The assassination was the immediate cause of World War One, which lasted from 1914 until 1918. They were shot to death by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian student and member of the Serbian secret society 'Black Hand'. 'Sophie dear, Sophie dear, don't die! Stay alive for our children.28 June 1914: Fateful day for generationsĪrchduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. It is outrageous!' The Archduke interrupting the Mayor's speech at City Hall in Sarajevo 'What is the good of your speeches? I come to Sarajevo on a visit, and I get bombs thrown at me. Neither Emperor Franz Josef or the Kaiser saw fit to attend the funeral. The Archduke's role of Inspector General of the Austrian army had brought him to Sarajevo for the summer maneuvers. In the years to come, Sophie would not be allowed to ride in the same car with her husband during affairs of state.įate: The Archduke and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo on 2 (their fourteenth wedding anniversary) by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. They went through with the marriage against the Emperor's wishes but had to renounce rights of rank and succession for their children. Unfortunately the Emperor considered the Duchess a commoner and tried to convince Franz Ferdinand he was marrying beneath his station. His marriage to Countess Sophia von Chotkowa und Wognin, Duchess of Hohenburg in 1900 was called one of the world's great love affairs. His home life appears to have been surprisingly better. He lacked the two key elements for success in this social scene - charm and elegance.

Shunned by the elite of Viennese society, he was also called 'the loneliest man in Vienna'. He has been referred to as a miser, a bigot, and a spoiled child. Personal: Much has been said about Franz Ferdinand and very little of it good. These politics were in direct conflict with those of the Serbian nationalists. This would put them on an equal footing with the Magyars and Germans living inside the Austro-Hungarian borders.

One of these ideas was 'trialism' - the reorganization of the dual monarchy into a triple monarchy by giving the Slavs an equal voice in the empire. Now it was Franz Ferdinand that would be next in line for the Crown.Ĭonsidered more flexible in matters of military and domestic affairs than his uncle Emperor Franz Josef, he was a reformist with new ideas to be put into practice when he ascended to the Hapsburg throne. The second was the death of his father, Archduke Charles Louis, in 1896. The first was of the Emperor's son, Crown Prince Rudolph, who killed himself (and his sixteen year old mistress) in 1889. Third in line to the throne at one point, he became heir through two untimely deaths. Trenches on the Web - Bio: Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Archduke franz ferdinand ww1