On
June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist fired two shots on the
street of Sarajevo, Bosnia killing Archduke Francis Ferdinand (heir to the
throne of Austria-Hungary). Principe likely had no idea the avalanche he had
just caused. A small group of young nationalist plotted to assassinate Austrian
Archduke Francis Ferdinand during his visit to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia, on
June 28. One youth threw a small bomb but missed his target, and others
failed to act when the time came. Gavrilo Princip was the one conspirator who
succeeded—and only by sheer accident. How so?
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| Princip killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand |
When
Princip saw the archduke drive by still unharmed by the bomb, he tried to get
to the car but in vain. Dispirited, he walked across the road to a café.
Meanwhile, the archduke, angry about the attempted bombing, decided to change
his route. However, his driver, unaware of the change in plans, set off in the
wrong direction and had to turn the car around. At that very moment, Princip
came out of the café and was literally presented with a sitting target—the
archduke in his open car less than ten feet away. Princip approached the car
and fired two shots, killing the archduke and his wife. Princip killed the
archduke’s wife by mistake. He had intended to shoot the governor of Bosnia,
General Potiorek, who was with the royal couple in the car. This incident
eventually plunged the whole world into a war that lasted four years.
The
death of the Archduke was just the immediate cause of the war. Before 1914
there were long-standing rivalries among European nations. This rivalry was
rooted in European history of the previous years. By 1914 European powers had
been divided into two opposing alliance; the Triple Alliance of Austria-Hungary,
Italy, and Germany and the Triple Entente of Britain, France, and Russia. These
nations had political and economic ties with a number of other countries. Many
of these countries also had colonies in other continents.
Before
1914 many European nations had a romantic notion of war. They saw war as noble
and glorious, and believed that a war could be won quickly and decisively. They
believed that war is the solution to lasting peace. A phenomenon known as the arms race made
matters worse. European nations quickly acquired military ammunition believing
that the more weapons you have, the more other nations would be afraid to go to
war with you. Since every major European nation was in the arms race, none
feared the other; each believed that war could easily be won. The atmosphere
was ripe for war! All that was needed was a reason to fight: which Gavrilo
Princip provided.
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| Soldiers at War |
Austria-Hungary
believed that the Serbian government was responsible for the assassination of
the archduke. Even though an official investigation found no evidence to
incriminate the Serbian government, Austria on July 23 sent Serbia a list of
demands that amounted to an ultimatum. Since Serbia could not meet up with all
the demands Austria immediately terminated diplomatic relations with Serbia.
The Austrian emperor, backed by Germanys support, declared war on Serbia on July
28, 1914. Since Russia and Serbia were of the Slav race, Russia backed Serbia
and tried to restrain Austria. Germany declared war on Russia on august 1, and
on France two days later. Since German war plan involved marching through
Belgium which was a colony of Britain, Britain declared war on Germany. The war
eventually involved 32 countries, 28 of which supported the entente.
More
than 13 million soldiers and civilians paid the ultimate price for the war.
Soldiers of different religion were urged to kill one another in the name of
their saviour. On one side were protestant Germany, catholic Austria, orthodox
Bulgaria and Moslem turkey. On the other side were protestant Britain, catholic
France and Italy, and orthodox Russia. Even priests and nuns were mobilized for
the war.
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| War ends on November 11, 1918 |
The war finally came to an end on November 11, 1918 with the defeat of
Germany and his allies. 20 years later a Second World War broke out, usually
considered a continuation of the First World War. More than a 100 million
people have died as a result of wars since 1914. Even if you know the sorrow of
losing one loved one in warfare, we can only imagine such misery and pain
multiplied millions of times over.
Although
Europe was ripe for war by 1914, it took 2 gunshots from a Serbian nationalist
to set off a series of events that eventually led to the death of millions. The
world was never the same.
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