When you consider that WWI cost the lives of about 40 million people worldwide, it seems almost impossible that its origin could be so random. Yet the assassination of Franz Ferdinand really did succeed because of dumb luck.
When the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie visited Sarajevo in June 1914, it came at a time of heightened tensions between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbian nationalists. In 1908, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbian nationalists wanted the principality to be part of a new unified, free Yugoslavia. In the midst of these tensions, student activists formed organizations like Young Bosnia to agitate for the end of Austro-Hungarian control. But Young Bosnia also received support from the Black Hand, a terrorist organization with ties to the Serbian military.
The Austro-Hungarian government knew of the danger posed by groups like Young Bosnia and the Black Hand, but Ferdinand opted to visit Sarajevo anyway, hoping it would ease tensions. The Young Bosnians saw the visit as an opportunity to assassinate him and destabilize the Austro-Hungarian government – especially since Ferdinand’s travel route was published prior to the visit.
On the morning of June 28, 1914, seven members of the Young Bosnians waited to ambush Ferdinand’s motorcade. Ferdinand had been traveling in an open-top convertible, and the plan was to throw an incendiary device inside the car as it passed by. However, that morning, the top of the convertible was up. The would-be assassin, Nedeljko Cabrinovic, gave it a try anyway and threw a bomb at the convertible, but it bounced off the roof and rolled under another vehicle in the motorcade, exploding and injuring two soldiers. Cabrinovic surrendered almost immediately, and it was believed the assassination had failed.
After the explosion, Ferdinand wanted to visit the wounded soldiers. On the way to the hospital, the motorcade went down a side street and stopped right in front of a deli, where another member of Young Bosnia, Gavrilo Princip, happened to be standing. Princip drew a pistol and fired two shots at Ferdinand, ending his life and that of his wife. The assassination directly led to WWI, all because Franz Ferdinand’s driver turned down the wrong street.
