Assassination in Sarajevo

Discussions on all aspects of the First World War not covered in the other sections. Hosted by Terry Duncan.
Post Reply
User avatar
Terry Duncan
Forum Staff
Posts: 6270
Joined: 13 Jun 2008, 23:54
Location: Kent

Assassination in Sarajevo

#1

Post by Terry Duncan » 28 Jun 2014, 00:32

We are now at the 100th Anniversary of the assassination of Franz-Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the article on Wikipedia serves as a fairly good overview of the events, and also much of the speculation that has been ongoing ever since.
After learning that the first assassination attempt had been unsuccessful, Princip thought about a position to assassinate the archduke on his return journey, and decided to move to a position in front of a nearby food shop (Schiller's delicatessen), near the Latin Bridge. At this point the Archdukes' motorcade turned off the Appel Quay, mistakenly following the original route which would have taken them to the National Museum. Governor Potiorek, who was sharing the second vehicle with the Imperial couple, called out to the driver to reverse and take the Quay to the hospital. Driver Lojka stopped the car close to where Princip was standing, prior to backing up. The latter stepped forward and fired two shots from a distance of about one and a half metres (5 feet)[75] using a Belgian-made 9×17mm (.380 ACP) Fabrique Nationale model 1910 semi-automatic pistol. Pistol serial numbers 19074, 19075, 19120 and 19126 were supplied to the assassins; Princip used #19074. According to Albertini, "the first bullet wounded the Archduke in the jugular vein, the second inflicted an abdominal wound on the Duchess." Princip was immediately arrested. At his sentencing, Princip stated that his intention had been to kill Governor Potiorek, rather than Sophie.

Both victims remained seated upright, but died while being driven to the Governor's residence for medical treatment. As reported by Count Harrach, Franz Ferdinand's last words were "Sophie, Sophie! Don't die! Live for our children!" followed by six or seven utterances of "It is nothing." in response to Harrach's inquiry as to Franz Ferdinand's injury. These utterances were followed by a long death rattle. Sophie was dead on arrival at the Governor's residence. Franz Ferdinand died 10 minutes later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassinat ... of_Austria

Certain stories such as Princip's sandwich are not included, but it would be interesting to see what other anecdotes and stories are connected with the event, if anyone has anything to share?

James A Pratt III
Member
Posts: 897
Joined: 30 Apr 2006, 01:08
Location: Texas

Re: Assassination in Sarajevo

#2

Post by James A Pratt III » 28 Jun 2014, 21:59

books on the subject:
A Mad Catastrophe Geoffrey Wawro
Assassination in Sarajero Alex Wolff
The Assassination of the Archduke Greg King


YM
Member
Posts: 102
Joined: 16 May 2005, 14:26
Location: Israel

Re: Assassination in Sarajevo

#3

Post by YM » 28 Jun 2014, 22:11

I have heard it said that Austrian officials were not merely lax in providing security for the Archduke, but actually deliberately
saw to it that he had inadequate protection, hoping that someone like Gavrilo Princip would get rid of the unpopular Archduke for them. Is there anything to this? It is also know that the Emperor Franz Josef was alienated from the Archduke due to his morganatic marriage to Sophie who the Emperor felt was unfit to be a consort to a member of the Imperial family. Was he glad when the Archduke was removed from the succession to the throne?

T

Kurt12123
Member
Posts: 7
Joined: 11 Mar 2013, 05:14

Re: Assassination in Sarajevo

#4

Post by Kurt12123 » 29 Jun 2014, 05:51

2 quick comments - watched the Deutsche Welle news and saw a statue was unveiled of Gavrilo Princip as a Bosnian hero yesterday in Sarajevo.

And many years ago went to the Arsenal Military Museum in Vienna where the car the Archduke was riding in on that day was displayed. I believe the bullet holes were visible.

Post Reply

Return to “First World War”