World War I: The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand PDF

Here's the transcription of the provided text, formatted in Markdown: # Chapter One – The Fatal Shots That Set the Stage for War June 28, 1914, is one of the most infamous days in world history. On that day, gunshots rang out on a street in Sarajevo and reverberated around the world. The assassina...

Here's the transcription of the provided text, formatted in Markdown: # Chapter One – The Fatal Shots That Set the Stage for War June 28, 1914, is one of the most infamous days in world history. On that day, gunshots rang out on a street in Sarajevo and reverberated around the world. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, set off a chain reaction that triggered the First World War. But how had the world come to the point where an assassination of an unpopular royal could have such devastating and far-reaching consequences? The issue of succession in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was complicated. When Emperor Franz Joseph's only son Rudolf committed suicide, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the nephew of the emperor, became heir to both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Habsburg throne. Emperor Franz Joseph did not approve of his nephew or his marriage to Sophie Chotek von Chotkova. Franz Joseph considered Sophie to be inferior in rank and birth as she was not descended from any ruling European dynasty. He made his displeasure at their union obvious by not attending the wedding and excluding any of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie's offspring from the line of succession. Franz Joseph may not have been able to choose his own heir, but he was able to use his power to bar Franz Ferdinand and Sophie's children from inheriting the Austro-Hungarian throne. Unfortunately, politics in Austro-Hungary at the time were just as complicated as the succession to the throne. There had been conflict in central Europe for centuries as the various countries, empires, and principalities vied for power. When Austria annexed Bosnia- Herzegovina in 1908, many Serbs were dissatisfied, and this led to continuous tension and clashes between the Serbs and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was this ongoing tension that ultimately led to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie by a Bosnian Serb student named Gavrilo Princip. Gavrilo Princip had devoted his life to protecting Serbia, and he saw the visit of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as the perfect opportunity to make a political statement. He enlisted the help of a small group of supporters and, with assistance from the Black Hand, a secret Serbian society founded in the early 20th century to promote the liberation of Serbs outside Serbia, he was able to acquire pistols, bombs, and poison for his group of fanatics to use to carry out their suicide mission. Franz Ferdinand was in Sarajevo overseeing military maneuvers and inspecting troops in the newly annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was his wedding anniversary, and therefore, the normally sidelined Sophie was traveling with him in an official capacity. As part of this royal visit, there were numerous ceremonies and celebrations that the archduke and his wife were attending throughout their stay. Unfortunately, the day they chose to be out and about inspecting troops was not an auspicious date as it was also the anniversary of the First Battle of Kosovo—the day in 1389 when Serbian independence was crushed by the Ottoman Empire. On that fateful day, the royal couple traveled through Sarajevo in an open-topped car with minimal security. Princip and his band of would-be assassins had positioned themselves at various intervals along the motorcade route and waited for an opportunity to present itself. That they actually managed to carry out this assassination is something of a surprise. They were certainly not trained for this type of operation and seemed more like a hapless band of fanatics rather than successful assassins. Had their mission not had such devastating consequences, it could almost be viewed as a comedy of errors. One of the assassins couldn't get his bomb out of his pocket in time to throw it at the passing motorcade, and another managed to throw his bomb, but it bounced off the convertible roof of the car and exploded against the wheel of another vehicle, causing no significant damage or injuries. One assassin positioned himself too close to a policeman to attempt an attack, another had second thoughts, and the last member of the group ran away. And as for Princip? He was never in a position to take a shot and thought that they had missed their opportunity. But luck or destiny turned out to be on Princip's side, and by a cruel twist of fate, their paths eventually did cross that day. After his official visits, Franz Ferdinand decided to go to the hospital to visit the men that had suffered minor injuries in the bomb attack. On the way to the hospital, there was some confusion between Franz Ferdinand and his driver, and when they stopped the vehicle in the road to decide on the best route, Princip just happened to find himself in the perfect position to assassinate his target. He was able to draw his pistol and shoot both Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range. Both his shots found their mark, and within half an hour, the Archduke and his wife had succumbed to their wounds. Princip had planned the assassination as a suicide mission, so as soon as he had shot Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, he turned the pistol on himself, but the crowd prevented him from taking his own life. He then drank the poison that the Black Hand had provided but that only made him vomit. He was immediately arrested by the police, but as he was too young to receive the death penalty, he was sentenced to the maximum of twenty years in prison, where he would die due to tuberculosis. One has to wonder if Princip would have continued with his ill-conceived plan if he had known that his act of patriotism would have such far-reaching and bloody consequences, or perhaps his feelings of nationalism were so strong that nothing would have stood in his way. Or would he have found validation in the fact that, by the end of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had collapsed and a new world order had emerged? The answers to these questions will never be known, but the tragic consequences of what can be described as a coincidental, and almost unbelievable, chain of events remains. Instead of being a minor ripple in history, the assassination of the unpopular Archduke Franz Ferdinand was only the beginning of a horrific and bloody age, the consequences of which can still be felt today, more than 100 years after those fatal shots were fired. On the face of it, nobody would have predicted that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand would be a world-changing event. While none of the world leaders were overly upset by Franz Ferdinand's untimely death, it did set off a chain of events that led to the mobilization of almost all the armies across Europe, including Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Russia, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany. At first glance, the fallout from the assassination seems extreme, but if one looks a little deeper, you will see that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was itching for a fight and just looking for any excuse to attack Serbia. By attempting to strike a blow for Serbia, Princip and his hapless band of assassins played right into their hands. The Austrian government immediately blamed Serbia, their troublesome neighbor, for the assassination of their archduke. However, instead of immediately taking action, Austria-Hungary first ensured that they had the support of their most powerful neighbor, Germany, and only a month after the assassination, on July 28, 1914, did they declare war on Serbia. Serbia, recognizing the threat that Austro-Hungary posed to their independence, had not been sitting idle for a month; they too had been gathering support and preparing for conflict. By the time the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war, Serbia had used a treaty they held with Russia to ensure that they had the support of this vast empire on their doorstep. When Serbia called on Russia for support, Russia then invoked its treaties with both France and Britain. This meant that by the time Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia the conflict was no longer between two disgruntled neighbors. Within days of Austria declaring war on Serbia, events moved swiftly as various alliances came into play, governments began choosing sides, and countries mobilized for war. The entire situation had snowballed out of control and put two major factions in Europe on a war footing. On one side there was Serbia and the Allies, namely France, Britain, and Russia, and on the other side, there was Germany and Austria-Hungary, known as the Central Powers. Numerous other countries joined the war later for various reasons, but regardless of what was to come, by July 28, 1914, war on a large scale in Europe was inevitable. ## Timeline of Initial Countries Entering the War in 1914 * **July 28, 1914:** The Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia. * Germany immediately allies itself with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and declares war on Serbia. * Russia, in accordance with its alliance with Serbia, begins mobilizing for war on July 29. * **August 1:** Germany declares war on Russia. * France is forced to mobilize in accordance with their agreement with Russia. * **August 3:** Germany declares war on France, and German troops pour into neutral Belgium. * British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, sends an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw its troops from Belgium. * **August 4:** Germany refuses to withdraw from Belgium. * Britain declares war on Germany. * **August 23:** Japan, in accordance with an alliance signed with Britain in 1902, declares war on Germany. * **October 29:** The Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey) enters the war on the side of the Central Powers and assists Germany in a naval bombardment of Russia. * **November 2:** Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire. * **November 5:** Britain and France declare war on the Ottoman Empire. And so, the stage was set for one of the greatest conflicts the world has ever seen. ## Chapter Two - The Western Front and the First Battle of Marne When war broke out, Germany was quite literally stuck in the middle, forced to fight a war on two fronts. With Russia to the east and France to the west, Germany had no choice but to divide their firepower and send their troops and resources in two opposite directions, leaving them in a weakened position. But the Germans had prepared for just such an eventuality and working from the Schlieffen Plan, which identified France as the greater threat, they mobilized their main force to the west and marched on Paris while sending a smaller force east. The German military command recognized that the only way to be victorious was to act swiftly and knock France out of the war before turning their full attention to Russia. The German-French border, however, was too heavily fortified and well defended to deliver the blitz attack the Germans needed to neutralize France. To this end, the Schlieffen Plan called for an attack through neutral Belgium. The unintended, but quite possibly not unanticipated, consequence of this move was to bring England into the war. As planned, the German advance through Belgium was swift and met with little resistance. The French did manage to challenge the Germans and slow them down at the Belgium border in the Battle of the Frontiers. This engagement was comprised of five battles, fought between the German 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Armies, the French 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Armies, and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at Lorraine, the Ardennes, Charleroi, and Mons, during the opening months of the war. The French forces were quickly destroyed by the advancing Germans in Lorraine on August 20. This was followed by the bloody battles of Ardennes and Charleroi which were fought from August 21 to 23, where approximately 27,000 French soldiers died. On August 23, the British Expeditionary Force, who were supposed to support the French 5th Army, found themselves unable to assist their allies as they had to fight their own battle at Mons. To make matters worse, the roads were crowded with Belgian refugees, and soon the French Army was collapsing all along the line from Lorraine to the Meuse. General Lanrezac, commander of the French 5th Army, realizing that his men were being pushed to their limits, ordered a general retreat. He believed retreat would be preferable to the total destruction of the 5th Army as, in his mind, this would be a catastrophe for France. He reportedly told one of his officers, "We have been beaten but the evil is reparable. As long as the 5th Army lives, France is not lost." The Battle of the Frontiers was a costly failure for France, and the total number of casualties was estimated to be 260,000 with 140,000 of them occurring on just the last four days alone, but the French 5th Army did survive to fight another day. The Allies were unable to halt the German onslaught at their border, and the invading army broke through the French defenses and continued to march toward Paris. With the Germans steadily advancing, Paris now prepared itself for battle, and on September 2, the French government evacuated to Bordeaux, leaving General Gallieni in charge of the defense of the city. The German 1st and 2nd Armies were ordered to approach Paris as a unit, but the 1st Army, under the command of General von Kluck, chose instead to pursue the retreating French 5th Army. This turned out to be a bad move as it created a gap between the two German armies and exposed the German 1st Army's right flank, making it susceptible to a French counterattack. The French knew that if they came under direct attack, Paris would not be able to hold out for long against the Germans, and so when General Gallieni received word that Kluck was pursuing the French 5th Army, he urged his commanders to launch a surprise attack against the Germans before they could reach Paris. Fortunately, Gallieni had the support of French General Joseph Joffre, who was of the same mind and felt that the opportunity for a counterattack was too good to resist. This was a surprising and ambitious plan. To all intents and purposes, the German Army had the French on the run, and the troops on both sides were exhausted from the long, fast march south from the Belgium border. The French did, however, have the advantage of being closer to Paris and fresh supplies, while the German supply lines were getting longer and more stretched out. On September 6, 1914, the First Battle of Marne began. The French 6th Army, under the command of General Michel Maunoury, attacked the German 1st Army that was moving south rapidly in pursuit of the French 5th Army. When they came under attack, the German 1st Army moved west to confront their attackers, increasing the gap between them and the main body of the German army. At first, it appeared that Gallieni's ambitious plan had failed and that the battle would go the way of the Germans. The French Army was on the verge of defeat when they received timely reinforcements from 6,000 soldiers of the 103rd and 104th regiments stationed in Paris. What made the arrival of these troops at the Battle of Marne astonishing was their mode of transport. At first, there appeared to be no way to get the much-needed reinforcements to front lines in time to influence the outcome of the battle, but General Gallieni was an inspired man and used Parisian taxi cabs to ferry the troops to Marne. This was the first automotive transport of troops in any war in history, and the "Taxis of Marne" were Renault taxi cabs that police officers, under the orders of General Gallieni, requisitioned in the streets of Paris. The 630 taxi cabs played a vital role in keeping Paris from falling into enemy hands and illustrate the lengths to which the French were willing to go to protect their capital. The speedy arrival of the troops enabled the French and English to hold back the German Army, keep them out of Paris, and dash any hopes that the German army had of a swift victory on the Western Front. While the French 6th Army was battling the German 1st Army, the French 5th Army, now under the command of General Louis Franchet d'Esperey, and British troops led by Field Marshal John French pushed forward into the gap between the divided German forces and attacked the 2nd Army. The Germans were caught entirely off guard by this proactive move from the French, and confusion amongst the ranks allowed the Allies to halt the German attack. The Battle of Marne was a victory for the French as they succeeded in halting the German advance on Paris, but it was a hard fought and bloody affair. Casualties were estimated to be 250,000 on each side. Even though this battle was fought at the start of the war, it was a very significant event and one of the decisive battles of the First World War. By halting the German attack and pushing them back from Paris, the allies negated the Schlieffen Plan, ensuring that the war would continue for another four years. A war that many thought would be over by Christmas 1914 was now destined to continue, causing untold misery and ultimately playing a pivotal role in the rise of the Third Reich and the outbreak of the Second World War. The Schlieffen Plan was drawn up in the early 20th century by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen, chief of the German Great General Staff from 1891 to 1905. The plan was developed to swiftly and effectively deal with a two-front war. The success of the Schlieffen Plan called for a swift military resolution on the Western Front so that Germany could then turn their full attention on Russia before the mighty Russian war machine had time to fully mobilize. This was predicated on the belief that it would take at least six weeks for the Russians to be in a position to attack Germany. This meant that, in the event of a two-front war, Germany would initially only need to place a nominal number of troops on the Eastern Front and could then use the bulk of their army and supplies to launch a swift attack through Belgium in the west. At the beginning of the 20th century, France had heavily fortified their border with Germany, and the Germans knew that a direct attack would take months. Therefore, Schlieffen advocated bypassing these fortifications and invading France via a fast march through neutral Belgium. Schlieffen was so confident in the strength of his plan that he calculated it would take a mere 42 days to complete, and when Germany was faced with a war on two fronts, they put the Schlieffen Plan into motion. I hope this is helpful!