Latest / Gil I Am / Today June 28th In History The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie

Transcript

Today June 28th In History The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie · Gil I Am

0:00
Speaker 1: In today's video from History Calling, we look at the
0:03
Speaker 1: forbidden romance that ended in a tragic double murder in
0:07
Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, and at how that event set off World
0:10
Speaker 1: War One. This is the story of the marriage and
0:13
Speaker 1: assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro Hungarian throne,
0:18
Speaker 1: and his wife Sophie, plus the terrible repercussions their deaths
0:22
Speaker 1: had on the entire world. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
0:39
Speaker 1: wasn't destined to sit on the Austro Hungarian throne at
0:42
Speaker 1: the time of his birth, and as we know, he
0:45
Speaker 1: never actually would either. Part of the Habsburg family, he
0:49
Speaker 1: was born in eighteen sixty three to Archduke Karl Ludwig
0:53
Speaker 1: of Austria and was the nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph I.
0:58
Speaker 1: It should have been his cousin rude Franz Joseph's son
1:01
Speaker 1: who inherited the throne, but Rudolph killed himself and his
1:04
Speaker 1: mistress in eighteen eighty nine, and as he had only
1:07
Speaker 1: one legitimate child who happened to be a daughter and
1:10
Speaker 1: boys were preferred, the throne was now destined to pass
1:13
Speaker 1: first to Karl Ludwig, then to Franz Ferdinand. Karl Ludwig
1:18
Speaker 1: died in eighteen ninety six, however, and from that point
1:21
Speaker 1: on Franz Ferdinand was the heir presumptive to the throne. Unfortunately,
1:27
Speaker 1: he had a poor relationship with his uncle and at
1:30
Speaker 1: times worried that he was going to be cast aside
1:32
Speaker 1: as heir in favor of his younger brother. Otto That
1:36
Speaker 1: never happened, though, and at the heir the question of
1:39
Speaker 1: who he would marry was of the utmost importance To
1:43
Speaker 1: keep his family, not to mention the laws of his
1:45
Speaker 1: realm happy, it would have to be a Catholic princess
1:48
Speaker 1: of impeccable birth, of whom the Emperor approved, and numerous
1:52
Speaker 1: potential brides were mooted and thrown in his path, but
1:55
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand was uninterested in any of them. Then, much
2:00
Speaker 1: to his family's surprise and anger, he fell in love
2:04
Speaker 1: with someone they deemed entirely unsuitable. Her name was Sofie Chutec,
2:10
Speaker 1: and she had been born in eighteen sixty eight. Though
2:13
Speaker 1: she was a noble woman countess, in fact, she was
2:16
Speaker 1: not royal and had been working as a lydian wadding
2:19
Speaker 1: to another family member, the Archduchess Isabella, since eighteen eighty eight.
2:25
Speaker 1: When she and Franz Ferdinand met is unclear, but it
2:28
Speaker 1: was no later than eighteen ninety two. Their relationship was
2:32
Speaker 1: apparently a slow burn, but it flourished during the Archduke's
2:36
Speaker 1: visits to Isabella's home. She hoped he would marry her
2:38
Speaker 1: teenage daughter, and by the mid eighteen nineties they were
2:41
Speaker 1: very much in love. They managed to keep their relationship
2:45
Speaker 1: quiet until eighteen ninety nine, though, when Franz Ferdinand accidentally
2:49
Speaker 1: left behind in Isabella's house a pocket watch containing a
2:53
Speaker 1: picture of Sophie. Despite having known about the two's interests
2:57
Speaker 1: in each other, Isabella had assumed that Sophie was merely
3:00
Speaker 1: the Archduke's mistress and that she could still nab him
3:03
Speaker 1: for her daughter. When the locket was presented to her
3:06
Speaker 1: by a servant and she realized her mistake, she was
3:09
Speaker 1: incensed and went to complain to Emperor Franz Joseph about
3:12
Speaker 1: his nephew's behavior. Franz Ferdinand was duly summoned to explain himself,
3:18
Speaker 1: at which point he declared that he wanted to marry
3:21
Speaker 1: Sophie with whom no impropriety had taken place. This was impossible,
3:26
Speaker 1: replied the Emperor. There was no objection to her character, education, looks,
3:31
Speaker 1: or behavior, but her comparatively low birth, which was actually
3:35
Speaker 1: very impressive by any but the snobbiest, most stringent standards,
3:39
Speaker 1: and her family's lack of wealth. She was the daughter
3:41
Speaker 1: of a younger son, made a regular marriage between the
3:45
Speaker 1: two impossible. Almost the entire family was against the union,
3:49
Speaker 1: and efforts were quickly made to blacken Sophie's name and
3:52
Speaker 1: reputation and frighten her off by threatening the welfare of
3:55
Speaker 1: her family if she married the Archduke, efforts which nearly
3:59
Speaker 1: worked at one point. However, Franz Ferdinand was in love
4:02
Speaker 1: and he would have no one else. The only option
4:06
Speaker 1: this left was a morganatic union. Having amended the law
4:10
Speaker 1: so that Franz Ferdinand could not even wait until he
4:13
Speaker 1: was emperor then marry Sophie and make her his empress.
4:16
Speaker 1: Up until that point it had not been necessary for
4:19
Speaker 1: the emperor's spouse to be his equal. Franz Joseph now
4:22
Speaker 1: made an offer to his nephew. The Archduke could marry
4:26
Speaker 1: his countess, but as his Morganatic wife, she would not
4:30
Speaker 1: be considered a member of the imperial family. She would
4:33
Speaker 1: not assume the female form of her husband's titles, so
4:36
Speaker 1: she wouldn't be his archduchess, and their children would have
4:39
Speaker 1: no succession rights to the throne. Nor would Franz Ferdinand
4:42
Speaker 1: ever be able to renege on this deal, even when
4:45
Speaker 1: he inherited the crown. It was an incredibly harsh bargain,
4:49
Speaker 1: but in his desperation, the Archduke agreed to it. He
4:53
Speaker 1: and Sophie were married on the first of July nineteen
4:55
Speaker 1: hundred at Reichstadt in Bohemia, and Sophie was granted the
4:59
Speaker 1: title Princess of Hohenburg, which sounds better than it is.
5:03
Speaker 1: She was to be addressed by a form equitating roughly
5:06
Speaker 1: to your Grace in the British peerage, good but not royal.
5:11
Speaker 1: The couple would have three surviving children, Sophie born in
5:15
Speaker 1: nineteen oh one, Maximilian born in nineteen oh two, and
5:19
Speaker 1: Ernst born in nineteen oh four, and they were very
5:22
Speaker 1: happy together, but Sophie was treated abominably by most of
5:26
Speaker 1: the family, who either pretended she didn't exist or slighted
5:30
Speaker 1: her every chance they got. She was not allowed to
5:33
Speaker 1: appear in public with Franz Ferdinand as he went about
5:35
Speaker 1: his royal duties, share an imperial coach with him, sit
5:39
Speaker 1: with him in the theater, or co host formal dinners
5:41
Speaker 1: with him in their own home. There could never be
5:44
Speaker 1: any hint that she was his equal. The situation went
5:48
Speaker 1: on for years, but gradually there was some softening towards
5:52
Speaker 1: the princess. In nineteen oh five she was elevated to
5:56
Speaker 1: be her serene Highness, the Princess of Hohenburg, and in
5:59
Speaker 1: nineteen o nine nine she was allowed to accompany her
6:02
Speaker 1: husband on a foreign trip to Romania when its king
6:05
Speaker 1: pointedly invited her. Kaiserveil Hem of Germany was also all
6:09
Speaker 1: charmed towards her when they met that same year, and
6:13
Speaker 1: then Emperor Franz Joseph made her her Highness the Duchess
6:17
Speaker 1: of Homburg, considerably raising her status in the family, much
6:20
Speaker 1: to her husband's delight. It's worth noting here that unlike
6:23
Speaker 1: in the British system, a duchess actually outranked a princess,
6:28
Speaker 1: she still wasn't an equal to Franz Ferdinand, who was
6:30
Speaker 1: an archduke remember, not a prince, but it was a
6:33
Speaker 1: vast improvement. She was also allowed royal security of her
6:37
Speaker 1: own and patronized charities and regiments. She was still treated
6:42
Speaker 1: very poorly on the whole, and the slights continued to come.
6:45
Speaker 1: But it was ironically this gradual relaxation of attitudes towards
6:49
Speaker 1: her which continued over the next few years, which would
6:52
Speaker 1: ultimately lead to her death alongside her spouse. Let's now
6:57
Speaker 1: move forward in time to nineteen fourteen. There continues to
7:01
Speaker 1: be much debate over the long term causes of World
7:04
Speaker 1: War One, and as this video's purpose is to stay
7:07
Speaker 1: focused on Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, I'm not going to
7:11
Speaker 1: get into a detailed discussion of them here. For context, however,
7:15
Speaker 1: you do need to know that by nineteen fourteen, Serbian
7:18
Speaker 1: nationalism was very much on the rise, and one of
7:21
Speaker 1: its aims was to end Austro Hungarian control of Bosnia,
7:25
Speaker 1: which had been annexed by the Empire in nineteen oh eight,
7:28
Speaker 1: and then combine Bosnia with Serbia. There was therefore a
7:32
Speaker 1: constant undercurrent of anti Austrian sentiment in Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital city,
7:38
Speaker 1: and there had been for years. The Archduke was scheduled
7:42
Speaker 1: to visit Bosnia at the end of June to watch
7:45
Speaker 1: some military maneuvers near but not in Sarajevo. Though the
7:49
Speaker 1: exact circumstances surrounding the trip remain unclear. It has been
7:53
Speaker 1: suggested that he didn't really need to be there, but
7:56
Speaker 1: wanted to take the opportunity to have his wife recognized
7:59
Speaker 1: on a foreign trip as his consort, and that she
8:02
Speaker 1: was pushing for the same. Others have pointed out that
8:05
Speaker 1: Sophie had already been taken on successful trips to Britain,
8:09
Speaker 1: Germany and Romania by this time and hardly needed the
8:11
Speaker 1: acclaim of the Bosnians. Whatever the true backdrop to that
8:15
Speaker 1: fateful day, both husband and wife ended up in the
8:18
Speaker 1: country in the final few days of the month, something
8:21
Speaker 1: which most likely would not have happened a decade earlier,
8:24
Speaker 1: when Sophie was never allowed to travel with Franz Ferdinand
8:27
Speaker 1: on such trips. Before we get to details of the visit.
8:32
Speaker 1: To support the channel and stay up to date with
8:34
Speaker 1: all my latest episodes, make sure to tap those like
8:37
Speaker 1: and subscribe buttons and switch on the notification bell for
8:40
Speaker 1: bonus material from History Calling. You can also join my
8:43
Speaker 1: YouTube members by hitting the joint Button Blue Videos or
8:46
Speaker 1: on my channel homepage, or you can find me on Patreon, Instagram,
8:50
Speaker 1: and my Amazon storefront. If you sign up to my
8:52
Speaker 1: free newsletter on my website, historycallingoficial dot com, you'll also
8:56
Speaker 1: get a complimentary guide giving you five quick and easy
8:59
Speaker 1: tips for recognizing good history books versus bad. All the
9:03
Speaker 1: links you'll need are below for you. The Governor General
9:06
Speaker 1: of Bosnia at the time was called Oscar Petuk, and
9:10
Speaker 1: he was very keen that what was initially meant to
9:12
Speaker 1: be a low key trip for the Archduke to watch
9:15
Speaker 1: the maneuvers on the twenty sixth and twenty seventh of June,
9:18
Speaker 1: while Sophie stayed in a nearby hotel, be expanded into
9:21
Speaker 1: a more formal trip, which would include the Archduke's presence
9:25
Speaker 1: in the city of Sarajevo itself on the twenty eighth
9:27
Speaker 1: for some official events. Perhaps, say authors Greg King and
9:31
Speaker 1: Sue Wolmans, he hoped the presence of the heir to
9:34
Speaker 1: the throne would bolster his own position in the region
9:37
Speaker 1: where his strong armed approach had made him very unpopular.
9:40
Speaker 1: It certainly seems that no one thought to mention what
9:43
Speaker 1: an inappropriate date This was for a visit, as it
9:46
Speaker 1: was Saint Vida's Day, an important national holiday to the Serbians,
9:49
Speaker 1: which represented the idea of nationalism to them and struggle
9:53
Speaker 1: against subjugation from any foreign source. It was not a
9:56
Speaker 1: good day to have the heir to the throne of
9:58
Speaker 1: the empire then subjectiue in the country arrive in its
10:01
Speaker 1: capital for a visit. King and Woman's book, by the Way,
10:05
Speaker 1: is linked Belue for you and was one of my
10:06
Speaker 1: sources for this video. My upper level patrons will also
10:09
Speaker 1: be getting my review of it this week as one
10:11
Speaker 1: of their bonuses. Security for the couple's trip was pathetic.
10:17
Speaker 1: When the Emperor had visited in nineteen ten, the security
10:20
Speaker 1: to protect him had been monumental, with garrisons of troops,
10:24
Speaker 1: hundreds of preemptive arrests and house arrests for anyone deemed suspicious,
10:28
Speaker 1: strangers exiled from this city, and a root through it
10:31
Speaker 1: which would keep Frans Joseph away from open spaces. Yet
10:35
Speaker 1: for his nephew there was almost nothing. By comparison, there
10:38
Speaker 1: were a few score policemen. The route Franz Ferdinand was
10:41
Speaker 1: to take was published in advance. There were almost no arrests,
10:45
Speaker 1: but Chureik studiously ignored warnings from officials that the Archduke
10:48
Speaker 1: would be in danger from Serbian nationalists, who had begun
10:51
Speaker 1: to publicly encourage violence against him and Sophie as soon
10:54
Speaker 1: as the trip became public knowledge and husband and wife
10:57
Speaker 1: were to be in an open car, it was all
11:00
Speaker 1: asking for trouble, and given the heights of his incompetence,
11:03
Speaker 1: which borders on the insane, it is little wonder that
11:06
Speaker 1: there have been questions about whether Petorek was involved in
11:09
Speaker 1: some sort of conspiracy to harm the couple. Franz Ferdinand,
11:13
Speaker 1: who knew how unpopular he was with Serbians, seemed to
11:17
Speaker 1: sense that something bad was going to happen. He showed
11:20
Speaker 1: no enthusiasm for the trip, tried to get out of
11:23
Speaker 1: it several times, told his nephew Karl that he felt
11:26
Speaker 1: he would soon be assassinated, and made arrangements for his
11:29
Speaker 1: imminent death, such as giving what seemed to be farewell
11:32
Speaker 1: gifts to trust its servants, plus the keys to his desk,
11:35
Speaker 1: with instructions that if he didn't return, they were to
11:38
Speaker 1: be given to Karl as well. None of his concerns
11:42
Speaker 1: prevented the trip, though the Emperor ordered him to go,
11:45
Speaker 1: and Sophie wanted to be with him, as she too
11:47
Speaker 1: feared for his safety and would not have him face
11:50
Speaker 1: any threat alone. So it was that nothing got in
11:53
Speaker 1: the way of the visit occurring, and on the twenty
11:56
Speaker 1: fifth of June the couple arrived in Bosnia. They were
12:00
Speaker 1: right to be concerned, for a plot had been hatched
12:03
Speaker 1: to kill them. In fact, there had originally been two plots,
12:07
Speaker 1: one organized by the terrorist group Black Hand, and another
12:11
Speaker 1: by a group of three nineteen year old disaffected Bosnian
12:14
Speaker 1: Serbs called and here goes my dismal attempt at pronouncing
12:17
Speaker 1: their names, Nigelko Chabrinovich, Gavrilo Prinsip and Trifko Grebeg. The
12:25
Speaker 1: two plots merged though, when the leader of the Black
12:28
Speaker 1: Hand found out about the young men's plan and agreed
12:31
Speaker 1: to train and supply weapons to the teenagers. Numerous members
12:35
Speaker 1: of the Serbian government and military knew about the plot
12:38
Speaker 1: in advance, but none acted to stop it, instead assisting
12:42
Speaker 1: in having the assassins trained and smuggled into Bosnia. Some
12:46
Speaker 1: vague warnings were given, perhaps to create a veal of
12:48
Speaker 1: plausible deniability, and it is possibly these which had put
12:52
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand so much on edge. The plan was to
12:56
Speaker 1: have the three young men mentioned plus another three seventeen
13:00
Speaker 1: year old called Vassu Kubrilevitch, an eighteen year old called
13:04
Speaker 1: Siett fu Popovitch, and a twenty seven year old called
13:07
Speaker 1: Muhammed Mehmed Bassich, spread out along the motorcade route the
13:11
Speaker 1: royal party was taking along the river, and each was
13:14
Speaker 1: to try to attack the Archduke and the Duchess when
13:17
Speaker 1: they got close enough. This was still a few days away. However,
13:22
Speaker 1: on the evening of the twenty fifth of June, Franz
13:25
Speaker 1: Ferdinand and Sophie decided, on the spur of the moment
13:28
Speaker 1: to go into Sarajevo and look around the market stalls.
13:32
Speaker 1: They were warmly welcomed by the inhabitants, but remarkably, while
13:36
Speaker 1: they were there, they were within just a few feet
13:39
Speaker 1: at one point of an armed Gavrilo princip who considered
13:42
Speaker 1: killing the Archduke then and there, but decided not to
13:45
Speaker 1: because of Sophie's presence and that of a policeman. Chabrinovitch
13:50
Speaker 1: was in the crowd that had swarmed to see the
13:51
Speaker 1: couple as well, but he too could not see an
13:54
Speaker 1: opportune moment to strike, and when he was spotted by
13:56
Speaker 1: a policeman who recognized him as a well known troublemaker,
14:00
Speaker 1: chased away. The military maneuvers took place in front of
14:04
Speaker 1: the Archduke on the twenty sixth and twenty seventh of June,
14:07
Speaker 1: while Sophie visited various churches, charitable institutions and schools in Sarajevo. Again,
14:14
Speaker 1: she was welcomed by those she met, but she had
14:16
Speaker 1: very little security. The night of the twenty seventh, there
14:20
Speaker 1: was a formal dinner at their hotel, at which local
14:23
Speaker 1: government and church officials attended, and Franz Ferdinand was heard
14:26
Speaker 1: to say, I'm beginning to fall in love with Bosnia,
14:31
Speaker 1: unlike his love for Sophie, though it wasn't to last long,
14:34
Speaker 1: though both would be snuffed out at the same moment,
14:37
Speaker 1: a moment which was now fast approaching. Heartbreakingly, there were
14:43
Speaker 1: attempts from some that evening to talk the couple out
14:46
Speaker 1: of going into the city the following day, given that
14:49
Speaker 1: they had already been there and the military maneuvers were
14:52
Speaker 1: out of the way, and Franz Ferdinand was again keen
14:55
Speaker 1: to get out of it, but when Oscar Petiorek got
14:58
Speaker 1: wind of the plans to cancel, he strongly objected and
15:01
Speaker 1: managed to push the Archduke into agreeing to continue as planned.
15:06
Speaker 1: The schedule for that Sunday, the twenty eighth of June
15:09
Speaker 1: was for the couple to spend a few minutes at
15:11
Speaker 1: Sarajevo's military barracks, then drive for half an hour through
15:15
Speaker 1: the streets to the city hall for a reception, followed
15:18
Speaker 1: by a museum visit and lunch at Governor General Petorak's residence.
15:22
Speaker 1: The couple left for the train station to take them
15:25
Speaker 1: into the city just before nine thirty a m. Franz
15:28
Speaker 1: Ferdinand wore his military uniform, Sophie was in a white dress.
15:33
Speaker 1: They arrived safely and the visit to the barracks went
15:36
Speaker 1: off without incident. When they got into this car, though,
15:39
Speaker 1: which was the third of a seven car motorcade, their
15:42
Speaker 1: security officers were prevented from joining them in the other
15:44
Speaker 1: cars by four local police officers, who instead took their places.
15:49
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand sat in the back on the left, with
15:51
Speaker 1: Sophie to his right. Also in the car were its owner,
15:55
Speaker 1: Count Franz Harrick and patorak in front of the Archduke,
15:59
Speaker 1: and so the drive began. The well publicized route took
16:03
Speaker 1: them onto a street called Apple Quay and along the
16:05
Speaker 1: river bank, where the six would be assassins were standing
16:08
Speaker 1: in wait, mingling with the largely unpoliced crowds who had
16:12
Speaker 1: gathered to see this famous couple. It was a little
16:15
Speaker 1: after ten a m. When they came into view of
16:17
Speaker 1: the first assassin, Metmt. Bashich. He bottled it, though and
16:21
Speaker 1: did nothing, later claiming that he had been put off
16:24
Speaker 1: by the sight of a nearby policeman. The car continued
16:28
Speaker 1: down the street and came to where the second man, Chabrinovitch,
16:31
Speaker 1: was standing at ten past ten. He hurled a grenade
16:35
Speaker 1: at the car, but missed. When the driver took quick
16:38
Speaker 1: action by accelerating, the grenade bounced off the back and
16:41
Speaker 1: exploded under another car in the motorcade, seriously injuring two
16:45
Speaker 1: passengers plus another twenty in the crowd. Shrapnel hit Sophie
16:50
Speaker 1: in the back of the neck, but it was a
16:51
Speaker 1: minor wound. Chabrinovitch ran for it, threw himself into the river,
16:55
Speaker 1: and took cyanide, which failed to work. He was quickly
16:59
Speaker 1: captured and around it. After stopping to assess the situation
17:03
Speaker 1: and telling off Patorek, Franz Ferdinand ordered that they continue
17:07
Speaker 1: with their program, and on they went, much more quickly
17:10
Speaker 1: now to the city hall. The other assassins saw them
17:13
Speaker 1: pass but didn't act, and all but Rebege and prince
17:16
Speaker 1: Hip left the immediate area. At the city hall, the
17:20
Speaker 1: gathered officials didn't yet know what had happened, and the
17:23
Speaker 1: Mayor launched into his pre prepared welcome remarks, only to
17:27
Speaker 1: be cut off by the Archduke, who said, what kind
17:30
Speaker 1: of devotion is this? I come to Sarajevo and I
17:32
Speaker 1: am greeted by bombs? It is outrageous. He calmed down
17:36
Speaker 1: enough though to see the short engagement through accepting the
17:39
Speaker 1: remarks and making a speech of his own. The day's
17:42
Speaker 1: planned events were now changed. There would be no visit
17:45
Speaker 1: to the museum, though the lunch was still to go ahead,
17:48
Speaker 1: but first Franz Ferdinand wanted to visit the injured in
17:51
Speaker 1: the local hospital. He was concerned about further assassins, but
17:55
Speaker 1: again Petuorek tried to reassure him and also vetoed all
17:59
Speaker 1: the idea is put forward to beef up the royal
18:01
Speaker 1: security detail before the couple left the city hall. Yet again,
18:06
Speaker 1: a chance to avoid the fast approaching tragedy was squandered.
18:10
Speaker 1: The route to take them to the hospital was to
18:12
Speaker 1: involve a quick drive back down Apple Cay, but in
18:15
Speaker 1: all the upset in Mayhem, no one bothered to tell
18:17
Speaker 1: the driver of the royal car this detail. Franz Ferdinand
18:21
Speaker 1: wanted Sophie to go in a different vehicle, at least
18:23
Speaker 1: in case of further attacks, but she was determined not
18:26
Speaker 1: to leave him. It was a decision that sealed her fate.
18:31
Speaker 1: At ten forty five a m. They departed again, as
18:34
Speaker 1: we can see here in a photo taken just minutes
18:37
Speaker 1: before the attack, and they began to go down the
18:40
Speaker 1: street where two of the assassins still lurked. As I
18:44
Speaker 1: said earlier, it's hard to know whether the governor was
18:46
Speaker 1: somehow in on the plot, as his incompetence is staggering,
18:50
Speaker 1: But we have to wonder what he would have gained
18:52
Speaker 1: from helping to kill the Archduke, and bear in mind
18:54
Speaker 1: that he was in the car too, and at great
18:56
Speaker 1: personal risk as well, in a city where he was
18:59
Speaker 1: anything but popular. It may just be that this man
19:03
Speaker 1: was monumentally stupid, wanted the kudos of being seen with
19:06
Speaker 1: the heir to the throne and didn't want to admit
19:08
Speaker 1: how badly he bungled the whole visit and its security.
19:13
Speaker 1: As the car traveled down the road, it passed by
19:15
Speaker 1: one of the plotters, Gribege, but he did nothing. Then,
19:19
Speaker 1: because of the confusion over the route, the driver made
19:22
Speaker 1: a wrong and as it turned out fetal turn, swinging
19:26
Speaker 1: into Franz Joseph Street. He was yelled at by Patorach
19:29
Speaker 1: for going the wrong way and hit the brakes, causing
19:32
Speaker 1: the car to stall before he intended to restart it
19:35
Speaker 1: and make a turn. Incredibly, it had stopped directly in
19:39
Speaker 1: front of the remaining assassin, Prince Zip, who had been
19:42
Speaker 1: hanging around since the field bomb attack and was now
19:44
Speaker 1: standing outside a delicatessen. Prince Hip later claimed that Sophie's
19:49
Speaker 1: presence gave him a moment's pause, but whether that is
19:52
Speaker 1: true or not, who knows. What we do know is
19:55
Speaker 1: that he pulled his gun out and fired, shooting the
19:57
Speaker 1: couple at point blank range. Sophie was hit in the abdomen,
20:01
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand in the throat. The assassin later claimed the
20:05
Speaker 1: bullet that hit the Duchess was meant for Paturec, but
20:08
Speaker 1: there's no evidence to support that either, and given how
20:11
Speaker 1: incredibly close he was to his victims, it's pretty unbelievable
20:15
Speaker 1: that he could have missed. Like his companion. He then
20:18
Speaker 1: tried to kill himself with cyanide, but again it didn't work,
20:21
Speaker 1: as it was probably too old. He was beaten by
20:23
Speaker 1: the crowd and arrested in the car. This situation was critical.
20:29
Speaker 1: Blood was trickling from Franz Ferdinand's mouth and he was
20:32
Speaker 1: heard to mutter, so it has happened again. Sophie saw
20:36
Speaker 1: this and screamed, for Heaven's sake, what has happened to you?
20:39
Speaker 1: Then she collapsed across his lap. It was thought by
20:42
Speaker 1: those around them that she had fainted, but Franz Ferdinand
20:45
Speaker 1: knew better, saying to her Sophie, Sophie, don't die, stay
20:49
Speaker 1: alive for our children. Then he too slumped forwards. They
20:53
Speaker 1: were rushed to Petureac's near by residence, with the Archduke
20:56
Speaker 1: mumbling it's nothing, it's nothing when asked if he was
20:59
Speaker 1: in pain. Then he stopped talking altogether. When they arrived
21:04
Speaker 1: to the house at around eleven a m. The couple
21:07
Speaker 1: were carried inside and laid out in separate rooms. When
21:10
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand's collar was removed, the wound was revealed just
21:14
Speaker 1: above the collar boone on his right side. He was
21:17
Speaker 1: bleeding out and died within minutes of arrival. When you
21:20
Speaker 1: see this later picture of his jacket, you can appreciate
21:23
Speaker 1: just how bad the damage was and the kind of
21:25
Speaker 1: blood loss he suffered. It's no wonder he died so quickly.
21:30
Speaker 1: When Sophie was examined and undressed, the bullet wound in
21:32
Speaker 1: her abdomen was discovered and she had no pulse. She
21:36
Speaker 1: died in the car from internal bleeding, the bullet having
21:39
Speaker 1: first passed through the car door, taking with it a
21:41
Speaker 1: small piece of upholsterry, which plugged the wound and prevented
21:44
Speaker 1: the kind of noticeable blood loss on her white dress
21:47
Speaker 1: which would have alerted onlookers to her situation sooner. The
21:51
Speaker 1: two were autopsied, embammed, and laid out in coffins in
21:55
Speaker 1: the state bedroom in the Governor's residence, with Sophie's coffin
21:59
Speaker 1: smaller and less or neate to denote her lower status.
22:03
Speaker 1: The following day they were transported to the train station
22:06
Speaker 1: and began the journey back to Vienna, where they arrived
22:09
Speaker 1: on the second of July. The funeral the next day
22:12
Speaker 1: was kept insultingly small by royal standards, with foreign royals
22:16
Speaker 1: told not to attend as one last slight to Sophie
22:19
Speaker 1: and her position as a Morganatic wife. There was a
22:23
Speaker 1: very short lying in state. It was only four hours
22:26
Speaker 1: in the chapel in Vienna's Hofburg Palace, and most of
22:29
Speaker 1: the thousands who had queued up to pay their respects
22:32
Speaker 1: were turned away. Next there was a funeral service which
22:35
Speaker 1: the couple's own children weren't allowed to attend because they
22:39
Speaker 1: were the results of a Morganatic marriage and so not
22:41
Speaker 1: deemed highly enough ranked to attend with their great uncle,
22:45
Speaker 1: the Emperor and other members of the imperial family. The
22:49
Speaker 1: service was again very pared back for the funeral of
22:51
Speaker 1: an heir to the throne, and only when all the
22:54
Speaker 1: guests had left were the children finally alloyed in at
22:56
Speaker 1: seven thirty that evening to pay their respects. At ten
23:01
Speaker 1: p m. The coffins were transported to their final resting
23:04
Speaker 1: place at Artsttton Castle, again, the procession taking them through
23:08
Speaker 1: the streets to the train station was very simple compared
23:11
Speaker 1: to what was usual and provoked many criticisms. The following morning,
23:16
Speaker 1: after another service attended by their children and other family members,
23:20
Speaker 1: the couple were buried side by side in the crypt
23:22
Speaker 1: of the castle. It had been one of their homes,
23:25
Speaker 1: and they were interred there because Sophie was not allowed
23:28
Speaker 1: to be buried in the imperial crypt. Their identical white
23:32
Speaker 1: tombs are inscribed in Latin with the words joined in marriage.
23:36
Speaker 1: They were joined by the same fate. It was the
23:39
Speaker 1: most tragic end imaginable to what had been a true
23:42
Speaker 1: love story from start to finish, and it would set
23:45
Speaker 1: off a chain of events that reverberates down the decades
23:48
Speaker 1: to modern times. Why did it have such an effect? Though,
23:53
Speaker 1: you could be forgiven for being surprised that it caused
23:56
Speaker 1: a World war, given the cold reaction of Emperor Franz Joseph,
24:00
Speaker 1: who was relieved to be rid of what he saw
24:02
Speaker 1: as his troublesome nephew and heir and oversaw the insulting
24:05
Speaker 1: funeral arrangements, plus the general lack of grief in the
24:08
Speaker 1: empire for an archduke who had not been particularly popular.
24:12
Speaker 1: The explanation starts with Emperor Franz Joseph and his advisers.
24:16
Speaker 1: They may not have liked his nephew in Sofi, but
24:19
Speaker 1: it was an insult and a challenge to Austro Hungarian
24:22
Speaker 1: power to have the heir to the throne murdered by
24:24
Speaker 1: a conspiracy which stretched all the way into the Serbian
24:27
Speaker 1: military and government, and have the events celebrated in some
24:31
Speaker 1: quarters of the Serbian press. Having been assured of Germany's
24:35
Speaker 1: support if they attacked Serbia, the Empire first presented the
24:38
Speaker 1: Serbian government with a list of ten demands on the
24:41
Speaker 1: twenty third of July, which ranged from suppressing anti Austrian
24:45
Speaker 1: propaganda and calls for Serbian unification with Bosnia to a
24:49
Speaker 1: trial of any suspects involved in the assassination. They were
24:53
Speaker 1: given until the twenty fifth of July to respond. This
24:57
Speaker 1: document was an insult to an independent nation, and Serbia
25:00
Speaker 1: sow Russian assurances that if it pushed back against the demands,
25:04
Speaker 1: Russia would have its back. Russia gave such assurances, and
25:08
Speaker 1: Serbia only agreed to a few points, offering some half
25:11
Speaker 1: hearted assurances on others, or outright refusing to comply. On
25:16
Speaker 1: the twenty eighth of July, Austria. Hungary therefore declared war
25:19
Speaker 1: on Serbia, marking the start of World War I. Russia
25:23
Speaker 1: came into the conflict on serbia side. Germany entered on
25:27
Speaker 1: Austria Hungary's and invaded France via Belgium. Britain had a
25:31
Speaker 1: treaty dating back to eighteen thirty nine to protect Belgium,
25:34
Speaker 1: and so it entered the phrase well on the fourth
25:36
Speaker 1: of August, and the rest, as they say, is history.
25:41
Speaker 1: As for the assassins, only Muhammad Mahmebashich escaped. The rest
25:46
Speaker 1: were tried in October nineteen fourteen and found guilty. Under
25:50
Speaker 1: Bosnian law, no one under twenty could be executed, and
25:54
Speaker 1: so Prince zip Chabrinovitch and Grebeg got twenty years eachs
26:00
Speaker 1: Kubrileovitch got sixteen years, Popovitch got thirteen. Others who had
26:04
Speaker 1: been involved in the wider plot were executed in nineteen
26:07
Speaker 1: fifteen or given prison sentences of varying lengths. The man
26:12
Speaker 1: who fired the fatal shots, Princip died of tb in
26:16
Speaker 1: the harsh prison conditions in which he was kept in
26:18
Speaker 1: Bohemia in April nineteen eighteen, having already had to have
26:22
Speaker 1: had one of his arms amputated and become severely underweight.
26:26
Speaker 1: He maintained to the end that he wasn't responsible for
26:29
Speaker 1: the Great War, and is celebrated for his actions in
26:32
Speaker 1: some quarters today. Thus the statue of him you see
26:35
Speaker 1: here that brings us to the end of this tragic
26:39
Speaker 1: tale of a couple so much in love and who
26:41
Speaker 1: ended their lives in such a brutal fashion, only to
26:44
Speaker 1: unwillingly become the spark for so many other tragic losses
26:48
Speaker 1: around the world. For another war video, this time World
26:51
Speaker 1: War Two, see my episode on the mysterious disappearance of
26:55
Speaker 1: the Amber Room. For more royal history, try this one
26:59
Speaker 1: on the murder of the Russian Romanovs just four years
27:02
Speaker 1: after Franz Ferdinand and Sophie's deaths. Or my playlist on deaths,
27:06
Speaker 1: murders and corpses, which will keep you entertained with some
27:09
Speaker 1: of history's most dastardly deeds for hours. I'll be back
27:13
Speaker 1: next time, and until then, keep learning.