100th Anniversary of the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdanand aka Start of World War One

nymartin90 · Jun 28, 2014

Today is exactly 100 years to the day in which the bloody 20th century began with the death of Franz Ferdaninand and his wife Sophie, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and the start of WWI. This event which began WWI set in motion all events in international politics of the 20th century leading to the rise of fascism and communism in Europe, the end of 4 huge Empires, the carving up of the Middle East, WWII, and the Cold War.

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Assassin and Serbian Terrorist: Gavrilo Princep

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Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand arrived in Sarajevo, then part of the Habsburg dominion, on June 28, 1914. He was joined in the city by seven Serbian terrorists there to kill him, in hopes of removing a prominent moderate from the line of succession and heightening the tensions between Vienna and its South Slavic subjects. The first assassin was standing near a policeman and didn't use his weapon. The second assassin tossed a grenade that injured several people. The motorcade then continued past the other assassins, none of whom acted as they lacked clear shots in the commotion. The assassins believed their plot had failed. Franz Ferdinand ordered his car to turn around so he could visit people injured by the grenade but his driver misunderstood, and continued on the original route where, while attempting to turn around, his car stalled. By chance, Gavrilo Princip had by this time moved over to Franz Joseph Street and he was able to take the fatal shot.

360waves · Jun 28, 2014

Wow, set em for the okie doke.

Gordonson · Jun 28, 2014

His driver deserved to get washed for that :smh:

nawghtyhare · Jun 28, 2014

Crazy how one incident would cause ripples for generations
And cause millions of deaths :smh:

jbc908 · Jun 28, 2014

Gavrilo Princip, the original hitta... But all jokes aside, if Germany did not egg on Austria-Hungary this war would have never happened.

KingdomFlatbush · Jun 28, 2014

World War 1, and so possibly World War 2, would have happened regardless of the assasination.

International tensions were crazy high. Europe itself was a powder keg of nationalistic fervor and imperial entitlement. The shaky system of alliances meant that basically anything could set off a World War.

The people, especially the youth, WANTED to go out and fight. They thought they'd be "home by Christmas". You'll see pics of young soldiers smiling as they're being shipped off. Compare that to the pics of the emotionless stares in their eyes as they sit in filthy trenches, bloody, battered, and surrounded by their dead friends. :smh:

**** was gonna go down regardless. Otto Von Bismarck predicted that 20 years after his death, Europe would destroy itself in a world war. And look what happened :smh:

The dissolution and shaming of the German Empire. Everyone in Germany blamed the Jews and German politicians for sabotaging the war effort. (Not true). Hitler came to power via this popular myth. But if not Hitler then probably some other psycho, antisemitic or otherwise. There were lots of potential Hitlers in the 20s. It was that bad in Germany :smh:

The Russian Revolution. Nobody in Russia wanted the war. The Boksheviks were able to take control simply because they promised an end to the war. Lead to a good million Russian deaths, untold purges and assassinations, and one of the most brutal and repressive regimes in history :smh:

Japan became this super militaristic authoritarian empire ruled by a facless and ever-changing group of military leaders. Brutal expansionism and oppression all throughout the Pacific. A perversion of the samurai bushido philosophy that bordered on psychosis. They DID NOT SURRENDER. The United States actually dropped leaflets on major cities (including Hiroshima and Nagasaki) basically saying "WE HAVE A ******* ATOM BOMB LEAVE YOUR CITY AND TELL YOUR GOVERNMENT TO SURRENDER. The alternative to the atom bomb was an amphibious invasion of Japan, where the imperial government trained everyone from old folks to LITTLE GIRLS in the use if mundane weapons like forks and spears of bamboo. The United States predicted casualties of up to FIFTEEN MILLION. If ever a lesser if two evils existed, it was here :smh:

The Imperial Japanese Army was psychotic, man. There's a reason why sometimes an old Chinese, Korean, or Okinawan person will have nothing nice to say about Japan :smh:

World War II was literally the sequel to World War I, and I don't think it will stop there :smh:

nymartin90 · Jun 28, 2014

KingdomFlatbush said:
World War 1, and so possibly World War 2, would have happened regardless of the assasination.

International tensions were crazy high. Europe itself was a powder keg of nationalistic fervor and imperial entitlement. The shaky system of alliances meant that basically anything could set off a World War.

The people, especially the youth, WANTED to go out and fight. They thought they'd be "home by Christmas". You'll see pics of young soldiers smiling as they're being shipped off. Compare that to the pics of the emotionless stares in their eyes as they sit in filthy trenches, bloody, battered, and surrounded by their dead friends.

**** was gonna go down regardless. Otto Von Bismarck predicted that 20 years after his death, Europe would destroy itself in a world war. And look what happened

The dissolution and shaming of the German Empire. Everyone in Germany blamed the Jews and German politicians for sabotaging the war effort. (Not true). Hitler came to power via this popular myth. But if not Hitler then probably some other psycho, antisemitic or otherwise. There were lots of potential Hitlers in the 20s. It was that bad in Germany

The Russian Revolution. Nobody in Russia wanted the war. The Boksheviks were able to take control simply because they promised an end to the war. Lead to a good million Russian deaths, untold purges and assassinations, and one of the most brutal and repressive regimes in history

Japan became this super militaristic authoritarian empire ruled by a facless and ever-changing group of military leaders. Brutal expansionism and oppression all throughout the Pacific. A perversion of the samurai bushido philosophy that bordered on psychosis. They DID NOT SURRENDER. The United States actually dropped leaflets on major cities (including Hiroshima and Nagasaki) basically saying "WE HAVE A ******* ATOM BOMB LEAVE YOUR CITY AND TELL YOUR GOVERNMENT TO SURRENDER. The alternative to the atom bomb was an amphibious invasion of Japan, where the imperial government trained everyone from old folks to LITTLE GIRLS in the use if mundane weapons like forks and spears of bamboo. The United States predicted casualties of up to FIFTEEN MILLION. If ever a lesser if two evils existed, it was here

The Imperial Japanese Army was psychotic, man. There's a reason why sometimes an old Chinese, Korean, or Okinawan person will have nothing nice to say about Japan

World War II was literally the sequel to World War I, and I don't think it will stop there

Definitely the war would probably still have happened, however there needed a de facto reason to declare war on the Serbs triggering these alliance systems to go into effect. The war had a large number of reasons to still happen however they still needed the smoking gun to trigger it. No doubt Germany wanted to succeed Britian in determining its world power through its arms race in the 1880s - 1900s, however Wilhelm needed a reason.

The "Spirit of 1914" tp be excited for war and achieving this greatness and "Weltpolitik" was something that every nation was involved in. I'm currently writing my MA History Thesis on this in the Ottoman Empire and even they, the "Sick Man of Europe", were caught in the frenzy of the "Spirit of 1914" and its opportunity for greatness. Just as you said the Germany wanted a return to the "Spirit of 1914" after the war which was what Hitler embodied.

Here's a picture of the huge crowds in Germany celebrating the declaration of war in Munich, 1914. The war gave Hitler and many other Europeans purpose in their lives to "do their duties".

WW2 was indeed the sequel to WW1 and the Cold War was the sequel to WW2

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100th Anniversary of the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdanand aka Start of World War One

nymartin90

360waves

Gordonson

nawghtyhare

jbc908

KingdomFlatbush

nymartin90

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