the riots and demonstrations in favor of Serbia. Relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia had deteriorated in the years before 1914. Austria-Hungary was willing to limit the expansion and influence of Serbia, fearing its alliance with Russia. Serbia was eager to strengthen and ensure its existence through unification with Serbian language areas across the Balkans, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Around 11 o'clock in the morning of June 28, the archduke and his wife were shot dead by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb recruited by a terrorist group called 'the Black Hand'. The assassination provoked an uprising between parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire largely populated by Serbs, but the insurrection never happened. Instead, Princip was captured along with his fellow conspirators, among whom were several members of the armed forces of Serbia.
The Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph hastened to consult his advisors to answer the murder of his nephew.
The Austrian Chancellor, Count Leopold von Berchtold, proposed a military investigation; the chief of the General Staff, Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, advocated mobilization in the face of possible war. Also consulted the opinion of Germany, an ally of Austria, the German ambassador in Vienna said that his country would support the action.
Meanwhile, Austrian police officers interrogated the murderer Princip together with Nedeljko Cabrinovic, who had bombed Franz Ferdinand's caravan. Both rushed to speak and the plot was revealed. The Serbian government denied any knowledge of the plan.
Some of the protests could have been organized by terrorist groups or even by military. At the same time, anti-Serbian demonstrations broke out in Austria-Hungary, some of them orchestrated by local officials.
The Emperor of Germany was an ally and friend of Austria-Hungary, and had long supported the country's intentions to limit the political and military influence of Serbia. Wilhelm was particularly concerned about Serbia's alliance with Russia, even though he was personally on good terms with the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, who was also his cousin. The Austria-Hungary letters discussed the union between Serbia and Russia and what this could mean for the future of peace in Europe, as well as the importance of acting quickly to limit Serbia's political ambitions.
In response to the letters of appeal from their Austrian counterparts, the German officials, led by the country's chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, who pledged to support Austria-Hungary. Germany thus offered its allies what came to be known as a 'blank check' of support, encouraging Austria to consider a military response to the assassination.
Aware that the war with Serbia would probably also involve a war with Russia, Austria-Hungary reasoned that it was vital to unleash the conflict as soon as possible to prevent Russia from ending its military reforms. The Austrians decided to provoke a war by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia. In Germany, Wilhelm wanted to avoid giving the impression that his country was preparing for a war and wanted to be sure to remain on good terms with his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
However, the government went ahead with its attempt to enter into conflict with Serbia by drawing up an ultimatum with terms that the country could not accept.
The ultimatum had an expiration date on July 25. Its terms demanded that Serbia carry out a series of actions against the anti-Austrian elements in the country, including the prohibition of propaganda, the elimination of certain authorities and the dissolution of Serbian nationalist organizations.
Upon the delivery of the ultimatum, the Austrian army began preparations for the conflict.
It was not until July 24 that the liberal government cabinet of Great Britain held its first meeting on the crisis. The seriousness of the situation was clear, Serbia had mobilized in anticipation of a war with Austria-Hungary and Russia had requested military aid. Russia was reluctant, aware that its armed forces were not prepared for a full European war.
After the cabinet discussions, Edward Gray contacted his counterparts in Europe and offered to help negotiate a solution. His help was politely rejected in Germany and Austria.
With Serbia indicating that it is not willing to fully accept the terms of the ultimatum, the armed forces of Austria-Hungary began formal preparations for the war. On the same day, Russia announced that it could not remain neutral if Austria attacked Serbia.
The attempts of the British Foreign Minister to resolve the crisis are rejected once again by Germany, which insisted that Russia should negotiate directly with the Austrians.
Germany was aware that French President Raymond Poincaré was visiting Russia. Knowing that these two countries also had a military alliance, Germany did not want to antagonize any of them until the official visit ended.
British Foreign Minister Edward Gray warned Germany that Britain would be on the side of France and Russia in case of any aggression by Austria against Serbia. Britain had a military alliance with the French and the Russians, which had developed partly in response to the alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Despite an additional offer from British Foreign Minister Edward Gray to host a peace conference, at 11 am Austria-Hungary formally opened hostilities against its neighbor. The picture shows a note that appeared in the press in Vienna announcing the beginning of the war.
In response, the mobilization began in Russia. Austria pressured Germany to mobilize against Russia. Even at this stage, Germany was determined not to give the impression of wanting to turn a local dispute into a continental conflict.
This decision was made due to the pressure of Serbia and because the Russian generals were aware of the amount of time necessary to obtain the necessary forces for combat. The mobilization along the huge borders of Russia was more complicated than the equivalent procedure in Germany or Austria-Hungary.
The German officers were delighted that Russia was mobilizing first, since it allowed them to present their own mobilization as an act of defense, instead of aggression. However, the country's military planners had elaborated their strategy on the basis of Germany first by knocking out France, an ally of Russia, and then turning eastwards to fight against Russia itself.
This meant that Germany would mobilize against France and in turn meant launching an attack through Belgium, a neutral country.
Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. After the outbreak of the war with its eastern neighbor, Germany implemented the Schlieffen Plan, and the fears of the Luxembourg government were fulfilled. At first, the territory of Luxembourg was only a transit site for the German Fourth Army, commanded by Alberto de Würtemberg. The next day, what had been the passage of troops turned into an invasion of the whole country.
The day before, Germany had issued an ultimatum to Belgium requesting free passage to France to which King Albert of Belgium had refused.
By sending its forces to attack France through Belgium, Germany violated the neutrality of the Belgians, which was guaranteed in a treaty signed in 1839 to which Britain had committed. This gave Great Britain a justification to go to war.
Britain issued an ultimatum to Germany to stop its advance through Belgium. When it expired at midnight, the United Kingdom formally declared war.