Franz_Ferdinand

  Emperor Franz Josef I had ruled over Austria Hungary for sixty-six years in 1914. He was eighty four at the time and had seen a great deal over the years of his rule. He cared solely about the preservation of his dynasty and legacy of the Austria Hungarian empire. Emperor Josef was left with very little family in his old age. In 1898, his wife Elizabeth of Bavaria was stabbed to death by an anarchist. More importantly he lacked a male heir after his only son and obvious successor committed suicide in 1889. No other males remained in Josef’s immediate family. The very last hope for the survival of the family’s rule was the emperor’s nephew and Hapsburg Archduke of Austria, Francis Ferdinand. Franz Ferdinand was everything that his Uncle Franz Josef was not. While Franz Josef stood for bureaucracy and the upper class, Franz Ferdinand aimed to better the lives of minorities and looked to aid the lower classes. He married Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkova, a woman who was below his family and status. Clearly the marriage represented love and not social advancement, making it very atypical among noble marriages of the time. She was a Czech countess though she was considered lowly among the Austrian court. Ferdinand and his wife tolerated adversity constantly because of their marriage. Franz Ferdinand had in mind many wildly unpopular plans for the empire in the eyes of the people on top of being in a controversial marriage. He considered imposing federalism under sixteen states, which was much too drastic a change for the people of an empire that had been majorly unchanged for almost a century. He also planned to potentially seek a triple monarchy as opposed to Austria Hungarian dualism which would recognize slavs as an equal voice in the government and combine Slavic nations with Austria Hungary to form one larger monarchy. In addition to serving as the archduke of Austria, Ferdinand served as the inspector-general of the armed forces. In the summer of 1914 emperor Josef ordered Ferdinand to visit Bosnia and review troop summer maneuvers. He and his wife planned to tour the provincial capital Serajevo of Bosnia-Herzegovina while he carried out his uncle’s demands. The governor of Serajevo was confident in the security precautions that the government had taken in protecting the archduke and his wife. Assassination ploys were common in the lives of monarchal figures as everyone was well aware. However the governor’s assurance was in vain pertaining to the visit that summer of 1914. The murderous plot against Ferdinand’s life was unofficially recognized by the by the Serbian government. A warning was sent by the Serbian ambassador in Vienna to the Austrian government, although skepticism led the Austrians to renounce the threat. The skepticism the Austrians harbored when dealing with the Serbian government was understandable for the time. The present Serbian King was crowned as the result of a former king’s assassination. Popular belief held the Serbian government responsible for the murder. Not to mention the Black Hand, a trained group of Serbian terrorists, was led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic who also headed the Serbian military intelligence. On June 28 1914 a member of the Black Hand, Vaso Čubrilović, first attempted Ferdinand’s murder by throwing a bomb at the open car. The car’s driver sped ahead, and as the car accelerated an explosion went off behind the Ferdinands. The future emperor of the Austria Hungary had been saved for now at least. What was it that made Franz Ferdinand’s life valuable to an assassin' More than the fact that he was the heir to the Austrian Hungarian thrown, his reforms stirred rebellion and uprising in many civilians, particularly those in Serbia and the Serb citizens of Austria Hungary. The 1878 Treaty of Berlin had administered Austria Hungary control of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it also stated that Serbia would be its own sovereign state. Serbia maintained contempt for Austria Hungary and protested against its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ferdinand’s ideals to annex other Slavic nations opposed Serbian nationalists’ ideal of irredentism. If Ferdinand lived to become the successor of his uncle and take the thrown as emperor of Austria Hungary, who knows which Slavic nations would be roped into the empire' This is what made Ferdinand the perfect target for terrorist groups such as the Black Hand. The day of Ferdinand’s visit to Serajevo, June 28, was analogous to the feast of Saint Vitus or Vidovdan in Serbia. This feast was held in remembrance of the Battle of Kosovo, in which the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was killed by a Serb. The occasion was known as a time to illustrate Serbian patriotism, which was a less than ideal time for Franz Ferdinand to be visiting. Members of the party traveling with Ferdinand discussed what attempts should be made to avoid a further similar scenario but no conclusions were made. A potentially security defense was presented to send in troops to line the streets, but it was not executed supposedly because the troops did not have their parade uniforms. The Sarajevo police force was the only means of security that were utilized that day. Ferdinand’s car arrived at the town hall reception that was being held and the archduke appeared slightly frenzied and agitated. After the reception Ferdinand and the royal party returned to the car and decided to visit the wounded civilians that had been injured at the scene of the first assassination attempt. Though the chauffer was ill informed that the plans had been changed and took a wrong turn. A Black Hand member, Gavrilo Princip, stood outside of a delicatessen. He had earlier learned that the assassination attempt by his fellow Black Hand had failed. As Princip stood on the side of a street, he watched at Franz Ferdinand’s car reversed down the road after making that fateful wrong turn. He fired two shots, one impacting Ferdinand and the other, his wife. Both died minutes apart. Poor leadership was commanded over Austria after Ferdinand’s assassination. Chief of the Austrian General Staff, General Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf, sought war with Serbia and did not plan on stopping until he had it. Perhaps it was the belief of Hotzendorf or other Austrian officials that war with Serbia would strike up a surge of Austrian nationalism or mend other issues that were present. It was not assumed by the Austrians who planned to catalyze this war that Russia would interfere and step in on Serbia’s side. It was not assumed that this war would amount to anything other than a swift victory for Austria. After an investigation revealed that the Serbian government had been somehow involved in the assassination, in late July a forty eight hour ultimatum was presented to Serbia. Those who drafted the ultimatum sought to give Serbia no option but war. Serbia agreed to most of what Austria demanded though they did not accept the demand to have a semi-judicial investigation held in Serbian territory. Mobilization of eight army corps, half of the imperial army, was underway. Austria acknowledged the importance of not standing alone in their fight against Serbia. The Austrian ambassador approached Kaiser Wilhelm to inquire whether or not they would have the support of Germany. The Kaiser informed the ambassador that Germany would stand by Austria under any circumstances. He felt by doing this he would strengthen the German ally and in turn strengthen German herself. Whatever decisions Austria made from this point on would have Germany’s name attached to it. Simultaneously Russia was informed that an ultimatum was sent. The Russians decided that they would not allow the absorption of the Slavic nation of Serbia to Austria. More mobilization orders were issued and a Russian assault was planned to be executed when and if Austria attacked. At this time the French and British governments confirmed their support of Russia, which made matters even graver for Austria Hungary. Alliances revealed themselves and became more present and more relevant as days went by. War was declared on Serbia July 28 1914, though the Austrians were not yet fully prepared for war. On the 30th Russia ordered for general mobilization and on the 31st Germany issued a twelve hour ultimatum to which the Russians did not respond. Days later when Germany was denied free passage of German troops through Belgium, Germany declared war on France. Britain soon declared war on Germany honoring her alliance with France but officially due to the violation of Belgian neutrality. Thus the stage for the First World War was set. Like a domino effect, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was all it took for event after event to catalyze. Austria’s war that was meant only for Serbia exploded into an alliance entangled war among world powers. Certainly there were other contributing determinants leading towards World War I. Though what could have happened, if the chauffer had not made a wrong turn that day June 28 1914' What could have happened if Archduke Franz Ferdinand was not assassinated'