There was a plaque in the 1930s that said Princip fired shots expressing the longing of people to be free. Lyon runs through about a half-dozen monuments that have been erected on this site, built up and torn down with each change in power. "Was Gavrilo Princip a terrorist, or was he a national hero? There have been tug-of-war interpretations, and they have changed over time." "The question you're faced with is very stark," says historian James Lyon, an expert in Balkan history. That was the first in a long string of short-lived memorials to the assassination. And it was destroyed in 1918," says Nazerovic. It was a monument with a very short life. In the one-room museum on the corner where the assassination took place, tour guide Mirsad Nazerovic points to a black-and-white photo of a pillar that used to stand outside this building. Today, the legacy of the Bosnian Serb nationalist remains the subject of intense debate - nowhere more than in Sarajevo itself. That event triggered World War I, charting the course for the 20th century. Depending on whom you ask, he's either a hero or a terrorist.Ī hundred years ago Saturday, Gavrilo Princip shot the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Less than two weeks after Austria-Hungary’s ultimatum to Serbia was issued, Serbia, Russia, and its allies France, Belgium and Great Britain had declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary, and World War One had begun.Nineteen-year-old Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip fired the shots that killed the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie, during a visit to Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Russia, in support of Serbia, also prepared for war, while Germany refused Britain’s demand to declare support for Belgian neutrality in case of war and also began to mobilise its army. While Serbia accepted most of Austria-Hungary’s demands, there were some upon which the two countries could not agree and as a result both the Austro-Hungarian and the Serbian armies mobilised for attack. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the attack and sent them an ultimatum, which was supported by Austria-Hungary’s ally, Germany. This assassination caused an uproar across Europe and set off an accelerated chain of events. He fired two shots into the car and both the Archduke and his wife, Sofia, were killed almost instantly.
The young Serbian could not believe his luck when his target’s car drove straight down the road towards him. The driver, unsure of the way to the hospital, took a wrong turn down the very road along which Princip was walking. In the meantime, the Archduke decided to abandon the rest of the planned procession to visit those who had been injured in the blast earlier that day. Assassin Gavrilo Princip made his way out of the crowds and contemplated what to do next. It seemed as though they had missed their opportunity. The driver of the Archduke’s car, realising what had happened, decided to drive away from the procession and in doing so, passed the other three assassins, but drove so quickly that they were unable to carry out their plans. The third assassin along the route threw a grenade at the car but it missed and exploded under the car following the Archduke, injuring about 20 people. When the cars containing the Archduke and his wife passed the first and second assassin, both failed to act. Assassins had been prepared along the route of the procession. On the morning of 28 June 1914, everything was set in place. Having attempted the assassination of other Austro-Hungarian officials, seven members of the group seized this opportunity and conspired to kill the Archduke during his visit to Sarajevo. The presence of Austria-Hungary in Bosnia angered the Serbian freedom fighter group, The Black Hand, who were part of a movement to seek independence of the Slavic people from Austro-Hungarian rule.
So what exactly happened, how did it lead to one of the bloodiest wars in history and what kind of film footage relating to the event is available today? Archduke Franz Ferdinand was commanded by the Emperor of Austria to go to Sarajevo to make an inspection of the Austro-Hungarian troops stationed there.
Saturday, 28 June this year marked one hundred years since 19-year-old Serbian Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, sparking controversy and anger all across Europe and eventually leading to the outbreak of war in August 1914.
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