Causes of WWI: The Immediate Causes
"What is the good of your speeches?
I come to Sarajevo on a visit, and I get bombs thrown at me. It is outrageous!"
Archduke Franz Ferdinand interrupting the Mayor's welcome speech at Sarajevo's city hall, 28 June 1914.
I come to Sarajevo on a visit, and I get bombs thrown at me. It is outrageous!"
Archduke Franz Ferdinand interrupting the Mayor's welcome speech at Sarajevo's city hall, 28 June 1914.
The July Crisis, 1914
The Archduke and his wife leaving the City Hall just before the assassinationSarajevo, Bosnia - June 28, 1914
"The royal couple traveled in an open touring car along the long Apel Quai that paralleled the River Miljac´ka on one side with stores and buildings on the other. At mid-point one of the conspirators threw a bomb, which hit the royal car but bounced off and exploded, with minor injuries to two of the archduke’s accompanying military officers. The entourage proceeded to the City Hall, the Konak, for an awkward reception. For security reasons, and because Franz Ferdinand wanted to check on the wounded officers, the officials agreed to avoid the planned route through many of Sarajevo’s narrowest streets. New orders were given to the drivers of the cars in the procession. But General Oskar Potiorek, the governor general of Sarajevo and the official host, forgot to tell the driver of the car in which he and the
royal couple were traveling. Thus, when their driver turned to follow the original route, the general told him to stop, reverse, and go back down the Quai. As he did, Gavrilo Princip stepped forward, and at very close range fired two shots into Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. They were dead within minutes. Because of their deaths, a war would come that eventually claimed 9.5 million more combatants’ lives."
Source: http://warandgame.com/2008/05/18/the-july-crisis/
"The royal couple traveled in an open touring car along the long Apel Quai that paralleled the River Miljac´ka on one side with stores and buildings on the other. At mid-point one of the conspirators threw a bomb, which hit the royal car but bounced off and exploded, with minor injuries to two of the archduke’s accompanying military officers. The entourage proceeded to the City Hall, the Konak, for an awkward reception. For security reasons, and because Franz Ferdinand wanted to check on the wounded officers, the officials agreed to avoid the planned route through many of Sarajevo’s narrowest streets. New orders were given to the drivers of the cars in the procession. But General Oskar Potiorek, the governor general of Sarajevo and the official host, forgot to tell the driver of the car in which he and the
royal couple were traveling. Thus, when their driver turned to follow the original route, the general told him to stop, reverse, and go back down the Quai. As he did, Gavrilo Princip stepped forward, and at very close range fired two shots into Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. They were dead within minutes. Because of their deaths, a war would come that eventually claimed 9.5 million more combatants’ lives."
Source: http://warandgame.com/2008/05/18/the-july-crisis/
An artist's rendition on the assassination
The Assassination
Franz Ferdinand arrived in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, a Sunday, and was met at the railway station by General Potiorek, to be taken on to the city hall for the reception and speeches.
The First Attempt: Seven members of the Black Hand lined the route due to be taken by the Archduke's cavalcade along Appel Quay. One of the men, Nedjelko Cabrinovic, threw a grenade at the Archduke's car. The driver took evasive action and quickly sped from the scene. The grenade bounced off the back of the Archduke's car and rolled underneath the next car, exploding seconds later; two of its occupants were severely wounded.
The Second Attempt: Despite the failed grenade attempt, the Archduke continued his visit and arrived at the City Hall where he remonstrated his host about the failed attempt on his life (see quotation above).
Following the reception the Archduke determined to visit those injured in the grenade explosion at the city hospital. General Potiorek decided that the motorcade should take an alternate route to the hospital, avoiding the city centre altogether. However the driver of Ferdinand's car, Franz Urban, was not informed of the change of plan and so took the original route (see diagram below).
Gavrilo Princip, who happened to be in Franz Joseph Street at a cafe, seized his opportunity, and took aim at Ferdinand from a distance of five feet. His bullets struck the Archduke in the neck and his wife, Sophie, who was travelling with him, in the abdomen.
Franz Ferdinand arrived in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, a Sunday, and was met at the railway station by General Potiorek, to be taken on to the city hall for the reception and speeches.
The First Attempt: Seven members of the Black Hand lined the route due to be taken by the Archduke's cavalcade along Appel Quay. One of the men, Nedjelko Cabrinovic, threw a grenade at the Archduke's car. The driver took evasive action and quickly sped from the scene. The grenade bounced off the back of the Archduke's car and rolled underneath the next car, exploding seconds later; two of its occupants were severely wounded.
The Second Attempt: Despite the failed grenade attempt, the Archduke continued his visit and arrived at the City Hall where he remonstrated his host about the failed attempt on his life (see quotation above).
Following the reception the Archduke determined to visit those injured in the grenade explosion at the city hospital. General Potiorek decided that the motorcade should take an alternate route to the hospital, avoiding the city centre altogether. However the driver of Ferdinand's car, Franz Urban, was not informed of the change of plan and so took the original route (see diagram below).
Gavrilo Princip, who happened to be in Franz Joseph Street at a cafe, seized his opportunity, and took aim at Ferdinand from a distance of five feet. His bullets struck the Archduke in the neck and his wife, Sophie, who was travelling with him, in the abdomen.
The Assassin
Gavrilo Princip (1894-1918) was born in June or July 1894, the son of a postman. One of nine children,
six of whom died in infancy, Princip's health was poor from an early age: his eventual death was caused by tuberculosis.
Princip was one of three men sent by Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the chief of the Intelligence Department in the Serbian Army and head of the Black Hand, to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, during his visit to Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. The other men sent to assassinate Ferdinand were Nedjelko Cabrinovic, and Trifko Grabez.
The three men were instructed to commit suicide after killing the Archduke. To this end they were each given
a vial of cyanide, along with a revolver and grenades. Each of the men suffered from tuberculosis and consequently knew that they did not have long to live; meanwhile, Dimitrijevic did not wish any of the men to live to tell who was behind the assassination.
Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/princip.htm
Gavrilo Princip (1894-1918) was born in June or July 1894, the son of a postman. One of nine children,
six of whom died in infancy, Princip's health was poor from an early age: his eventual death was caused by tuberculosis.
Princip was one of three men sent by Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the chief of the Intelligence Department in the Serbian Army and head of the Black Hand, to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, during his visit to Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. The other men sent to assassinate Ferdinand were Nedjelko Cabrinovic, and Trifko Grabez.
The three men were instructed to commit suicide after killing the Archduke. To this end they were each given
a vial of cyanide, along with a revolver and grenades. Each of the men suffered from tuberculosis and consequently knew that they did not have long to live; meanwhile, Dimitrijevic did not wish any of the men to live to tell who was behind the assassination.
Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/princip.htm
Consequences
After the shooting Princip tried to turn his gun upon himself but was seized and restrained
by a man nearby, aided by several policemen. He was arrested and taken to a police station.
In total eight men were charged with treason and Franz Ferdinand's murder. However under Austro-Hungarian law capital punishment could not be applied to anyone under the age of 20 when the crime was committed. Gavrilo Princip, whose precise date of birth could not be firmly established at his trial, was therefore imprisoned for the maximum duration, twenty years.
He died however of tuberculosis on 28 April 1918.
What followed next was a series of events that can be summed up in the following diagram below, which would eventually determine the fate of Europe and lead the world into total warfare. The "Great War" is about to begin.
Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/princip.htm
After the shooting Princip tried to turn his gun upon himself but was seized and restrained
by a man nearby, aided by several policemen. He was arrested and taken to a police station.
In total eight men were charged with treason and Franz Ferdinand's murder. However under Austro-Hungarian law capital punishment could not be applied to anyone under the age of 20 when the crime was committed. Gavrilo Princip, whose precise date of birth could not be firmly established at his trial, was therefore imprisoned for the maximum duration, twenty years.
He died however of tuberculosis on 28 April 1918.
What followed next was a series of events that can be summed up in the following diagram below, which would eventually determine the fate of Europe and lead the world into total warfare. The "Great War" is about to begin.
Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/princip.htm
Task 1
B) What are the value and limitations of this document for an historian researching the causes of World War I?
European Powers During the July Crisis.docx Download File
Task 2
- Read the following official Austrian report into the assassination.
- Answer the following questions:
B) What are the value and limitations of this document for an historian researching the causes of World War I?
European Powers During the July Crisis.docx Download File
Task 2
- Read pages 29 to 31 from the text History - 20th Century World: Causes, Practices and Effects of War and chapter 1 of the text "Modern World History (blue text)".
- Read pages 66 to 84 from the text Origins of the First World War by Graham Darby (Teacher Resources).
- Download and complete the following worksheet titled "European Powers During the July Crisis.docx".
Useful Links
The Official Austrian Report - http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/austrianreport.htm
Primary Documents - 1914 - http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/1914.htm
July Crisis, 1914 - http://warandgame.com/2008/05/18/the-july-crisis/
The Sarajevo Attack - http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,4744730,00.html
The Official Austrian Report - http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/austrianreport.htm
Primary Documents - 1914 - http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/1914.htm
July Crisis, 1914 - http://warandgame.com/2008/05/18/the-july-crisis/
The Sarajevo Attack - http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,4744730,00.html