Why Is Archduke Franz Ferdinand's Assassination Justified

The first World War, a multi-national war that cost millions of lives, began with the assassination of one man: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian empire. On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were in Bosnia to inspect the empire’s military forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (History 1). The annexing of this land caused Serbian unrest (History 1). Ferdinand was scheduled to visit Sarajevo, so a few Serbian nationalists conspired and planned his assassination. While Ferdinand and his wife were in a car, Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a bomb in an attempt to kill him (History 1). However, it rolled off and exploded the car behind them (History 1). Later, their car took a wrong turn, taking them to a street where Gavrilo Princip, one of the Serbians involved, was standing. Seeing his opportunity, Princip fired into the car and killed Ferdinand and his wife (History 1). Franz Ferdinand was an unpopular leader who wanted to dramatically change his empire, making his assassination
He loved his wife and married her in spite of her status and opinions of his advisors. He and his wife had three kids, and he adored them. In a letter, Ferdinand wrote, “our children! They are my whole pride and joy,” (Mindich 24). In fact, his last words before dying were to his wife about their children. He said, “Sopherl, Sopherl, don’t die. Stay alive for the children!” (Mindich 25). His attention was too often focused on his family, affecting the respect he received from officers and advisors. His duty was to the empire, and his family distracted him. Despite being a family man who disliked and avoided conflict, Franz Ferdinand’s assassination was justified. He was an unpopular leader whose policies and ideas would have altered the Austro-Hungarian empire. He would have weakened and endangered the empire had he lived to put his ideas in