Sarajevo, June 28, 1914 Sarajevo, June 28, 1914 The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Micheal Shackelford Note on Slavic spelling: Due to the current limitations of HTML, certain Slavic characters can not be reproduced. I have chosen to use the same letters, but without the diacritical marks, rather than translitterating. Cabrinovic, for instance, will be spelled as is, and not rendered as Chabrinovitj, or Chabrinovitch. Accurate orthography accompanies the map shown below Background Events Leading Up to Murder Bosnia and Herzegovina were provinces just south of Austria which had, until 1878, been governed by the Turks. The Treaty of Berlin (1878) settled the disposition of lands lost by the Turks following their disastrous war with Russia. Austria was granted the power to administer the two provinces indefinitely. Bosnia was populated primarily by three groups -- Croats (Roman Catholic), ethnic Serbs (Serb-Orthodox) and Muslims (left from the days of Turkish rule). There is no ethnic group: Bosnians.

Many Bosnian-Serbs felt a strong nationalistic desire to have their province joined with that of their Serb brothers across the river in Serbia. Many in Serbia openly shared that desire. The Annexation On October 6, 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina directly into the Austro-Hungarian empire. The reasons were complex. Annexation would remove any hopes Turkey might have for reclaiming the provinces. Full inclusion into the empire would give Bosnians full rights and privileges. It may have been an act of will by the Austrians, just to show that they were still an active, sovereign power. For whatever reason, the annexation caused quite a stir in Europe. The move was not exactly legal. Russia, particularly, was upset, even though the Russians had earlier given their consent to the annexation. (Austria was supposed to help Russia in the Dardanelles first) After Austria payed Turkey a cash settlement, most of Europe calmed down. The Serbs, however, did not. They coveted the provinces for their own Serb empire.

The Black Hand A secret society called Ujedinjenje ili Smrt, ('Union or Death') was founded in Belgrade, an outgrowth of an older Serb nationalist group: Narodna Odbrana . The Black Hand took over the older group's work of anti-Austrian propaganda within Serbia, sabotage, espionage and political murders abroad -- especially in provinces Serbia wished to annex. The group included many government officials, professionals and army officers. When it was learned that the Heir-Apparent to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand, was scheduled to visit Sarajevo in June of 1914, the Black Hand decided to assassinate him. Three young Bosnians were recruited, trained and equipped: Gavrilo Princip, Nedjelko Cabrinovic and Trifko Grabez. The Serbian Government Because of its many government and army members, the Black Hand's activities were fairly well known to the Serbian government. When Prime Minister Pasic learned of the assassination plot, he had a difficult problem on his hands. If he did nothing, and the plot succeeded the Black Hand's involvement would surely come to light. The tangled connections between the Black Hand and the Serbian government would put Serbia in a very bad position.

It could even bring on war with Austria. Should he warn the Austrians of the plot, he would be seen as a traitor by his countrymen. He would also be admitting to deeper knowledge of anti-Austrian actions in Serbia. A weak attempt was made to intercept the assassins at the border. When that failed, Pasic decided that he would try to warn the Austrians in carefully vague diplomatic ways that would not expose the Black Hand. The Warning The Serbian Minister to Vienna, Jovan Jovanovic, was given the task of warning the Austrians. Because of his extremist, pan-Serb views, Jovanovich was not well received in Austrian Foreign Ministry offices. He did, however, get along better with the Minister of Finance, Dr. Leon von Bilinski. On June 5, Jovanovic told Bilinski, that it might be good and reasonable if Franz Ferdinand were to not go to Sarajevo. "Some young Serb might put a live rather than a blank cartridge in his gun and fire it." Bilinski, unaccustomed to subtle diplomatic innuendo, completely missed the warning. "Let us hope nothing does happen" he responded good humoredly.

Jovanovic strongly suspected that Bilinski did not understand, but made no further effort to convey the warning. Preparations The three Black Hand trainees secretly made their way back to Sarajevo roughly a month before Franz Ferdinand. A fourth man, Danilo Ilic, had joined the group and on his own initiative, recruited three others. Vaso Cubrilovic and Cvijetko Popovic were 17 year old high school students. Muhamed Mehmedbasic, a Bosnian muslim, was added to give the group a less pan-Serb appearance. Four Serbian army pistols and six bombs were were supplied from Serbian army arsenals. The Visit Franz Ferdinand accepted the invitation of Bosnia's governor, General Oskar Potoirek, to inspect the army manoeuvres being held outside Sarajevo. The Archduke's role as Inspector General of the Army made the visit logical. It had also been four years since a prominent Hapsburg had made a goodwill visit to Bosnia. The visit would also roughly coincide with his 14th wedding anniversary.

While his wife Sophie, not being of royal blood, was not permitted to ride in the same car as her royal husband back in Vienna, such taboos did not apply to provincial cities like Sarajevo. During the visit, Sophie would be able to ride beside her husband -- a thoughtful anniversary gift. Security during the visit was not tight. Franz Ferdinand was a brave man and disliked the presence of secret service men. Nor did he like the idea of a cordon soldiers between the crowd and himself. For the most part, Franz Ferdinand was welcomed warmly by the Bosnians. Sarajevo was not seen as hostile territory. Arrangements were not based on the assumption that the streets were lined with assassins. As it was, only Sarajevo's hundred and twenty policemen were at work. June 28, 1914 At around 10:00 a.m., the archducal party left Philipovic army camp, where Franz Ferdinand had performed a brief review of the troops. The motorcade, consisting of six automobiles was headed for City Hall for a reception hosted by Sarajevo's mayor.

The chosen route was the wide avenue called Appel Quay, which followed the north bank of the River Miljacka. In the first automobile rode the Mayor, Fehim Effendi Curcic, and the city's Commissioner of Police, Dr. Gerde. In the second automobile, its top folded down and flying the Hapsburg pennant, rode Franz Ferdinand, Sophie and General Potoirek. The driver and the car's owner, Count Harrach, rode in front. The third automobile in the procession carried the head Franz Ferdinand's military chancellery; Sophie's lady in waiting; Potoirek's chief adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Merizzi; the car's owner and his driver. The fourth and fifth automobiles carried other members of Franz Ferdinand's staff and assorted Bosnian officials. The sixth automobile was empty -- a spare should one of the others fail. The morning was sunny and warm. Many of the houses and buildings lining the route were decorated with flags and flowers. Crowds lined the Appel Quay to cheer the imperial couple. Amid the festive crowd mingled seven young assassins. They took up their assigned positions, all but one along the river side of the Appel Quay.

First in line was Mehmedbasic, to the west of the Cumurja Bridge. Near him was Cabrinovic. The others were strung out as far back as the Kaiser Bridge. The Bomb The motorcade approached and the crowds began to cheer. As Franz Ferdinand's car passed Mehmedbasic, he did nothing. The next man in line, Cabrinovic, had more resolve. He took the bomb from his coat pocket, struck the bomb's percussion cap against a lamp post, took aim and threw the bomb directly at Franz Ferdinand. In the short time it took the bomb to sail through the air, many small events took place. The car's owner, Count Harrach, hearing the bomb being struck against the lamp post, thought they had suffered a flat tire. "Bravo. Now we'll have to stop." The driver, who must have seen the black object flying, did just the opposite -- he stepped on the accelerator. As a result, the bomb would not land where intended. Franz Ferdinand, also catching a glimpse of the hurtling package, raised his arm to deflect it away from Sophie. She sat to his right, and so was between Franz Ferdinand and Cabrinovic.

The bomb glanced off Franz Ferdinand's arm, bounced off the folded car top and into the street behind them. The explosion injured about a dozen spectators. The third car was hit with fragments and stalled. Merizzi received a bad cut to the back of the head. Others in the party received minor cuts. The first and second cars continued on for a few moments then stopped while everyone assessed who was injured and who was not. After the Bomb Cabrinovic swallowed his cyanide and jumped into the river. The trouble was, the poison was old -- it only made him vomit -- and the river was only a few inches deep. He was quickly seized by the crowd and arrested. The motorcade continued on to City Hall, passing the other assassins. Either because they thought Cabrinovic had succeeded or from lack of resolve, they failed to act. At City Hall, a furious Franz Ferdinand confronted the Mayor. "Mr. Mayor, one comes here for a visit and is received by bombs! It is outrageous!" After a pause to calm himself, he regained his composure and let the Mayor speak. The Mayor, either completely unaware of what had happened, or personally ill equiped for crises, launched into his prepared speech.

"Your Royal and Imperial Highness!...Our hearts are full of happiness..." By the end of the Mayor's speech, Franz Ferdinand had regained his composure and thanked his host for his cordial welcome. Activities at City Hall were observed as planned. Changed Plans Discussions were held as to whether to change the rest of Franz Ferdinand's schedule. The Archduke did not wish to cancel his visit to the museum and lunch at the Governor's residence, but wished to alter his plans to include a visit to Merizzi in the hospital. The same motorcade set out along the Appel Quay, but neither the Mayor's driver, nor Franz Ferdinand's driver had been informed of the change in schedule. This would have been Merizzi's job. The young assassins had counted on succeeding on the first attempt. With no assurance that Franz Ferdinand would follow his original itinerary, the remaining assassins took up various other positions along the Appel Quay. Gavrilo Princip crossed the Appel Quay and strolled down Franz Joseph Street. He stepped into Moritz Schiller's food store to get a sandwich. As he emerged, he met a friend who inquired about a mutual friend.

The Wrong Turn The Mayor's car, followed by Franz Ferdinand's car turned off the Appel Quay and onto Franz Joseph Street, as originally planned, to travel to the museum. General Potoirek leaned forward. "What is this? This is the wrong way! We're supposed to take the Appel Quay!" The driver put on the brakes and began to back up. Franz Ferdinand's car stopped directly in front of Schiller's store -- five feet away from Princip. The Shots Princip was quick to recognize what had happened. He pulled the pistol from his pocket, took a step towards the car and fired twice. General Potoirek happened to look directly at Princip as he fired. He thought the gun's report unusually soft. Both Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were still sitting upright. Potoirek thought the shots had missed, but given the assult, ordered the driver to drive directly to the Governor's residence. Arrest Princip then turned the gun on himself, but was mobbed by the crowd. Police had to rescue Princip from the crowd before they could arrest him. Princip had swallowed his poison, but it was from the same batch as Cabrinovic's. He was violently ill, but did not die.

Mortal Wounds As the car sped across the Lateiner Bridge, a stream of blood shot from Franz Ferdinand's mouth. He had been shot in the neck. Sophie, seeing this, exclaimed: "For Heaven's sake! What happened to you?" She sank from her seat. Potoirek and Harrach thought whe had fainted and were trying to help her up. Franz Ferdinand, knowing his wife better, suspected the truth. Sophie had been shot in the abdomen and was bleeding internally. "Sopherl! Sopherl! " he pleaded. "Sterbe nicht! Bleibe am Leben für unsere Kinder! " (Sophie dear! Sophie dear! Don't die! Stay alive for our children!) The cars rushed to the Governor's residence. Sophie may have died before they arrived. Franz Ferdinand died shortly afterward. The July Crisis The murders of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie brought Austro-Serbian tensions to a head. Serbia had been fomenting trouble for Austria for many years. For many in Vienna, the double murders provided the 'last straw' for a get-tough showdown. The trail back to the Black Hand would not be unraveled for years to come.

Vienna felt she could not wait for conclusive proof and acted based on the mass of circumstantial evidence. As Vienna took a hard line against Serbia, the other powers in Europe took sides. The wheels of war gained speed. The stakes far outgrew the squabble between Austria and Serbia. The Crisis of July turned into world war, just over thirty days after Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were shot. MS Biography of Colonel Dimitrijvic , the mastermind. Biography of Franz Ferdinand , the slain Archduke. Biography of Sophie , Franz Ferdinand's wife. Biography of General Potoirek, Governor of Sarajevo. Biography of Princip , the gunman. Biography of Cabrinovic , the bomber. Biography of Grabez , the third Belgrade man. Biography of Ilic , the assassin who talked. Biography of Cubrilovic , a young assassin. Biography of Popovic , the other young assassin. Biography of Mehmedbasic , the Muslim who got away. Bibliography Sarajevo: the story of a political murder, by Joachim Remak, 1959.

Origins of World War I: 1871-1914, by Joachim Remak, 1967. American Heritage History of World War I, by S.L.A. Marshall, 1982. Black Hand Over Europe, by Henri Pozzi, 1935. Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated - Jun 28, 1914 - HISTORY.com Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated Publisher A+E Networks In an event that is widely acknowledged to have sparked the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is shot to death along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on this day in 1914. The great Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck, the man most responsible for the unification of Germany in 1871, was quoted as saying at the end of his life that “One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” It went as he predicted.

The archduke traveled to Sarajevo in June 1914 to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Ottoman territories in the turbulent Balkan region that were annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908 to the indignation of Serbian nationalists, who believed they should become part of the newly independent and ambitious Serbian nation. The date scheduled for his visit, June 28, coincided with the anniversary of the First Battle of Kosovo in 1389, in which medieval Serbia was defeated by the Turks. Despite the fact that Serbia did not truly lose its independence until the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, June 28 was a day of great significance to Serbian nationalists, and one on which they could be expected to take exception to a demonstration of Austrian imperial strength in Bosnia. June 28 was also Franz Ferdinand’s wedding anniversary. His beloved wife, Sophie, a former lady-in-waiting, was denied royal status in Austria due to her birth as a poor Czech aristocrat, as were the couple’s children. In Bosnia, however, due to its limbo status as an annexed territory, Sophie could appear beside him at official proceedings.

On June 28, 1914, then, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were touring Sarajevo in an open car, with surprisingly little security, when Serbian nationalist Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a bomb at their car; it rolled off the back of the vehicle and wounded an officer and some bystanders. Later that day, on the way to visit the injured officer, the archduke’s procession took a wrong turn at the junction of Appel quay and Franzjosefstrasse, where one of Cabrinovic’s cohorts, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, happened to be loitering. Seeing his opportunity, Princip fired into the car, shooting Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range. Princip then turned the gun on himself, but was prevented from shooting it by a bystander who threw himself upon the young assassin. A mob of angry onlookers attacked Princip, who fought back and was subsequently wrestled away by the police. Meanwhile, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie lay fatally wounded in their limousine as it rushed to seek help; they both died within the hour.

The assassination of Franz-Ferdinand and Sophie set off a rapid chain of events: Austria-Hungary, like many in countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Slav nationalism once and for all. As Russia supported Serbia, an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war was delayed until its leaders received assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm that Germany would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention–which would likely involve Russia’s ally, France, and possibly Britain as well. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe’s great powers collapsed. Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I had begun. Related Videos Serbia Declares War on Germany | World History Project Aug 6 1914 Serbia Declares War on Germany Setting the stage On July 23, Austria-Hungary demanded Serbia comply with its March 1909 declaration to the Great Powers to maintain good neighborly relations with Austria-Hungary and issued the July Ultimatum.

Serbia responded by mobilizing its army and then responding to the Austro-Hungarian letter accepting point number 10, but cleverly rewording (providing itself with an out), rejecting, or responding disingenuously to the other nine demands. The Austro-Hungarian ambassador rejected the response on the spot and returned to Vienna. Serbian reservists accidentally crossed onto the Austro-Hungarian half of the river at Temes-Kubin and Austro-Hungarian troops fired into the air to warn them off. Exaggerated reports of this incident were used to persuade Emperor Franz-Joseph to give the final go ahead to formally mobilize the southern Austro-Hungarian Army and declare war against Serbia. Austrian troops executing captured Serbians in 1917. For complex reasons, the dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia escalated into what is now known as World War I, which involved Russia, Germany, France, and United Kingdom. Within a week, Austria-Hungary had to face a war with Russia, which had the largest army in the world at the time.

The result was that Serbia became just another front to the massive fight that started to unfold along Austria-Hungary's border with Russia. Serbia had an experienced army, having fought two wars in the last two years, but it was also exhausted and poorly equipped, and the Austro-Hungarians thought that it would fall in less than a month. Serbia's strategy was to hold on as long as it could and hope the Russians could defeat the main Austro-Hungarian Army. Serbia constantly had to worry about its hostile neighbor to the east, Bulgaria, with which it had fought several wars, most recently in 1913. The Serbian army at the start of the war was some 180,000 strong, commanded by Marshal (Vojvoda) Radomir Putnik. However he was in poor health in a hospital in Budapest. The Austro-Hungarian government arrested him at the hospital, but then released the Marshal after personal intervention of the Austro-Hungarian Chief of General Staff Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf, partly as an act of chivalry, and partly as a calculation that the ailing general would be an easy opponent; the latter proved to be a blunder.

Putnik would brilliantly handle the Serbian Army, even though he almost never left his special hospital room in Serbia. Archduke Ferdinand assassinated - Jun 28, 1914 - HISTORY.com Archduke Ferdinand assassinated Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by a Bosnian Serb nationalist during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August. On June 28, 1919, five years to the day after Franz Ferdinand’s death, Germany and the Allied Powers signed the Treaty of Versailles, officially marking the end of World War I. The archduke traveled to Sarajevo in June 1914 to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. The annexation had angered Serbian nationalists, who believed the territories should be part of Serbia.

A group of young nationalists hatched a plot to kill the archduke during his visit to Sarajevo, and after some missteps, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip was able to shoot the royal couple at point-blank range, while they traveled in their official procession, killing both almost instantly. The assassination set off a rapid chain of events, as Austria-Hungary immediately blamed the Serbian government for the attack. As large and powerful Russia supported Serbia, Austria asked for assurances that Germany would step in on its side against Russia and its allies, including France and possibly Great Britain. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the fragile peace between Europe’s great powers collapsed, beginning the devastating conflict now known as the First World War. After more than four years of bloodshed, the Great War ended on November 11, 1918, after Germany, the last of the Central Powers, surrendered to the Allies. At the peace conference in Paris in 1919, Allied leaders would state their desire to build a post-war world that was safe from future wars of such enormous scale.

The Versailles Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919, tragically failed to achieve this objective. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s grand dreams of an international peace-keeping organization faltered when put into practice as the League of Nations. Even worse, the harsh terms imposed on Germany, the war’s biggest loser, led to widespread resentment of the treaty and its authors in that country–a resentment that would culminate in the outbreak of the Second World War two decades later. Related Videos 1000+ images about Gavrilo Princip on Pinterest | Fingerprints, Dr. who and The photo Forward Gavrilo Princip was the man who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Princip and his accomplices were arrested and implicated a number of members of the Serbian military, leading Austria-Hungary to issue a démarche to Serbia known as the July Ultimatum. This set off a chain of events that led to the First World War. Princip was a Yugoslav nationalist associated with the movement Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia).

See More First World War centenary: the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, as it happened - Telegraph World War One First World War centenary: the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, as it happened On Sunday June 28 1914 in Sarajevo, Gavrilo Princip fired the shot that killed the Archduke and started the train of events that led to global war. Here is a step by step account of how the dramatic day unfolded The Daily Telegraph, June 29 1914 By Richard Preston 8:19PM BST 27 Jun 2014 Our journey starts with an extremely promising omen. Here our car burns, and down there they will throw bombs at us. Archduke Franz Ferdinand comments wryly on the fact that his journey to Bosnia in June 1914 begins with his car overheating The Archduke: Franz Ferdinand, the bumptious, little-loved 51-year-old nephew of the ailing Emperor Franz Joseph, was heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

In 1913 he was made inspector general of the armed forces of Austria-Hungary; it was this role that took him to Bosnia in June 1914, to inspect the army’s summer manoeuvres. The Duchess: Franz Ferdinand married Countess Sophie Chotek for love, for which both paid a price. She was from a Czech noble family but was deemed unfit to be a Habsburg bride; she had been a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella, whose sister Franz Ferdinand was expected to marry. Their marriage was morganatic, meaning their children were excluded from the line of succession. Although she was made Duchess of Hohenberg in 1909, the slights were constant at functions such as imperial banquets, where she had to enter the room last. [Sophie] could never share [Franz Ferdinand’s] rank ... could never share his splendours, could never even sit by his side on any public occasion. There was one loophole ... his wife could enjoy the recognition of his rank when he was acting in a military capacity. Hence, he decided, in 1914, to inspect the army in Bosnia.

There, at its capital Sarajevo, the Archduke and his wife could ride in an open carriage side by side ... Thus, for love, did the Archduke go to his death. AJP Taylor Related Articles What sort of a man was Archduke Franz Ferdinand? 28 Jun 2014 The family: Three much-loved children, aged between 10 and 12 – Princess Sophie von Hohenberg (1901-1990), Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg (1902-1962), Prince Ernst von Hohenberg (1904-1954); there was also a stillborn son (d. 1908). On the morning of his death, the Archduke sent a telegram to his children, congratulating Max on his recent exams. The empire: 11 nationalities lived under the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, with as many grievances – 50 million people across modern-day Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, parts of Poland and northern Italy.

Bosnia-Herzegovina was the most recent addition, having been annexed in 1908. Franz Ferdinand had opposed the annexation, not from any love for the southern Slavs, but as a pointless provocation of them and of Russia. The grievance: The formal independence of Serbia had been recognised at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Bosnian Serbs dreamt of joining it in a Greater Serbia. While Franz Ferdinand had no personal liking for the Serbs, he was not hostile to them: in fact he was thought to be a ‘federalist’ who supported giving more autonomy to Slavic lands. This alarmed the Serbs, who foresaw the creation of a third crown in the Austro-Hungarian empire with Zagreb the possible capital – if that happened the chances of creating Greater Serbia would vanish. The targeting of the Archduke thus exemplified one abiding strand in the logic of terrorist movements, namely that reformers and moderates are more to be feared than outright enemies and hardliners.

Christopher Clark The martyr: Bogdan Žerajić, a 22-year-old Serb medical student from Herzegovina, resolved to kill Emperor Franz Joseph at the opening of a new parliament in Sarajevo in June 1910. In the event, he fired at Marijan Varešanin, the governor of the province, missed, then killed himself with his final bullet. Vladimir Gaćinović, a driving force behind the liberation movement Mlada Bosna – Young Bosnia – wrote a pamphlet celebrating Žerajić and made a hero of him; his grave became a shrine. Among those inspired by his memory was Gavrilo Princip. I often spent whole nights there, thinking about our situation, about our miserable conditions... and so it was that I resolved to carry out the assassination. Gavrilo Princip, the eventual assassin, explains at his trial how he was drawn to Žerajić’s grave The Black Hand: The annexation of 1908 helped radicalise Serb nationalist groups. On March 3 1911, in a Belgrade apartment, Ujedinjenje ili smrt! – Union or Death!

– was formed, the secret society that came to be known as the ‘Black Hand’. Gen Potiorek and Dragutin Dimitrijevic - 'Apis' The plot: Just as they were intended to be, the details of the plot are difficult to nail down. The prime mover was Dragutin Dimitrijević, nicknamed ‘Apis’ (after the Egyptian bull god), 36-year-old head of Serbian military intelligence. In May 1903, he had led Serbian officers in overthrowing King Alexander I and his wife Queen Draga, who were murdered. The conspirators installed Peter I as the new king. Apis was present at the founding meeting of the Black Hand in 1911, as was his co-conspirator from 1903, Vojislav Tankosić, who was one of the handlers of the Sarajevo assassins. Meanwhile Gaćinović, who had joined the Black Hand in 1912, instigated a plot to kill Gen Oscar Potiorek, governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in January 1914, but the would-be assassins' nerve failed.

Planning now focused on the Archduke's visit to Sarajevo on June 28, rumours of which had circulated as early as autumn 1913. The assassins: The three principal recruits were radicalised in the cafes of Belgrade by the Black Hand. Trifko Grabež, Nedeljko Čabrinović and Gavrilo Princip Trifko Grabež, 19, the son of an Orthodox priest in Pale, came to the city for his schooling. Nedeljko Čabrinović, 19, who had left school at 14, went to Belgrade and found work with a printer. Gavrilo Princip, 19, left Sarajevo in May 1912 for Belgrade after being expelled from school (where he had been with Grabež). He volunteered to join Serbian guerrillas fighting Ottoman Turks in the First Balkan War but was rejected as too weak and sickly. Princip’s interest extended beyond merely the Serb cause to the freedom of all southern Slavs.

I am a Yugoslav nationalist, aiming for the unification of all Yugoslavs, and I do not care what form of state, but it must be free from Austria. Gavrilo Princip at his trial Milan Ciganović, a Black Hand member and employee of Serbian state railways, was their handler; he reported to Tankosić who in turn reported to Apis. On May 27, Tankosić gave Princip and Čabrinović four Browning pistols and six small grenade-sized bombs from the Serbian State Arsenal, as well as cyanide powder with which to kill themselves after the assassination. Čabrinović was smuggled into Bosnia on May 30, Princip and Grabež followed on May 31. The pistols used by the assassins, now in a museum in Vienna They were joined in Sarajevo by a four-man cell recruited by Danilo Ilić, a Black Hand member aged 23. He had trained as a schoolteacher, and worked in Sarajevo as a proof-reader and the editor of a local paper.

His recruits were: Muhamed Mehmedbašić, 28, a Muslim carpenter from Herzegovina, who had been involved in the botched plan to kill Potiorek earlier in the year. Cvjetko Popović, 18, was a school pupil in Sarajevo (he died in the city in 1980) Vaso Čubrilović, 17, was also at school in Sarajevo and a member of Mlada Bosna, Young Bosnia. The warnings: Serbian prime minister Nikola Pašić knew of the plot. If he did nothing and it succeeded, the Black Hand’s close relationship to the government would almost certainly be exposed; but an overt warning to Austria-Hungary would mark him as a traitor to many Serbs. So a veiled warning was sent to Vienna, via Dr Leon von Bilinski. the Austrian minister of finance, who was told that if Franz Ferdinand were to go to Sarajevo, ‘Some young Serb might put a live rather than a blank cartridge in his gun and fire it’. Bilinski rather missed the point: ‘Let us hope nothing does happen,’ he replied cheerfully.

The fateful day: Sunday June 28 1914 was St Vitus’s Day, the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo on the ‘Field of Blackbirds’ in 1389, in which the Ottomans annihilated the Serbs. It remained a day of profound significance to all Serb nationalists. It was also the 14th wedding anniversary of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, a reminder of the day on which he had had to sign the Oath of Renunciation confirming that their children could not succeed to the imperial throne. The day before had been cold and wet but the morning of June 28 was sunny. The couple had been staying outside Sarajevo at Ilidze for three days. So relaxed were they that they had come into Sarajevo two days before for a shopping trip, during which they were shadowed by Princip. You are wrong after all...

Everywhere we have gone here, we have been treated with so much friendliness – and by every last Serb, too – with so much cordiality and warmth that we are very happy about it The Duchess to Dr Josip Sunaric, Bosnian Croat leader, the night before the assassination The Archduke and the Countess arrive in Sarajevo by train The couple were to drive in the second of a six-car motorcade from the railway station along the river to the City Hall. Danic and the six other would-be assassins were stationed along the route. The car: a 32-horsepower, four-cylinder, open-topped Double Phaeton built in 1910 by the Viennese firm of Gräf & Sift. The numberplate was A III 118 – in which those who believe such things can see a portent of the eventual Armistice date in 1918. The Archduke's car is now in a museum in Vienna Franz Ferdinand and Sophie travelled with Gen Oscar Potiorek, the governor of Bosnia. Next to the driver in the front was Count Franz von Harrach, in charge of their security.

The royal party in the car He wore: the dress uniform of a cavalry general – blue tunic, gold collar with three silver stars, black trousers with red stripe and a helmet with green peacock feathers. She wore: white hat and veil, a long white silk dress with red and white fabric roses tucked into a red sash, and an ermine stole on her shoulders. The first attempt: Mehmedbašić was the first of the young assassination team to be passed by the motorcade. As the Archduke’s car neared, he was about to throw his bomb but panicked. Čabrinović, who was standing by river, was the first to act. He primed his bomb and threw it. The driver saw it coming and accelerated. It exploded beneath the car travelling behind the Archduke’s, the third in the motorcade, injuring several officers. A small splinter cut Sophie’s cheek. Čabrinović swallowed his cyanide powder and jumped into the shallow waters of the river Miljacka. The poison didn’t work and he was arrested. Come on, that fellow is clearly insane, let us proceed with our programme. Franz Ferdinand reacts to the bomb The remaining assassins lost their nerve.

By the time the motorcade passed Princip it was moving too fast for him to shoot. Knowing that the party would return from City Hall later, he moved across to the right-hand side of Franz Joseph Street. I didn’t pull out the revolver because I saw that the Duchess was there. I felt sorry for her Vaso Čubrilović The pause: At City Hall, the mayor of Sarajevo, Fehim Effendi Curcic, who had been in the first car, began a nervous speech of welcome. Franz Ferdinand interrupted, furiously: ‘I come here as your guest and you people greet me with bombs!’ The mayor was allowed to continue, then the Archduke spoke, the paper he held bearing the bloodstains of one of the officers in the third car. Having gathered himself, he praised the cheers of the people of Sarajevo, which he took to be an expression of relief at the failure of the assassination. The couple leave City Hall The change of plan: The motorcade was to have returned along Appel Quay and turned right into Franz Joseph Street, heading for the National Museum. But now the museum visit was cancelled; the route would be straight back back down Appel Quay.

Franz Ferdinand wanted to visit Potiorek’s wounded adjutant in hospital. Originally, Sophie was to have gone to the governor’s palace while her husband went to the museum, but now she said she wished to accompany him. No one told the drivers of the change of plan, so when the lead car in the motorcade turned right into Franz Joseph Street, the Archduke’s driver followed. Potiorek yelled that this was the wrong the way. The car was stopped and – without a reverse gear – it had to be pushed backwards. The finale: Princip had been standing outside Moritz Schiller’s cafe on Franz Joseph Street. Now he ran forward, his pistol drawn. He paused on seeing the Duchess but fired twice at point-blank range. Whether he was lucky or whether his firearms training in Belgrade had paid off, both bullets hit their targets. The first went through the door of the car and hit Sophie in the abdomen; the second hit Franz Ferdinand in the neck. Harrach, aware of the continuing threat, had been travelling on the running board. Now he saw the Duchess slump across her husband, surely aware that both were dying, and heard the Archduke’s beseeching words to her: Sopherl!

Sopherl! Sterbe nicht! Bleibe am Leben für unsere Kinde! – Sophie, Sophie, don’t die, stay alive for our children! As Princip prepared to kill himself his gun was knocked from his hands, as well as his packet of cyanide, as the crowd swarmed around him, kicking and punching; he was saved from probable death by his arrest. Čabrinović arrested. Above, Princip after his capture Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were rushed to the Konak palace. Shortly after 11am both were dead. Franz Ferdinand and Sophie lying in state The reaction: The next morning, The Daily Telegraph began its leading article: 'A dark cloud of Fate seems to overhang the fortunes of the House of Habsburg... The circumstances are so peculiar that it is very difficult to understand the reasons for the crime or the exact motives of the murderer... His death is, we believe, a serious loss to Europe at large, as well as to Austria-Hungary herself...

At a period when the world suffers from a lack of great personalities, the death of a man so strong and self-reliant as the Archduke Franz Ferdinand is a real disaster, of which it is difficult to overestimate the importance.' The paper reported that news of the deaths was relayed to the aged emperor Franz Joseph at Ischl. 'I am spared nothing,' he is said to have murmured on hearing of the assassinations. George V and Queen Mary were told the news by telegram from the British embassy in Vienna. They expressed their deep distress by return telegram. It was announced that the English Court would go into mourning for a week and a State Ball was cancelled. Kaiser Wilhelm II was in Kiel inspecting German and British warships after the reopening of the canal. It was reported that at 5pm all the ships in the harbour hoisted the Austro-Hungarian flag at half mast, including the British warships. Among German newspapers, the Berliner Tageblatt anticipated that 'the already sufficiently tense relationships of Austria-Hungary will undoubtedly be aggravated, even if no great Serbian conspiracy is demonstrable, and only Austrian subjects of Serbian nationality participated in the crime'.

In France, the Journal des Debats recognised that the Archduke's death was 'a European event of the highest political importance. The character of the late Archduke, the intentions that were ascribed to him, and his political and religious tendencies, caused it to be generally believed that his accession to power in the Dual Monarchy would be the signal of far-reaching changes'. Follow Telegraph stories of the unfolding crisis from 1914 day by day on Twitter – @TeleArchive Read the paper of 100 years ago at telegraph.co.uk/ww1archive Understanding the Great War | World War I Understanding the Great War PHOTO: Dieter Nagl, AFP/Getty Images A military history museum in Vienna displays the car in which the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was riding in Sarajevo when he was killed. by Srdjan Vucetic, Email The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on June 28, 1914 set off a chain of events that a few weeks later led to an all-out war involving virtually all key European powers and their enormous overseas empires at the time. How did this happen?

As a Sarajevan, I was socialized from an early age to think about the causes of the Great War, a question that happens to be one of the most studied in all of human history. I vividly recall my first primary school trip to “Princip’s footsteps” — markings embedded into the sidewalk where the assassin, Gavrilo Princip, fired. We boys took turns standing in the footprints and re-enacted the killing; the girls giggled. There was no doubt that this behaviour was desirable: with our teachers we read the plaque that said the assassin’s shots expressed the will of Yugoslavs to be free of foreign tyranny. Is it true Sophie was pregnant? a classmate asked. Yes, said one teacher, but Princip’s bullet hit her after it ricocheted off the car. Weapons used by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip, who triggered World War I when he assassinated the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand are displayed at a military history museum in Vienna, 28 June 2004, after they were given by a Jesuite order, which had kept the artefacts for at least nine decades.

Dieter Nagl, AFP/Getty Images Trying to grasp the meanings of the words “tyranny” and “ricochet” proved to be the easy part. In later grades we learned that Princip was a hero and that his “Young Bosnia” was a multinational society of revolutionaries who fought for the unification of all South Slavs. The proof: one of Princip’s co-conspirators — seven teenagers armed with pistols, grenades, and suicide cyanide pills who nervously waited for Ferdinand’s motorcade that day — was a chap named Muhamed. At home, alas, I learned that Young Bosnians were trained and equipped by a secret Belgrade-based organization called “Freedom or Death.” So was Princip a terrorist? By the time it became possible to openly discuss this question in school, Yugoslavia had started to fall apart, and the fact that one person’s terrorist was another person’s freedom fighter was no one’s idea of breaking news. Since this time, little has changed in fact: there are now two Sarajevos, and so two truths about assassinations past. My primary school teachers also taught me how to think within a broader historical materialist framework.

To understand First World War we must go back Lenin, declared one of them in grade seven. Financial capital operating in the core needed colonies for materials, labour, and markets. This led to inter-imperial wars among core nation-states as well as to nationalist movements and anti-colonial wars in the periphery. True, the teacher concluded, socialist revolution never occurred in the core, but Lenin wrote that imperialism was the latest, not the last stage of capitalism. Many years later, I was amused to find out that Eric Hobsbawm treated this point as particularly revelatory in one of his books. Visitors looking at the uniform Archduke Franz Ferdinand wore when he was assassinated by a Serb nationalist student Gavrilo Princip, 90 years after the Archduke’s assassination, at a military history museum in Vienna. Dieter Nagl, AFP/Getty Images I revisited the causes of the First World War in earnest as a first-year university student.

Joseph Nye’s Understanding International Conflicts explained it all with a brew of three levels of analysis, three types of causes, several analogies, half a dozen counterfactual thought experiments, with a dash of phrases like “path dependence” and “overdetermination.” In this concoction, some causal theories evaporated (Lenin’s, for one), others crystallized (the nature of the European balance of power system, nationalism, leadership complacency). Nye’s conclusion: “war was not inevitable until it actually broke out in August 1914. And even then it was not inevitable that four years of carnage had to follow.” Things got more complicated in graduate school. The more I ventured into the philosophies behind the agent-structure problem, black swan events, post-Humean teachings on causality, fact-value distinctions and the like, the harder it became to accept even the most basic narrative structure of history. An example: “First World War broke out in August 1914.” Careful! The conflict may not qualify as a world war in a non-Eurocentric sense until a month later, when Japanese troops invaded the German settlement in Qingdao.

Next, “to break out” is devoid of precision, and “August 1914” accepts the Gregorian calendar over the Julian calendar to say nothing of the Chinese, Hebraic or Islamic methods of recording the passage of time. The center of Sarajevo shows a plaque commemorating the location of the assassination of former Archduke of Austria and his wife. Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia were assassinated on June 28, 1914 by Bosnian ethnic Serb, Gavrilo Princip, member of the “Young Bosnia” organisation. The Sarajevo assassination is regarded to have been an immediate trigger for the beginning of World War I. Elvis Barukcic, AFP/Getty Images This was pure acadamese of course, but it did vindicate an intuition I developed back in primary school — that all historical explanations are themselves historical. I also learned that truly multicausal explanations of the war may be rare and even impossible — I am referring to explanations that account for the complex interaction between and among causes that are both structural and agential, short and long term, intentional and unintentional, material and ideational and so on.

Rather than turning into a lost cause, my search for the causes of the First World War remains alive, even if it is now “reduced” to an attempt to understand why people write about the past as they do. The centennial year has already seen no shortage of conversations and controversies about the war, many of which project contemporary debates about the rise of China, world trade, civil-military relations, multiculturalism and the like back to 1914. As scholars revise standard accounts or, better yet, access new evidence, new dialectics emerge. The Latin Bridge and the street corner where Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife Sophia on June 28, 1914. Although the underlying causes of World War I are well known — simmering tensions between rival blocs, bound by a complex network of alliances — the assassination in Sarajevo has long been considered as the trigger for the beginning of the 1914-18 conflict.

Elvis Barukcic, AFP/Getty Images This is why I am not ready to give up in my quest: if the Great War is indeed an object with great many functions, purposes and meanings, then paying attention to how historical interpretations of its causes shift — and fail to shift — always hold important clues and cues about our changing world. Srdjan Vucetic is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo. ▼ Primary Sources ▼ Assassination of Franz Ferdinand General Oskar Potiorek , Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina , invited Archduke Franz Ferdinand , Inspector of the Austro-Hungarian Army , and his wife, Sophie von Chotkova to, to watch his troops on maneuvers in June, 1914. Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, knew that the visit would be dangerous. A large number of people living in Bosnia-Herzegovina were unhappy with Austrian rule and favoured union with Serbia .

Ferdinand was aware that in 1910 a Serb, Bogdan Zerajic, had attempted to assassinate General Varesanin, the Austrian governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina, when he was opening parliament in Sarajevo. Zerajic was a member of the Black Hand (Unity or Death) group who wanted Bosnia-Herzegovina to leave the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The leader of the group was Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic , the chief of the Intelligence Department of the Serbian General Staff. Dimitrijevic considered Franz Ferdinand a serious threat to a union between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia . He was worried that Ferdinand's plans to grant concessions to the South Slavs would make an independent Serbian state more difficult to achieve. When it was announced that Franz Ferdinand was going to visit Bosnia in June 1914, Dimitrijevic began to make plans to assassinate him.

Dragutin Dimitrijevic , and his fellow conspirators, Milan Ciganovic and Major Voja Tankosic , sent three members of the Black Hand group based in Belgrade, Gavrilo Princip , Nedjelko Cabrinovic and Trifko Grabez , to carry out the deed. Each man was given a revolver, two bombs and small vial of cyanide. The three men were instructed to commit suicide after Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been killed as it was important to Dimitrijevic that the men did not have the opportunity to confess that members of the Serbian Army were involved in the assassination. Princip, Cabrinovic and Grabez were all suffering from tuberculosis and knew they would not live long. They all agreed they were willing to give their life for what they believed was a great cause: Bosnia-Herzegovina achieving independence from Austro-Hungary . Unknown to Dragutin Dimitrijevic , Major Voja Tankosic , was informing Nikola Pasic , the prime minister of Serbia about the plot. Although Pasic supported the main objectives of the Black Hand group, he did not want the assassination to take place as he feared it would lead to a war with Austro-Hungaria .

He therefore gave instructions for Gavrilo Princip , Nedjelko Cabrinovic and Trifko Grabez to be arrested when they attempted to leave the country. However, his orders were not implemented and the three man arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina where they joined forces with fellow conspirators, Muhamed Mehmedbasic , Danilo Ilic , Vaso Cubrilovic , Cvijetko Popovic , Misko Jovanovic and Veljko Cubrilovic . Just before 10 o'clock on Sunday, 28th June, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie von Chotkova to arrived in Sarajevo by train. General Oskar Potiorek , Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina , was waiting to take the royal party to the City Hall for the official reception. In the front car was Fehim Curcic, the Mayor of Sarajevo and Dr. Gerde, the city's Commissioner of Police. Franz Ferdinand and Sophie von Chotkova to were in the second car with Oskar Potiorek and Count von Harrach.

The car's top was rolled back in order to allow the crowds a good view of its occupants. The local police force were in charge of the security arrangements for the royal visit. Before the arrival of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, thirty-five potential troublemakers were arrested and taken into custody. A hundred and twenty policemen were placed along the route that the royal party was to take on its way to the City Hall but it was decided that the 70,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers in Sarajevo were to be kept in their barracks. Unknown to the Sarajevo police force, seven members of the Black Hand group also lined the route. They were spaced out along the Appel Quay, each one had been instructed to try and kill Franz Ferdinand when the royal car reached his position. The first conspirator on the route to see the royal car was Muhamed Mehmedbasic . Standing by the Austro-Hungarian Bank, Mehmedbasic lost his nerve and allowed the car pass without taking action. Mehmedbasic later said that a policeman was standing behind him and feared he would be arrested before he had a chance to throw his bomb. The next man on the route was Nedjelko Cabrinovic .

At 10.15. Cabrinovic stepped forward and hurled his bomb at the archduke's car. The driver accelerated when he saw the object flying towards him and the bomb exploded under the wheel of the next car. Two of the occupants, Eric von Merizzi and Count Boos-Waldeck were seriously wounded. About a dozen spectators were also hit by bomb splinters. After throwing his bomb, Nedjelko Cabrinovic swallowed the cyanide he was carrying and jumped into the River Miljacka. Four men, including two detectives, followed him in and managed to arrest him. The poison failed to kill him and he was taken to the local police station. Franz Ferdinand's driver, Franz Urban, drove on extremely fast and other members of the Black Hand group on the route, Cvijetko Popovic , Gavrilo Princip , Danilo Ilic and Trifko Grabez , decided that it was useless to try and kill the archduke when the car was going at this speed. After attending the official reception at the City Hall, Franz Ferdinand asked about the members of his party that had been wounded by the bomb.

When the archduke was told they were badly injured in hospital, he insisted on being taken to see them. A member of the archduke's staff, Baron Morsey, suggested this might be dangerous, but Oskar Potiorek , who was responsible for the safety of the royal party, replied, "Do you think Sarajevo is full of assassins?" However, Potiorek did accept it would be better if Duchess Sophie remained behind in the City Hall. When Baron Morsey told Sophie about the revised plans, she refused to stay arguing: "As long as the Archduke shows himself in public today I will not leave him." In order to avoid the city centre, General Oskar Potiorek decided that the royal car should travel straight along the Appel Quay to the Sarajevo Hospital. However, Potiorek forgot to tell the driver, Franz Urban, about this decision. On the way to the hospital, Urban took a right turn into Franz Joseph Street. One of the conspirators, Gavrilo Princip , happened to be was standing on the corner at the time. Oskar Potiorek immediately realised the driver had taken the wrong route and shouted "What is this? This is the wrong way!

We're supposed to take the Appel Quay!". The driver put his foot on the brake, and began to back up. In doing so he moved slowly past the waiting Gavrilo Princip . The assassin stepped forward, drew his gun, and at a distance of about five feet, fired several times into the car. Franz Ferdinand was hit in the neck and Sophie von Chotkova to in the abdomen. Princip's bullet had pierced the archduke's jugular vein but before losing consciousness, he pleaded "Sophie dear! Sophie dear! Don't die! Stay alive for our children!" Franz Urban drove the royal couple to Konak, the governor's residence, but although both were still alive when they arrived, they died from their wounds soon afterwards. As instructed, after shooting Franz Ferdinand and Sophie von Chotkova to, Gavrilo Princip turned his gun on himself. Ante Velic, who was standing behind him, saw what he was doing and seized Princip's right arm. Another man, Danilo Pusic, also grabbed Princip and within seconds the police arrived and he was arrested. Nedjelko Cabrinovi and Gavrilo Princip were both interrogated by the police.

They eventually gave the names of their fellow conspirators. Trifko Grabez , Danilo Ilic , Vaso Cubrilovic , Cvijetko Popovic , Misko Jovanovic and Veljko Cubrilovic were arrested but Muhamed Mehmedbasic managed to escape to Serbia . Several members of the Black Hand group interrogated by the Austrian authorities claimed that three men from Serbia, Milan Ciganovic , Dragutin Dimitrijevic and Major Voja Tankosic , had organised the plot. 0n 23rd July, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian government demanded that the Serbian government arrested these three men and send them to face trial in Vienna. On 25th July, 1914, Nikola Pasic , the prime minister of Serbia , told the Austro-Hungarian government that he was unable to hand over these three men as it "would be a violation of Serbia's Constitution and criminal in law". Three days later Austro-Hungarian declared war on Serbia . Eight of the men charged with treason and the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand were found guilty.

Under Austro-Hungarian law, capital punishment could not be imposed on someone who was under the age of twenty when they had committed the crime. Nedjelko Cabrinovic , Gavrilo Princip and Trifko Grabez therefore received the maximum penalty of twenty years. Vaso Cubrilovic got 16 years and Cvijetko Popovic 13 years. Misko Jovanovic , Danilo Ilic and Veljko Cubrilovic , who helped the assassins kill the royal couple, were executed on 3rd February, 1915. All three men sent by to Sarajevo from Serbia by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic , died in prison from tuberculosis: Nedjelko Cabrinovic (January, 1916), Trifko Grabez (February 1916) and Gavrilo Princip (April, 1918). During the first two years of the First World War the Serbian Army suffered a series of military defeats. Nikola Pasic , the prime minister of Serbia , angry about the way the war was destroying his country, disbanded the Black Hand organisation and Dragutin Dimitrijevic was arrested.

Dimitrijevic was found guilty of treason and executed on 11th June, 1917.

Question: On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb student and member of Young Bosnia, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Bosnia, which led to the start of which war?
Answer: World War I