Historians believe that on June 28 1914 the assassination of the Archduke of Austro-Hungary Franz Ferdinand, was the immediate cause of World War 1. He was the nephew of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef, and was his successor to the throne. Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Serbian nationalist who had connections to the secret military group the Black Hand was the assassinator.
Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were in Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina inspecting imperial armed forces. They were touring that day with minimal security and driving about in an open car. Suddenly a Serbian nationalist Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a bomb at their car. Luckily the bomb rolled off the car and detonated behind them injuring many bystanders and security. Later on that day, their car makes a wrong turn onto the same road where the bomb detonated but this time 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip saw Franz Ferdinand and took that opportunity and fired shots into the car at point-blank range, thus shooting both Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. Princip then turned the gun around attempting to kill himself, however a bystander tackled him before he could pull the trigger and end his life.
Following the death of Franz Ferdinand, Austro-Hungary argued that the Serbian government was involved in the plot of the Black hand, so they invaded Serbia and crushed the nationalist movement. Whether or not the Serbian government was involved in the Black Hand plot is still unclear. Austro-Hungary demanded that Serbia bring the assassinator to justice. Serbia disliked the fact that another country was giving them orders. However Austro-Hungary already expected that Serbia would reject their orders and this gave them an excuse to declare war against Serbia. On July 28 1914, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were in Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina inspecting imperial armed forces. They were touring that day with minimal security and driving about in an open car. Suddenly a Serbian nationalist Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a bomb at their car. Luckily the bomb rolled off the car and detonated behind them injuring many bystanders and security. Later on that day, their car makes a wrong turn onto the same road where the bomb detonated but this time 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip saw Franz Ferdinand and took that opportunity and fired shots into the car at point-blank range, thus shooting both Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. Princip then turned the gun around attempting to kill himself, however a bystander tackled him before he could pull the trigger and end his life.
Following the death of Franz Ferdinand, Austro-Hungary argued that the Serbian government was involved in the plot of the Black hand, so they invaded Serbia and crushed the nationalist movement. Whether or not the Serbian government was involved in the Black Hand plot is still unclear. Austro-Hungary demanded that Serbia bring the assassinator to justice. Serbia disliked the fact that another country was giving them orders. However Austro-Hungary already expected that Serbia would reject their orders and this gave them an excuse to declare war against Serbia. On July 28 1914, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia.