Assassination of Arch Duke

Assassination of Arch Duke

Heir to throne assassinated

It was just yesterday at around 11:00 that the heir to the Austro—Hungarian throne, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, by Gavrilo Princip , a member of a Serbian terrorist group called the Black Hand.
 
Archduke Francis Ferdinand was next in line to be the leader of his country, Austria-Hungary, but not everyone in his country was happy about that. The Serbians living in Bosnia, which had been taken over and made a part of Austria-Hungary, did not want him to be in charge. Nevertheless, Archduke Ferdinand planned a trip to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, for the feast day of Saint Vitus. He was warned in advance that this could be a dangerous trip.
 
Archduke Ferdinand decided to go anyway even though he was warned. His fourteenth wedding anniversary would take place during the trip, and his wife Sophie went with him. Together, they would ride in a royal motorcade through the city of Sarajevo, on their way to a reception at City Hall.
 
They arrived in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 with a motorcade of four cars. The Archduke and his wife rode in an open car, the second one in line. A Crowd of people lined the streets to see them pass by.
 The victims, archduke and his wife were in the Bosnian city in conjunction with Austrian troop exercises nearby. The couple was returning, from an official visit to the city hall. The assassin, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip burned with the fire of Slavic nationalism.
 
Francis Ferdinand and his retinue drove from the station they were allowed to pass the first two conspirators. The motor cars drove too fast to make an attempt feasible and in the crowd were many Serbians; throwing a grenade would have killed many innocent people.
 
The car passed Gabrinovic, the compositor and that's when he threw his grenade. It hit the side of the car, but Francis Ferdinand with presence of mind threw himself back and was uninjured. Several officers riding in his attendance were injured.
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