Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Two bullets were fired on Sarajevo Street in June 28th 1914. The two victims were the archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was the heir to the throne of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and his wife Sophie.
Archduke Ferdinand was unpopular because he told the people that once he became Emperor he would make changes and he also married Sophie who was counted as a lower class. They were visiting Sarajevo because Archduke Ferdinand was asked by his father to go make a speech to the Bosnians about how to improve relations between the monarchy and the people.
A Serbian terrorist group, called The Black Hand society decided that the Archduke should be assassinated. The terrorists were placed along the route that Franz Ferdinand's car would follow to the inspection.
The first terrorist threw a grenade which exploded under the car following that of the Archduke. Although the Archduke and his wife were unharmed, some of his soldiers were injured and had to be taken to hospital. The second terrorist was terrified and ran away ending up in a river possibly dead.
After having done his speech to the Bosnian’s, Ferdinand insisted on visiting the injured soldiers at the hospital. However, on his way to the hospital the driver took a wrong turn. Realizing his mistake he stopped the car near a café and went to ask for information for the right route.
Another terrorist, called Gavrilo Princip who was sitting at that café, saw that the car had stopped and stepped forward, firing two shots. The first shot hit the pregnant Sophie in the stomach, killing her instantly and also her baby whilst the second shot hit the Archduke close to his heart, who passed away after a few minutes.
Austria-Hungary was furious and accused the Serbian government for having planned the assassination because the terrorists were linked to the Serbian government. Gavrilo Princip was then arrested but was not executed because he was under 20 years; he was sentenced to twenty years in prison where he died of
Archduke Ferdinand was unpopular because he told the people that once he became Emperor he would make changes and he also married Sophie who was counted as a lower class. They were visiting Sarajevo because Archduke Ferdinand was asked by his father to go make a speech to the Bosnians about how to improve relations between the monarchy and the people.
A Serbian terrorist group, called The Black Hand society decided that the Archduke should be assassinated. The terrorists were placed along the route that Franz Ferdinand's car would follow to the inspection.
The first terrorist threw a grenade which exploded under the car following that of the Archduke. Although the Archduke and his wife were unharmed, some of his soldiers were injured and had to be taken to hospital. The second terrorist was terrified and ran away ending up in a river possibly dead.
After having done his speech to the Bosnian’s, Ferdinand insisted on visiting the injured soldiers at the hospital. However, on his way to the hospital the driver took a wrong turn. Realizing his mistake he stopped the car near a café and went to ask for information for the right route.
Another terrorist, called Gavrilo Princip who was sitting at that café, saw that the car had stopped and stepped forward, firing two shots. The first shot hit the pregnant Sophie in the stomach, killing her instantly and also her baby whilst the second shot hit the Archduke close to his heart, who passed away after a few minutes.
Austria-Hungary was furious and accused the Serbian government for having planned the assassination because the terrorists were linked to the Serbian government. Gavrilo Princip was then arrested but was not executed because he was under 20 years; he was sentenced to twenty years in prison where he died of