A shot in Sarajevo that started the First World War. Sarajevo Murder: Causes, Murder and Consequences

On June 28, 1914, the Austrian Archduke (heir to the throne) Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo (Bosnia). The attempt on his life was carried out by the Serbian youth revolutionary organization "Young Bosnia" ("Mlada Bosna"), which was headed by Gavrila Princip and Danil Ilic. This assassination became the formal reason for the start of a great war between the two coalitions of the great powers.

Why did the war start?

Three shots, which led to the death of the heir to the Austrian throne, along with his wife Sophia, could not lead to such a catastrophic result as the start of a pan-European war. The big war could have started much earlier. There were two Moroccan crises (1905-1906, 1911), two Balkan wars (1912-1913). Germany openly threatened France, the Austro-Hungarian Empire began mobilization several times. However, Russia each time took a restraining position. She was supported by Britain, not yet ready for a big war. As a result, the Central Powers hesitated to go to war. Conferences of the great powers were convened, conflicts were resolved by political and diplomatic means. True, from crisis to crisis, Germany and Austria-Hungary became more and more impudent. Petersburg's willingness to make concessions and seek compromises began to be perceived in Berlin as proof of Russia's weakness. In addition, the German Kaiser believed that armed forces empires, especially navies, are not ready for war. Germany adopted a massive naval program in defiance of the British. In Berlin, they now wanted not only to defeat France, but to seize its colonies, and for this a powerful fleet was needed.

Berlin was sure of victory on the land front. The Schlieffen plan, based on the difference in the timing of mobilization in Germany and Russia, made it possible to defeat the French troops before the Russian armies entered the battle. Given the highest readiness of the German army for war (the command of the fleet asked for more time), the start date for the war - the summer of 1914, was scheduled in advance. This date was announced at a meeting of Emperor Wilhelm II with the military leadership on December 8, 1912 (meeting topic: “ best time and the method of deploying war). The same period - the summer of 1914 - was indicated in 1912-1913. in the reports of Russian agents in Germany and Switzerland, Bazarov and Gurko. The German military programs, originally calculated up to 1916, were revised - with completion by the spring of 1914. The German leadership believed that Germany was the best prepared for war.

Significant attention in the plans of Berlin and Vienna was given to the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkans were to become the main prizes of Austria-Hungary. Back in 1913, the German Kaiser, in the margins of a report on the situation in the Balkan region, noted that a “good provocation” was required. Indeed, the Balkans were a real "powder magazine" of Europe (as they are now). The reason for the war was easiest to find here. Back in 1879, after the Russian-Turkish war, all the prerequisites for future armed conflicts. The Balkan states, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia and England were involved in the conflict. In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, which formally belonged to Istanbul. However, Belgrade also claimed these lands. In 1912-1913. two Balkan wars broke out. As a result of a series of wars and conflicts, almost all countries and peoples were dissatisfied: Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, Austria-Hungary. Behind each side of the conflict stood the great powers. The region has become a real hotbed for the games of special services, terrorists, revolutionaries and outright bandits. One after another, secret organizations were created - "Black Hand", "Mlada Bosna", "Freedom", etc.

Yet Berlin was only thinking about provocation; the real reason for the war for the Germans was created by the terrorist-nationalist organization "Black Hand" ("Unity or Death"). It was headed by the head of the Serbian counterintelligence, Colonel Dragutin Dmitrievich (pseudonym Apis). The members of the organization were patriots of their homeland and enemies of Austria-Hungary and Germany, they dreamed of building a "Great Serbia". The problem was that Dmitrievich, Tankosich and other leaders " black hand"were not only Serbian officers, but also members of Masonic lodges. If Apis carried out direct planning and management of operations, then there were other leaders who remained in the shadows. Among them is the Serbian Minister L. Chupa, a prominent hierarch of the "Freemasons". He was associated with Belgian and French Masonic circles. It was he who stood at the origins of the organization, oversaw its activities. Propaganda was carried out with purely patriotic, Pan-Slavist slogans. And to achieve the main goal - the creation of "Great Serbia", it was possible only through war, with the obligatory participation of Russia. It is clear that the "backstage structures" of that time (they were part of the Masonic lodges) led Europe to a big war, which was supposed to lead to the construction of a New World Order.

The organization had a huge influence in Serbia, created branches in Bosnia, Macedonia, Bulgaria. King of Serbia Peter I Karageorgievich and Prime Minister Nikola Pasic did not share the views of the Black Hand, however, the organization was able to achieve great influence among the officers, it had its own people in the government, assembly and at court.

It was no coincidence that the victim of the attack was chosen. Franz Ferdinand in politics was a hard realist. As early as 1906, he drew up a plan for the transformation of the dualistic monarchy. This project, if implemented, could prolong the life of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, reducing the degree of interethnic conflicts. According to him, the monarchy was transformed into the United States of Great Austria - a triune state (or Austria-Hungary-Slavia), 12 national autonomies were established for each large nationality living in the Habsburg empire. From the reformation of the monarchy from a dualistic to a trialistic model, the ruling dynasty and the Slavic peoples benefited. The Czech people received their own autonomous state (on the model of Hungary). The heir to the Austrian throne did not like Russians, and even more Serbs, but Franz Ferdinand was categorically against a preventive war with Serbia and a conflict with Russia. In his opinion, such a conflict was fatal for both Russia and Austria-Hungary. His removal unleashed the hands of the "party of war".

An interesting fact is that before the assassination attempt itself, terrorists are brought to Belgrade, they are trained in shooting in the shooting range of the royal park, they are armed with revolvers and bombs (Serbian production) from the state arsenal. As if specially created evidence that the terrorist act was organized by Serbia. July 15, 1914 as a result of an internal political crisis ( palace coup), the military forces King Peter to abdicate in favor of his son, Alexander, who was young, inexperienced and, in part, was under the influence of the conspirators.

Apparently, Belgrade and Vienna were also confronted by certain circles in Austria-Hungary. The Serbian Prime Minister and the Russian Ambassador to Serbia Hartwig, through their agents, learned about the assassination plot. Both tried to prevent it and warned the Austrians. However, the Austrian government did not cancel the visit of Franz Ferdinand to Sarajevo and did not take proper measures to ensure his safety. So, on June 28, 1914, there were two assassination attempts (the first was unsuccessful). A bomb thrown by Nedelko Gabrinovich killed the driver and injured several people. This attempt did not become a reason for strengthening the security or the immediate evacuation of the Archduke from the city. Therefore, the terrorists got a second opportunity, which was successfully implemented.

Berlin took this assassination as an excellent casus belli. The German Kaiser, having received a message about the death of the Archduke, wrote on the margins of the telegram: "Now or never." And he ordered Moltke to begin preparations for an operation against France. England took an interesting position: if Russia and France took diplomatic steps towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, the British kept themselves evasively and apart. London did not siege the Germans, did not promise support to the allies. As a result, the Kaiser had the impression that England had decided to stay out of the fight. This was not surprising, given London's traditional European policy. The German ambassador to England, Lichniewski, met with British Foreign Secretary Gray and confirmed this conclusion - Britain would not interfere. However, the British intervened, but with a serious delay. This happened on August 5, when the German corps were already smashing Belgium, and it was impossible to stop the massacre. For Berlin, Britain's entry into the war came as a surprise.

Thus began the World War, which claimed 10 million lives, redrawn the political map of the planet and seriously changed the old value systems. All the benefits from the start of the war received England, France and the United States. The so-called "financial international" made huge profits in the war and destroyed the aristocratic elites of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Russia, which are "outdated" and stood in the way of building the New World Order.

It poses a number of questions for us. Why did it even start?

The simplest answer that lies on the surface: because on June 28, 1914, the Serbian terrorist Gavrila Princip, a member of the Mlada Bosna organization, shot the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo during his visit to the capital of the Austrian province, which became part of Austria-Hungary in 1908. Serbian revolutionaries sought to liberate Bosnia from Austrian rule and annex it to Serbia, and for this purpose they committed an act of individual terror against the Austrian heir to the throne. Austria-Hungary did not tolerate such lawlessness, put forward a number of demands on Serbia, which, in its opinion, was guilty of organizing this assassination attempt, and when it did not comply with them, it decided to punish this state. But Russia stood up for Serbia, and Germany stood up for Austria-Hungary. In turn, France stood up for Russia, and so on. The system of alliances began to work - and a war broke out, which no one expected and did not want. In a word, if not for the Sarajevo shot, peace and goodwill would reign on earth.

Since 1908, Europe and the world have been going through a series of political crises and military anxieties. The Sarajevo assassination was just one of them.

Such an explanation is suitable only for kindergarten. The fact is that, since 1908, Europe and the world have been going through a series of political crises and military anxieties: 1908-1909 - the Bosnian crisis, 1911 - the Agadir crisis and the Italo-Turkish war, 1912-1913 - the Balkan wars and disengagement between Serbia and Albania. The Sarajevo assassination was just one such crisis. If it wasn't there, something else would have happened.

Consider the official Austrian version of the involvement of the Serbian government in the assassination attempt on Franz Ferdinand, announced at the Sarajevo trial. According to this version, the assassination attempt was led by Colonel General Staff Dmitry Dimitrievich (nicknamed Apis). Indirectly, this version was confirmed by the Thessaloniki trial of 1917, when Dimitrievich confessed to his involvement in the Sarajevo assassination attempt. However, in 1953, the Yugoslav court rehabilitated the participants in the Thessaloniki trial, acknowledging that they were not convicted for the crimes they allegedly committed. Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pasic, neither in 1914 nor later, admitted to being aware of the assassination attempt in Sarajevo. But after 1918 - the victory of the Allies and the death of the Austrian Empire - he had nothing to fear.

In fairness, we note that Dimitrievich was involved in one obvious regicide - the brutal murder of King Alexander and his wife Draga in 1903, and in 1917 he really seemed to be plotting the overthrow of King Peter Karageorgievich and his son Alexander. But this is too indirect evidence of his possible involvement in the organization of the Sarajevo assassination attempt.

Of course, the underage and inexperienced members of the Mlada Bosna organization could not organize themselves for such a difficult task and acquire weapons: they were clearly helped by professionals. Who were these professionals and whom did they serve? Let us assume for a moment that the Serbian authorities were involved in the assassination attempt in order to provoke a Serb uprising in Bosnia or a military clash with Austria-Hungary. How would it look in the context of the summer of 1914?

The ruling circles of Serbia could not fail to understand that a confrontation with Austria-Hungary would be fatal for the country.

Like suicide. Prime Minister Nikola Pasic and his government could not but understand that if the involvement of the Serbian authorities in the assassination attempt was established, at best it would be a monstrous international scandal with negative consequences for Serbia. The Serbs were already followed by an unkind trail of regicides after the assassination of the Serbian king Alexander Obrenovic and his wife in 1903, to which all the august families of Europe reacted painfully. In the event of the assassination of a representative of a foreign royal house, the reaction of all of Europe (including Russia) could only be sharply negative. And on the part of Austria, this would have been a legitimate reason for military blackmail, which she resorted to against Serbia and on much less convenient occasions, for example, during the Bosnian crisis in 1908-1909 or during the Albanian-Serbian delimitation of 1913 and the Albanian attack on Serbia in the same 1913. Every time Serbia had to retreat before the military-diplomatic pressure of Austria. And it is not a fact that Russia would have stood up for her if there really were strong evidence of the involvement of the Serbian authorities in the assassination attempt. treated political terror sharply negatively. So, when he learned that members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization were going to poison the water pipes of the leading European capitals in order to thereby contribute to the liberation of Macedonia, he wrote on the report: “People with such views should be destroyed like mad dogs.” So Serbia risked being left alone with Austria. Was she ready for this? The mobilization potential of four million Serbia was a maximum of 400,000 people (and the maximum strength of the Serbian army was 250,000). The mobilization capabilities of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy are 2.5 million soldiers and officers (a total of 2,300,000 people were drafted into the war). The Austrian army consisted of 3100 light and 168 heavy guns, 65 aircraft, in addition, the best arms factories in Europe were located in the Czech Republic. What Serbia alone could oppose to such power? If we take into account the significant losses in the two Balkan wars, the hostility of Albania and Bulgaria, the huge public debt, the situation becomes even more hopeless. So Austria could well put forward an ultimatum with impossible conditions, and in the event of its at least partial rejection, declare war on Serbia, crush it and occupy it. Which is basically what happened afterwards. And either an adventurer or a traitor - a person who did not serve Serbian interests - could go for such a provocation.

There is another weighty argument: until 1914 Serbia and the Serbian government were not accused of collaborating with terrorist organizations. The Serbian authorities did not seek to solve their political problems by supporting individual terror.

There is a version, defended by Western researchers, that allegedly Russian intelligence pushed the Serbs to organize the assassination attempt. But this version is untenable, if only because all the high-ranking Russian officers responsible for intelligence in the Balkans, by the time of the Sarajevo assassination attempt, were on vacation or were engaged in affairs far from intelligence. In addition, in Russia they could not help but understand that the assassination attempt ultimately meant a war between Russia and Austria and, possibly, Germany. And to her Russian empire wasn't ready. The rearmament of the army and navy was to be completed by 1917. And if Russia was the initiator of the war, then the pre-mobilization state of the army and the country would have been announced much earlier than it actually happened. Finally, if Russian intelligence and the Russian General Staff were really behind the Sarajevo assassination attempt, they would have taken care of coordinating the actions of the Russian and Serbian armies in a future war. None of this was done, Russian-Serbian cooperation during the war was pure improvisation, and, unfortunately, not very successful.

The parade of Austrian troops in Sarajevo, as if on purpose, was scheduled for June 28 - the day of St. Vitus, on the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo.

If we carefully analyze the events of the Sarajevo attentate (as the assassination is called in Serbian), we will see that much is unclean here. For some reason, the parade of Austrian troops in Sarajevo, which was supposed to be received by Archduke Ferdinand, was supposedly scheduled for June 28 - the day of St. Vitus, on the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, moreover, on the day of the round anniversary - the 525th Serbs of their statehood. It seems that the Austrian authorities did not do this by chance and that the situation was heating up purposefully. Moreover, when the situation was tense, no serious measures were taken to protect Franz Ferdinand, despite the fact that the Austrian detective authorities knew about the existence of terrorist organizations and during the previous five years successfully prevented the terrorist acts of Mlada Bosna: none of them ended in success. Austro-Hungarian officials were involved in the transfer of terrorists and weapons to Bosnia (this was revealed later - at the Sarajevo trial; and there is no complete certainty that all the perpetrators were brought to justice). The next detail: at the right time, there were no police agents around the Archduke's car capable of covering Franz Ferdinand and his wife from terrorist bullets.

Moreover, on the fateful day of the assassination - as if on purpose - Franz Ferdinand was taken around the city by the longest route. And the question arises: did they turn him into a target? And he really became a target: initially, a terrorist ... bomb was thrown into his car, which, however, hit not the Archduke, but the escort car.

It is characteristic how the governor of Bosnia behaved - the hater of the Serbs Oscar Potiorek - after the first unsuccessful assassination attempt, when representatives of the local authorities and the archduke's retinue discussed what to do next. Baron Morsi of Franz Ferdinand's retinue suggested that the Archduke leave Sarajevo. In response, Potiorek said: "Do you think that Sarajevo is infested with murderers?" Meanwhile, after what happened, it was his direct duty to ensure the speedy and safe departure of Franz Ferdinand from Sarajevo.

Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia canceled their visit and decided to visit the wounded in the hospital. On the way to the hospital, they were struck by the bullets of Gavrila Princip. It is noteworthy that at the trial, when asked why he shot Archduchess Sophia, he replied that he did not want to shoot her, but Governor Potiorek. It is strange that such a well-aimed terrorist, who mortally wounded Franz Ferdinand, confused ... a man with a woman. And this begs the question: didn’t Potiorek, through his agents, divert the hand of the terrorists from himself and direct it towards Franz Ferdinand? After all, he was supposed to be the original target of the murder, but a couple of weeks before June 28, Franz Ferdinand was chosen as the victim by the Serbian terrorists of the Black Hand organization, with which Mlada Bosna was connected. And the question arises: why him? And another related to him: who was Franz Ferdinand?

Franz Ferdinand was a supporter of the federalization of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and trialism - the union of the Slavic lands into a single kingdom.

Contrary to the assertions of Marxist historiography, he was by no means a hater of the Slavs or Serbs, on the contrary, he was a supporter of the federalization of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and trialism - the union of the Slavic lands of the Austrian Crown into a single kingdom. The explanation that he was killed by Serbian terrorists in order to prevent the implementation of a trialistic project that threatened the unification of Serbian lands within the framework of the Serbian Kingdom does not stand up to criticism: the implementation of this project was not on the agenda, since it had powerful opponents: the Austrian Chancellor, the commander-in-chief the Austrian army Konrad von Getzendorf, the governor of Bosnia O. Potiorek and, finally, the emperor Franz Joseph himself. Moreover, the murder of one of the representatives of the House of Habsburg, who sympathized with the Serbs, could seriously complicate their situation, which happened, since immediately after the death of Franz Ferdinand, bloody Serbian pogroms began throughout Austria-Hungary, and especially in Sarajevo.

After the death of the Archduke, Austria acted out the mourning of the world, but in reality the Austrian officials did not mourn too much. Here is just one significant fact: when the news of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand reached the Russian embassy in Serbia, the Russian envoy Hartwig and the Austrian envoy were playing whist. Having learned the terrible news, Hartwig ordered to stop the game and declare mourning, despite the protests of the Austrian ambassador, who really wanted to win. But it is the Austrian envoy who will bring Hartwig to a heart attack, falsely accusing him of Russia's involvement in the Sarajevo assassination and supporting Serbian extremism. The funeral of Franz Ferdinand and his wife was organized in a humiliatingly modest ceremonial. And although most members of other royal families planned to take part in the mourning events, they were defiantly not invited. The decision was made to organize a low-key funeral attended by only close relatives, including the three children of the Archduke and Archduchess, who were excluded from the few public ceremonies. The officer corps was forbidden to salute the funeral train. Franz Ferdinand and Sophia were buried not in the royal crypt, but in the Attenstadt family castle.

Given the tragic nature of the death of Franz Ferdinand, all this testifies to the most real hatred towards him on the part of a number of representatives of the Habsburg house and hostility on the part of the emperor. It seems that Franz Ferdinand became a victim of rivalry between court cliques, and his death was a move in a political combination designed to solve Austrian state problems, in particular the destruction of Serbia.

The comparatively lenient sentence to the members of the Mlada Bosna organization and those involved in the assassination is indicative. At the trial in Sarajevo in October 1914, out of 25 defendants, only 4 people were sentenced to death, and only three sentences were carried out. The rest received various prison terms, including the murderer of the Archduke Gavril Princip, and nine defendants were acquitted altogether. What does such a verdict mean? About much. Including the fact that the terrorists worked into the hands of the Austrian authorities.

The death of Franz Ferdinand was 100% used to start a war against Serbia. The judicial investigation has not yet been completed, all the more so, the trial did not pass when on July 23 a humiliating ultimatum was put forward to Serbia, in which the Austrian government accused the Serbian authorities of involvement in the murder of the Archduke and demanded not only to stop any anti-Austrian propaganda, but also to close all the publications involved in it. , to dismiss from service all officials seen or suspected of having anti-Austrian views, and most importantly, to allow Austrian officials to conduct investigative actions on Serbian territory. Such demands meant the destruction of Serbian sovereignty. Such an ultimatum could only be put forward by a defeated country. However, Serbia, on the advice of Russia, accepted almost all the requirements of the Austrians, except for the last one. Nevertheless, on July 25, Austria-Hungary broke off diplomatic relations with Serbia, and on July 28 began hostilities against it.

So, if, finding out the reasons for the Sarajevo assassination, we pose the question: “Who benefited from this?”, Then the answer is clear - Austria-Hungary.

Reich Chancellor German Empire T. Bethmann-Hollweg, one of the supporters of the war, stated in 1914: "Now we are ready as never before."

But this is only the first level of the problem. It is clear that Russia would stand up for Serbia. Austria could not go to war without Germany's willingness to help her ally. And in the summer of 1914 militant moods reigned in Berlin. Chancellor T. Bethmann-Hollweg, one of the supporters of the war and the occupation of living space in the East, said: "Now we are ready as never before." The military party, represented in addition to him by generals Moltke Jr., Hindenburg, Ludendorff, warned Kaiser Wilhelm that after two or three years the advantages of Germany would come to naught due to the rearmament of Russia and France. Accordingly, if the Sarajevo assassination attempt was a provocation by the Austrian secret services, who "blindly" used fanatical and narrow-minded Serbian revolutionaries, led by the ideals of romantic nationalism, then it would not have been possible without, at a minimum, coordination with Berlin. And Berlin was ready for war.

However, this is not the last level of the problem. At the beginning of the 20th century there was a state where the sun never set and whose word decided, if not everything, then a lot - the British Empire. It was her intervention or warnings in previous years that often stopped what was about to begin. world war. In the summer of 1914, there was no such timely warning. It sounded only on August 4, at a time when nothing could be stopped or corrected. Why? We will look at this in the next article. Apparently, there was some kind of Grand Plan to draw the states of Europe into the war, and it is possible that the intelligence service of the British Empire - Intelligent Service - could also be involved in the Sarajevo assassination attempt and unleashing the First World War. We will talk about this Grand Plan in the next article.

If Ferdinand and his wife had been immediately taken to the clinic, they could have been saved. But the courtiers close to the royal people behaved extremely absurdly and decided to take the wounded to the residence. Franz Ferdinand and his wife died on the way from blood loss. All the rebels involved in the assassination were detained and convicted (the main organizers were executed, the rest received long prison terms).

After the assassination of the Archduke, anti-Serb pogroms began in the city. The city authorities did nothing to oppose this. Many civilians suffered. Austria-Hungary realized the true meaning of the assassination attempt. This was the "last warning" of Serbia's independence aspirations (although the country's official authorities did not claim responsibility for the Sarajevo assassination).

Austria-Hungary even received warnings about the impending assassination attempt, but chose to ignore them. There is also evidence that not only nationalists from the Black Hand, but also Serbian military intelligence were involved in the assassination attempt. The operation was led by Colonel Rade Malobabich. Moreover, the investigation revealed evidence that the Black Hand was directly subordinate to the Serbian military intelligence.

After the assassination of the Archduke, a scandal erupted in Europe. Austria-Hungary demanded from Serbia a thorough investigation of the crime, but the Serbian government stubbornly brushed aside any suspicion of participating in a conspiracy against the Austro-Hungarian heir. Such actions led to the recall of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador from the embassy in Serbia, after which both countries began to prepare for war.

In the words of Anna Akhmatova, the 20th century began exactly one hundred years ago. In the hot summer of 1914, the Peace Palace opened in the Netherlands, and already in August the cannons started talking. The immediate reason for this was that on June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand, heir to the crown of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was killed in Sarajevo.

The Archduke was to succeed the Habsburgs on the throne Franz Joseph I who ruled the empire for 68 years. It was under him that in 1867 Austria became a dualistic monarchy - Austria-Hungary (that is, the emperor began to be crowned in Budapest as the Hungarian king). The country was divided into Cisleithania and Transleithania (along the Leyte River) between Austrian and Hungarian possessions.

However, many unresolved national issues remained in the monarchy, the main of which remained the Slavic one. Poles, Ukrainians, Rusyns, Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks and Serbs did not have their own statehood.

Some peoples, in particular the Poles, sought to create their own state, some - Czechs and Croats - were ready to be content with broad autonomy.

This issue was of particular relevance in the Balkan Peninsula, where radical changes took place in the last quarter of the 19th century. Independent Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania appeared, immediately entering into territorial disputes between themselves and with the former metropolis of Turkey. In Vojvodina, Krajina and northeastern Croatia, Serbs made up a significant percentage of the population and sought to reunite with young Serbia (which became independent after the Russo-Turkish War in 1878 by decision Berlin Congress).

The issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina added to the urgency. These two provinces were occupied by Austria-Hungary after Berlin and annexed in October 1908. The local Serb population, however, did not accept the annexation. And then the world stood on the brink of war: Serbia and Montenegro announced mobilization in October, and only the mediation of five countries (Russia, Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy) prevented the conflict from starting.

The Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire then understood that Russia was not ready for war. As a result, by March 1909, St. Petersburg and Belgrade recognized the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Vienna.

The Bosnian crisis was not the only harbinger of global conflict. Since 1895, when the conflict between Japan and China began, local wars or armed incidents have constantly been going on in the world. Russia in January 1904 began a war with Japan, which ended in a crushing defeat. By 1907, two blocs had formed in Europe: the Entente (“cordial consent”) - the military-political alliance of Russia, England and France and the “Central Powers” ​​(Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary). The traditional Marxist historiography viewed the Entente as a force seeking to preserve the existing order of things in Europe and the world, seeing Germany and its allies as young wolves who want their share.

However, besides this, each country had its own local geopolitical interests, including in the explosive Balkan region. Russia has repeatedly confirmed its desire to take possession of the Black Sea straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Austria-Hungary sought to prevent irredentist sentiment among Serbs and Croats in the crown lands. Germany wanted to move into the Middle East, which needed a strong rear in the Balkans. As a result, any excess on the hot peninsula led to a new round of tension.

Peculiarities of the National Hunt

In addition, it is worth noting that the beginning of the 20th century was the golden age of political terrorism.

In almost every country, radical organizations have used explosions and gunshots for political struggle.

In Russia, the organizations of the Socialist-Revolutionaries (Socialist-Revolutionaries) were especially distinguished on this front. In 1904, Vyacheslav Plehve, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Empire, died at the hands of a bomber, and in 1905, the Governor-General of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, was killed by militants. Terrorists were active not only in Russia: the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucchini in 1898 killed the wife of Franz Joseph I, Elisabeth of Bavaria (also known as Sissi). Terrorist acts have become a part of life in Southern Europe - in Italy, Spain and the Balkans. Naturally, Serbian activists also used these methods.

Since 1911, the nationalist organization "Black Hand" has been operating in Serbia, striving to unite the Serbian lands into Yugoslavia. It included high-ranking officers of the country, so the authorities were afraid of the "black hands".

It is still unclear to what extent the activities of the Black Hand were controlled by the special services, but it is clear that no consent was given in Belgrade for actions in Bosnia.

Anti-Austrian activists in this province were partly part of the Young Bosnia organization. It arose in 1912 and aimed at the liberation of the provinces from Vienna. One of its members was the Sarajevo student Gavrila Princip.

salute and bomb

It is worth adding that Franz Ferdinand spoke from the standpoint of trialism, that is, he believed that Austria-Hungary should also become the state of the southern Slavs under the Habsburg crown - first of all, this would hit the positions of the Hungarians and the numerous Hungarian nobility who owned lands in Croatia, Slovakia and Transcarpathia.

It cannot be said that the heir to the throne was a "hawk" and a supporter of the war - on the contrary, he tried to look for peaceful ways out of the crisis, understanding the difficult internal situation of the country.

It is believed that both Serbia and Russia were aware of the terrorists' desire to shoot the Archduke during his visit to Sarajevo. For them, his arrival on June 28 was an insult: after all, on this day, the Serbs celebrated the anniversary of the defeat from the Turks in Battle of Kosovo. However, the heir to the throne decided to show the power of the Austrian army and conduct maneuvers in Sarajevo. The first bomb was thrown at him in the morning, but it did no harm.

The already mentioned Princip, having learned about the failure of the assassination, went to the center of Sarajevo, where, seizing the moment, shot at Franz Ferdinand at close range. He also killed his wife Sophia.

The response to the assassination was unrest in Sarajevo. In addition to Serbs, representatives of other nations also lived in the city, in particular Bosnian Muslims. During the pogroms in the city, at least two people were killed, cafes and shops belonging to the Serbs were destroyed.

The world community reacted actively to the death of Ferdinand. The first pages of newspapers were devoted to this event. However, there were no direct consequences after the assassination - only in mid-July, Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia. According to this document, Serbia had to close the anti-Austrian organizations operating on its territory, dismiss officials involved in anti-Austrian activities. However, there was one more clause in it - about the admission of an investigative group from Vienna to investigate the murder.

Belgrade refused to accept him - and this was the beginning of the great war.

The question of who exactly could be behind the murder in Sarajevo is still being discussed. Some, noting the strange relaxation of the archduke's guards, believe that the radicals of the Vienna court could have killed the potential federalist monarch. However, the theory about Serbian bombers is still the most popular.

The war began only a month later, in late July - early August 1914. However, after the fact, the assassination of Ferdinand became a symbol of the end of peaceful pre-war European life. "They killed our Ferdinand", - with these words, the anti-war "Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik" by Yaroslav Hasek begins.

Franz Ferdinand von Habsburg - Archduke of Austria and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. He was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist terrorist, Gavrila Princip. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand became the formal reason for the outbreak of the First World War.

Childhood and youth

Archduke Franz Ferdinand von Habsburg was born in Graz on December 18, 1863. His father was the brother of the Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Joseph, Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, and his mother was the daughter of the Sicilian king, Princess Maria, the second wife of Karl Ludwig. The first marriage with Margaret of Saxony did not bring children to the Archduke of Austria, and Franz Ferdinand became his first child. Franz had two younger brothers and a sister, Margarita Sofia.

Franz's mother died early from tuberculosis, and Karl Ludwig married a third time - to the young Maria Theresa of Portugal. The stepmother turned out to be only eight years older than Franz. A slight age difference contributed to the fact that warm friendly relations were established between Maria Theresa and her young stepson, which ended only with the death of Franz Ferdinand at the age of fifty.

Heir to the throne

Franz Ferdinand began preparing for the accession to the throne at the age of 26, after the only son and direct heir of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, Crown Prince Rudolf, committed suicide in Mayerling Castle. So Franz Ferdinand was next after his father in line for succession to the throne. And when Karl Ludwig died in 1896, Franz became a pretender to the throne of Austria-Hungary.

The future of the young Archduke required a good knowledge of what was happening in the world, so in 1892 he went on a long trip around the world. The route ran through Australia and New Zealand to Japan, and from there, changing the ship, Franz Ferdinand went to the western coast of Canada, from where he had already sailed to Europe. During the trip, the Archduke took notes, on the basis of which a book was later published in Vienna.

The Archduke was also entrusted with the role of deputy emperor for the supreme command of the troops. By the will of Franz Joseph, the Archduke went abroad from time to time on representative missions. In the residence of Franz Ferdinand - the Belvedere Palace in Vienna - the Archduke's own office, consisting of advisers and close associates, operated.

Personal life

The Archduke married Sofia Chotek, a countess from the Czech Republic. The future spouses met in Prague - both were present at the ball, where their love story began. The chosen one was lower in origin than the archduke, which entailed a difficult choice - the archduke had to give up either the right to the throne or his plans for marriage. According to the law of succession, members of the imperial family who entered into an unequal marriage lost their rights to the crown.

However, Franz Ferdinand managed to negotiate with the emperor and convince him to leave the rights to the throne for himself in exchange for the renunciation of these rights, which the archduke will give for his own unborn children from this marriage. As a result, Emperor Franz Joseph gave permission for the marriage of Sofia Chotek and Franz Ferdinand.

The Archduke had two sons and a daughter, who, like her mother, was named Sophia. The Archduke's family lived either in Austria or in a Czech castle southeast of Prague. The court elite reacted unkindly to Sophia Hotek. Emphasizing the "inequality of the clan", Sophia was forbidden to be near her husband during official ceremonies, which negatively affected Franz Ferdinand's relations with the Viennese court.

Murder and its aftermath

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the revolutionary nationalist organization "Young Bosnia" operated on the territory of Serbia, whose members decided to kill Archduke of Austria while visiting the city of Sarajevo. For this, six terrorists armed with bombs and revolvers were chosen. The group was led by Gavrilo Princip and Danilo Ilic.

Franz Ferdinand arrived in Sarajevo with his wife by the morning train. The couple got into the car, and the cortege moved along the route. Throughout the journey, the Archduke was greeted by crowds of people, and for some unknown reason there were few guards. The terrorists were waiting for their victim on the embankment.

When the car containing Franz Ferdinand approached the place where the conspirators were hiding, one of them threw a grenade into the motorcade. However, the terrorist missed, the explosion injured bystanders, police officers, as well as people who were traveling in another car.

Happily avoiding the first assassination attempt, Franz Ferdinand and his wife went to the city hall, where the Archduke was waiting for a meeting with the burgomaster. After the official ceremonies were over, one of the Archduke's close associates advised, for the sake of safety, to disperse the people who were still crowding the streets.

The Archduke planned to go further to the hospital, and from there to the Sarajevo Museum. After the assassination attempt, it seemed unsafe for the archduke's close associates to move along the route surrounded by a crowd. To these fears, the Hungarian governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oskar Potiorek, replied that Sarajevo was not at all teeming with murderers and there was nothing to be afraid of.

As a result, Franz Ferdinand decided to go to the hospital to visit the people who were injured during the assassination attempt, and his wife wished to go with him. A strange incident occurred on the way: it was decided to change the route, but for some reason the driver drove along the previously agreed route, and this mistake was not immediately noticed. When the driver was ordered to turn onto the embankment, he braked sharply and stopped the car at the corner of Franz Josef Street, and then began to slowly turn around.

Exactly at that moment, the terrorist Gavrilo Princip came out of the store nearby, ran up to the car with a pistol and shot Franz Ferdinand's wife in the stomach, and then shot the Archduke himself in the neck.

Having committed a double murder, the terrorist tried to poison himself with potassium cyanide, but nothing happened - he only vomited. After that, Gavrilo Princip tried to shoot himself, but did not have time to do this, because the people who ran up disarmed him. There is an opinion that the driver in the Archduke's car was in some way connected with the conspirators and helped them, but there is no reliable and convincing information on this matter.

The wife of the Archduke died on the spot, and Franz Ferdinand himself died a few minutes after being wounded. The bodies of the spouses were taken to the governor's residence. After the death of the Archduke through the fault of the Serbian nationalist revolutionaries, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia. The Russian Empire provided Serbia with support, and this conflict marked the beginning of the war.

Memory

Now the archduke is reminiscent of the beer brand Sedm Kuli, which is produced by the Ferdinand brewery. The Archduke himself was once the owner of this brewery, and the name of the beer refers to the seven bullets fired at the Archduke by a terrorist.

In 2014, marking the centenary of the First World War, the postal authorities of the countries participating in the war issued themed stamps dedicated to this event. Several stamps depicted portraits of the Archduke and his wife.

A British rock band was named after Franz Ferdinand in 2001.