The Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand was
assassinated by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. This excerpt
from an eyewitness account by a fellow conspirator in the assassination plot
explains why the attack took place, what happened during the attack, and how
Princip, the 19- year-old Serbian assassin, was captured. Why did the Archduke’s
plan to visit Sarajevo on June 28 prompt such a violent response?
The little clipping . . . declared that the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand would visit
Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, June 28, to direct army maneuvers in the neighboring
mountains. . . . How dared Franz Ferdinand, not only the representative of the
oppressor but in his own person an arrogant tyrant, enter Sarajevo on that day?
Such an entry was a studied insult. June 28 is a date engraved deeply in the heart of
every Serb. . . . It is the day on which the old Serbian kingdom was conquered by the
Turks at the Battle of Amselfelde in 1389. It is also the day on which in the second
Balkan War the Serbian arms took glorious revenge on the Turk for his old victory and
for the years of enslavement. That was no day for Franz Ferdinand, the new oppressor,
to venture to the very doors of Serbia for a display of the force of arms which kept us
beneath his heel. Our decision was taken almost immediately. Death to the tyrant! Then
came the matter of arranging it. . . . But here Gavrilo Princip intervened. Princip is
destined to go down in Serbian history as one of her greatest heroes. . . . The fateful
morning dawned. . . .
When Franz Ferdinand and his retinue . . . passed Gabrinovic . . . he threw his grenade.
It hit the side of the car, but Franz Ferdinand with presence of mind threw himself back
and was uninjured. Several officers riding in his attendance were injured. The cars sped
to the town hall. . . . After the reception in the town hall, General Potiorek, the Austrian
commander, pleaded with Franz Ferdinand to leave the city, as it was seething with
rebellion. The archduke was persuaded to drive the shortest way out of the city and to
go quickly. The road to the maneuvers was shaped like the letter V, making a sharp turn
at the bridge over the River Nilgacka. Franz Ferdinand’s car . . . was forced to slow
down for the turn. Here Princip had taken his stand. As the car came abreast he
stepped forward from the curb, drew his automatic pistol from his coat and fired two
shots. The first struck the wife of the archduke, the Archduchess Sofia, in the abdomen.
She was an expectant mother. She died instantly. The second bullet struck the
archduke close to the heart. He uttered only one word; ‘Sofia’—a call to his stricken
wife. Then his head fell back and he collapsed. He died almost instantly. The officers
seized Princip. They beat him over the head with the flat of their swords. They knocked
him down, they kicked him, scraped the skin from his neck with the edges of their
swords, tortured him, all but killed him.
Answer the following questions in complete sentences and enter them online as instructed.
1. What was the reason Franz
Ferdinand visited Sarajevo?
2.
What are two ways the
writer describes Franz
Ferdinand?
3.
What are two reasons why
the date June 28 is
“engraved deeply in the
heart of every Serb”?
4.
What was the decision that
was “taken almost
immediately”?
5.
Why did the Austrian
commander “plead” with
Franz Ferdinand to leave
the city?
6.
Describe what Princip did
when he had “taken his
stand”.
7.
What are three specific
things the officers did to
Princip?
8.
How did the people of
Serbia view Princip?
1. Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo to direct army maneuvers in the neighboring mountains.
2. The writer describes Franz Ferdinand as the representative of the oppressor and an arrogant tyrant.
3. The date June 28 is engraved deeply in the heart of every Serb because it marks the Battle of Amselfelde in 1389 when the old Serbian kingdom was conquered by the Turks, and the second Balkan War when Serbian arms took revenge on the Turks.
4. The decision that was taken almost immediately was to plan the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
5. The Austrian commander pleaded with Franz Ferdinand to leave the city because it was seething with rebellion.
6. When Princip had taken his stand, he stepped forward from the curb, drew his automatic pistol from his coat, and fired two shots at Franz Ferdinand.
7. The officers beat Princip over the head with the flat of their swords, knocked him down, kicked him, scraped the skin from his neck with the edges of their swords, tortured him, but stopped short of killing him.
8. The people of Serbia viewed Princip as one of their greatest heroes in history.