Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
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Speaker 1: so much. The morning of June nine teen, fourteen, began
Speaker 1: with golden light spilling over Sarajevo. It was a perfect
Speaker 1: day in a summer full of perfect days. In later years,
Speaker 1: reflecting on the bloodshed that was to come, observers would
Speaker 1: remark on how beautiful the summer had been, the way
Speaker 1: the world had seemed to hum in harmony, the way
Speaker 1: the sun had shown on Europe. No one in the
Speaker 1: crowds gathered along the appel Qua, a broad street running
Speaker 1: along the mill Jack River in central Sarajevo. Knew quite
Speaker 1: how precious this day would be, the beginnings and endings
Speaker 1: that it would mark for both the Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Speaker 1: and for his assassin. June held special significance. For Franz Ferdinand,
Speaker 1: Archduke of Austria est and heir to the throne of
Speaker 1: Austria Hungary. It was the anniversary of the day he
Speaker 1: had taken the oath of Renunciation, the bitter compromise that
Speaker 1: had allowed out him to marry his beloved wife, but
Speaker 1: at the cost of renouncing the rights of his children
Speaker 1: to inherit his titles. Fourteen years on from that day,
Speaker 1: it was still a painful reminder of the strictures of
Speaker 1: tradition that bound Franz Ferdinand to a dying system of governance.
Speaker 1: For his assassin, Gavrilo princip it was St. Vitus's Day,
Speaker 1: a day of remembrance and resistance. On June thirteen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: the Serbs had been defeated by the Ottomans at the
Speaker 1: Battle of Kosovo Polier, an event that dashed their dreams
Speaker 1: of an independent Serbia. And ushered in five centuries of
Speaker 1: Ottoman rule. But Kosovo Polier was also the site of
Speaker 1: an important victory, the killing of the Ottoman Sultan Murad
Speaker 1: the First by the Serbian night Milos or Blick. Five
Speaker 1: hundred years later, Serbs celebrated Obelik's feet on the feast
Speaker 1: day of St. Vitus, honoring the sacrifices of general rations
Speaker 1: of forebearers in the quest for an independent Serbia. This June,
Speaker 1: the two men had arrived in the same city, each
Speaker 1: for a reason that echoed the meaning of the day
Speaker 1: in his own mind. Franz Ferdinand was there an official
Speaker 1: royal business, making a royal progress through the capital of
Speaker 1: the recently annexed territory of Bosnia Herzegovina. He hadn't wanted
Speaker 1: to make the trip, he had opposed the annexation, but
Speaker 1: he felt duty bound to Gavrillo. Princep a passionate, poetry
Speaker 1: mad young student, was there in the spirit of Milash Obelik,
Speaker 1: determined to win freedom for his people at any cost.
Speaker 1: This June, the forces of monarchy and modernism, of tradition
Speaker 1: and terrorism were on a deadly collision course. The study
Speaker 1: of history is often a study of themes, the rise
Speaker 1: and fall of movements, ideas, and passions. And here now
Speaker 1: the grand forces of history were coalescing, rippling, unseen through
Speaker 1: the crowds, gathering power and refracting through the bodies of
Speaker 1: two men, one mustachioed, middle aged archduke and a fervent,
Speaker 1: tubercular teenager. But on that sunny Sarah gave O afternoon,
Speaker 1: they were ultimately just two people, drawn inexorably towards one
Speaker 1: another by virtue of fulfilling what they felt to be
Speaker 1: their duties. They couldn't have known that at the moment
Speaker 1: of their meeting, the forces that had shaped their lives
Speaker 1: and become embodied in them would slip their mortal forms
Speaker 1: and transcend them, eventually drawing the world into the bloodiest
Speaker 1: conflict it had ever known. I'm Danish Schwartz, and this
Speaker 1: is noble blood the Great European War. The German Chancellor
Speaker 1: Otto von Bismarck is alleged to have said in eighteen eight,
Speaker 1: will quote come out of some damned foolish thing in
Speaker 1: the Balkans. Though the quote is apocryphal, it does neatly
Speaker 1: capture the precariousness of the political situation in Southeastern Europe
Speaker 1: in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It would
Speaker 1: be nearly impossible to do justice to the nuances and
Speaker 1: intricacies of the political evolution of the Balkans in an
Speaker 1: entire season of a podcast, let alone one episode. But
Speaker 1: to understand why Givrilla princip went to Sarajevo in June
Speaker 1: fourteen to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand, here's what you need
Speaker 1: to know. The Balkans is the name given to the
Speaker 1: mountainous swath of land that stretches north from present day
Speaker 1: Greece up until it butts into the southern borders of
Speaker 1: present day Austria, Hungary, and Ukraine. First formally incorporated as
Speaker 1: Roman provinces in the first century b C. The region
Speaker 1: was eventually controlled by Slavic invaders from the north, who
Speaker 1: organized the land into a series of kingdoms whose names
Speaker 1: still remain Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, and so on. A
Speaker 1: quick note here. Over time, the Slavic people inhabiting the
Speaker 1: Balkans became known as Southern Slavs, and further ethnic subgrouping developed,
Speaker 1: with these ethnic subgroups sharing the names of the kingdoms
Speaker 1: they occupied with Bosniaks in Bosnia and Croats in Croatia,
Speaker 1: for example. In the Modern Age, as new land borders
Speaker 1: were established, these groups mingled, becoming citizens of countries that
Speaker 1: might not share the same name as their ethnic subgroups.
Speaker 1: For example, Gavrilo princip was a Bosnian Serb, which meant
Speaker 1: that he was an ethnic Serb but living in the
Speaker 1: country of Bosnia. Back to the Middle Ages, over the
Speaker 1: fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Balkan kingdoms were conquered by
Speaker 1: the Ottoman Empire in a series of battles, including the
Speaker 1: defeat of the Serbs at the Battle of Kosovopolier in
Speaker 1: thirteen eighty nine, a defeat but with one victory, the
Speaker 1: slaying of the Ottoman Sultan Maraud, the first by the
Speaker 1: Serb milash Obilich, events commemorated on Saint Vitus's Day. For
Speaker 1: the next five centuries, various resistance groups would revolt against
Speaker 1: the Ottomans, mainly along ethnic or religious lines. By the
Speaker 1: nineteenth century, the most powerful social movement was a pan
Speaker 1: Slavic one, which aimed to win the right to self
Speaker 1: determination for Southern Slavs. In eighteen seventy eight, it looked
Speaker 1: like they might finally have a chance. The year before,
Speaker 1: the Russian Empire had come to the aid of Orthodox
Speaker 1: rebels in the region, creating a powerful coalition that eventually,
Speaker 1: after a bloody conflict, defeat the Ottomans. The Treaty of
Speaker 1: San Stefano, signed by the Russians and the Ottomans in
Speaker 1: the spring of eighteen seventy eight, granted increased independence or
Speaker 1: autonomy to a number of new nation states, But the
Speaker 1: other imperial powers Great Britain, France, Austria, Hungary, Italy, and
Speaker 1: Germany had different ideas. Worried that the newly unoccupied region
Speaker 1: would lead to an imbalance in the power structure that
Speaker 1: they had so carefully curated in their favor, those great
Speaker 1: powers met with Russia in July eight seventy eight to
Speaker 1: determine a future for those who had just fought for
Speaker 1: the right to determine the future for themselves. The resulting
Speaker 1: Treaty of Berlin granted Austria Hungary protectorate powers over the
Speaker 1: territory of Bosnia Herzegovina, neighboring Serbia, which had gained nearly
Speaker 1: full autonomy from the Ottomans earlier in the century. Struggled
Speaker 1: internally over whether to ally with the Russians or with
Speaker 1: Austria Hungary. Meanwhile, some ethnic Serbs in Bosnia Herzegovina dreamed
Speaker 1: of uniting with Serbia to create a Slavic nation. Tensions
Speaker 1: only rose when Austria Hungary formally annexed Bosnia in eight
Speaker 1: ostensibly to prevent the Ottomans from trying to reclaim it,
Speaker 1: but really to curb the expansion of Serbia. Nearly everyone
Speaker 1: was frustrated by the situation, with the Slavs feeling that
Speaker 1: they had driven out the Ottoman occupiers only to find
Speaker 1: themselves subjugated to a new order. It was into this
Speaker 1: situation that Maria and Peter Princip welcomed a son, Gavrilo,
Speaker 1: on July eighteen ninety four. The Princips lived in Oblaje,
Speaker 1: a small village in northern Bosnia. Peter, a farmer who
Speaker 1: had served as the village postman, had fought in the
Speaker 1: Bosnia War for independence, and was known for his religious piety. Maria,
Speaker 1: known as Nana, had a beautiful singing voice and bright
Speaker 1: blue eyes, and she would carry a small bag of
Speaker 1: sugar at her waist to give to village children. Their
Speaker 1: life was a difficult one, racked by poverty and illness.
Speaker 1: Of the nine children Nana gave birth to, only three
Speaker 1: would survive childhood. Gavrillo grew up to be a slight
Speaker 1: but scrappy child. A surviving relative would later tell the
Speaker 1: story of a young Gavrillo throwing his pencil case at
Speaker 1: the head of a teacher who was caning another student.
Speaker 1: He might have been small, said the relative, but the
Speaker 1: village boys all knew he was ferocious if you tried
Speaker 1: to wrestle him. Gavrillo had a reputation for taking on bullies,
Speaker 1: and also for bookishness. When he wasn't caring for his
Speaker 1: family's chickens or working in the fields with his father,
Speaker 1: Gavrillo could be found with his nose in a book,
Speaker 1: a precious resource in his remote village. He particularly loved
Speaker 1: the myths of patriotic serbs past, whose legends, including that
Speaker 1: of the sultan slayer milash Obilich, were passed on through
Speaker 1: the generations via epic poetry. In nineteen o seven, Gavrillo
Speaker 1: left his tiny village of Oblage to continue his education
Speaker 1: in Sarajevo. Unable to afford the train ticket, he traveled
Speaker 1: the one hundred and forty seven miles to the city
Speaker 1: on foot alongside his father. It was on this journey
Speaker 1: that the young Gavrillo began to fully realize the deprivations
Speaker 1: his people were suffering under the Habsburg's rule. At his
Speaker 1: trial seven years later, he would recount his impressions of
Speaker 1: the villagers he saw quote, they are completely impoverished. They
Speaker 1: are treated like cattle. Once in Sarajevo, Gavrillo was met
Speaker 1: by his older brother Yovan, who planned to send him
Speaker 1: to an Austro Hungarian military school. However, Yovan was dissuayed
Speaker 1: did from this course of action by a friend who
Speaker 1: begged him not to make young Gavrilo into quote an
Speaker 1: executioner of his own people, or so the story goes.
Speaker 1: Whatever the cause, Yovan ultimately sent Gavrilo to Merchant School,
Speaker 1: where he studied for three years. It was at this
Speaker 1: school that Gavrillo was first exposed to the political movement
Speaker 1: for Slavic Unification, a movement whose aim was to see
Speaker 1: the Slavic people, particularly the Serbs, a Slavic subgroup who
Speaker 1: mainly lived in Serbia and Bosnia, rule their own nation.
Speaker 1: Over time, as Gavrillo discussed politics with classmates, read theory,
Speaker 1: and traveled the country witnessing oppression his people faced, he
Speaker 1: became more and more convinced that the Austro Hungarian Empire
Speaker 1: was just another bully, the kind he had long felt
Speaker 1: compelled to fight. By nineteen twelve, teenaged Gavrillo had been
Speaker 1: expelled from school for participating in student protests against Austro
Speaker 1: Hungarian rule. Determined to aid the Slavic movement, Gavrillo traveled
Speaker 1: to the Serbian capital of Belgrade. It was an opportune
Speaker 1: time for Gavrillo to commit himself to the revolutionary cause.
Speaker 1: In October nineteen twelve, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia had
Speaker 1: declared war against the Ottoman Empire, which had maintained a
Speaker 1: minor foothold in the region. Only eight months later, the
Speaker 1: group known as the Balkan League had defeated the Ottomans,
Speaker 1: who ultimately seeded all of their lands west of Istanbul.
Speaker 1: It was a striking show of strength by the Balkan League,
Speaker 1: and it was especially galvanizing for nationalist Serbs, who were
Speaker 1: further empowered by the Second Balkan War of nineteen thirteen,
Speaker 1: in which Serbia gained more territory. Gavrillo had tried to
Speaker 1: enlist in the Serbian army for both conflicts, but suffering
Speaker 1: from tuberculosis, he was deemed too weak. Not dissuaded, he
Speaker 1: turned his attention to more unofficial channels and underwent military
Speaker 1: training conducted by one anti Austrian organization and then by
Speaker 1: its more radical spinoff, commonly known as the Black Hand.
Speaker 1: In the spring of nine fourteen, Prince Sip decided to
Speaker 1: take his radicalism one step further. After reading about Franz
Speaker 1: Ferdinand's upcoming visit in a paper, Princip approached two young men,
Speaker 1: Trifico Grabz and Nidelko Cabrinovic, with an idea. Like Prince Sip,
Speaker 1: Grabez and Cabernovic were in their teens and they were
Speaker 1: faithful members of Young Bosnia, the Pan Slavist radical group.
Speaker 1: All three had been born in Bosnia to Serb families,
Speaker 1: and all were deeply committed to the anti Austrian cause.
Speaker 1: It did not take much for Princip to sell Grabes
Speaker 1: and Cabernovic on his plan, a plan to assassinate the Archduke.
Speaker 1: It was they thought their chance to make a difference,
Speaker 1: to strike back on behalf of their people. Why target
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand. We focused last episode on the softer side
Speaker 1: of Franz Ferdinand, his shyness, his devotion to Sophie. But
Speaker 1: as is so often the case with royalty, who they
Speaker 1: are is less important to the story than what they represent,
Speaker 1: and Franz Ferdinand represented the Habsburgs, a conservative, often oppressive,
Speaker 1: enormously powerful imperial dynasty. In some ways, the public characterization
Speaker 1: was fair, as the historian Vladimir Detegier rights, Franz Ferdinand
Speaker 1: was quote above all a true Hapsburg, brought up strictly
Speaker 1: in the spirit of some of their most renowned representatives.
Speaker 1: His energies were directed primarily to restoring the Earth's house
Speaker 1: the prestige and dignity it had enjoyed over the past
Speaker 1: centuries end quote. Franz Ferdinand's role was a political one,
Speaker 1: and it required him to take stances that were not
Speaker 1: always popular. He was a deeply religious Catholic, too, which
Speaker 1: many in the Balkans saw as a threat to the
Speaker 1: Eastern Orthodox Church. This fear, it seems, was overstated. Though pious,
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand supported the right of all to practice their religion,
Speaker 1: although I will note here, like many Europeans at the time,
Speaker 1: France Ferinand did believe in some incredibly harmful, very anti
Speaker 1: Semitic myths. Still, the Archduke may have been more open
Speaker 1: minded and forward facing than his uncle the Emperor, given
Speaker 1: his belief in greater autonomy for many of the empires
Speaker 1: diverse ethnic and religious groups. But he was still ultimately
Speaker 1: a believer in the supremacy of the Austrian Empire, and
Speaker 1: he wished to see it thrive. For those reasons and
Speaker 1: for what Franz Ferinand represented, the young men thought he
Speaker 1: had to die. In order to get the weapons they
Speaker 1: would use. Princip reached out to the Black Hand network,
Speaker 1: who agreed to help facilitate the assassination. Whether or not
Speaker 1: the three students formerly became members of the Black Hand
Speaker 1: is still debated, but historians do agree that the Black
Speaker 1: Hand facilitated their work, providing them with weapons and transport,
Speaker 1: and connecting them with another group of would be assassins
Speaker 1: who joined their band, Mohammed Mehmed bask Danilo Ilivic, Vasso Kuberlovik,
Speaker 1: and Svetko Popovic. The last two were high school students.
Speaker 1: After a complicated series of train and boat trips punctuated
Speaker 1: by border crossings, all seven men made it to Sarajevo,
Speaker 1: and by the morning of June twenty eighth had received
Speaker 1: their weapons. They were all prepared to kill or be
Speaker 1: killed while the men who were planning on killing them assembled.
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand, Sophie his wife were praying in the makeshift
Speaker 1: chapel at the Hotel Bosna. It was the fourteenth anniversary
Speaker 1: of the day Franz Ferdinand had sworn his oath of renunciation,
Speaker 1: which allowed him to marry Sophie. The couple had written
Speaker 1: a telegram to their children that morning saying that quote
Speaker 1: Papa and Mama looked forward to seeing them soon. The
Speaker 1: couple were both dressed for a public appearance. Sophie wore
Speaker 1: a white silk summer dress and a matching white hat
Speaker 1: resplendent with ostrich feathers and an ermine stole. Franz Ferdinand
Speaker 1: was dressed in the uniform of an Austrian cavalry general,
Speaker 1: his black pants tucked into black leather boots and his
Speaker 1: blue tunic ornamented by gold epaulets. His hat in the
Speaker 1: style of the day was draped in peacock feathers. The
Speaker 1: white lace parasol that he held at his side might
Speaker 1: have looked incongruous with his military outfit, but he was
Speaker 1: holding it for his wife. A train took them from
Speaker 1: their hotel outside of the city into Sarajevo, where they
Speaker 1: were met by Governor General Potioric and the Sarajevo Mayor.
Speaker 1: The entourage continued on to the Philippovic Barracks, and then
Speaker 1: they all proceeded to the motorcade waiting for them. It
Speaker 1: was then that an error occurred, the first in a
Speaker 1: fatal series of errors that would define the day. The
Speaker 1: Archduke and Archduchess had traveled to the city with a
Speaker 1: small group of special security officers who were meant to
Speaker 1: ride in the first car of the motorcade, But when
Speaker 1: they tried to enter the car outside the barracks, four
Speaker 1: local police officers insisted that the car had been reserved
Speaker 1: for local use only, and they filled the car. The
Speaker 1: elite team of guards brought to Sarajevo specifically to protect
Speaker 1: the couple were left behind at the barracks. The motorcade
Speaker 1: progressed along the Appell Quay, The sun beat down on
Speaker 1: the heads of friends Fernand and Sophie, who sat in
Speaker 1: an open topped convertible from a fortress above the city.
Speaker 1: A twenty four cannon salute sounded, the booms echoing across
Speaker 1: the hills and mixing with the noise of the crowd,
Speaker 1: who called out Zivio, long may he live as the
Speaker 1: Archduke came into view. Unbeknownst to those in the motorcade,
Speaker 1: they had already escaped. Too would be assassins Vasso Kuberlovik
Speaker 1: and Mohammed mement Basic, both of whom had lost their
Speaker 1: nerve and failed to shoot when the motorcade passed. They
Speaker 1: would not get so lucky a third time. As the
Speaker 1: cars drew near the Kumerjah Bridge, Nedelko Kabrinovich drew a
Speaker 1: grenade from his pocket, banged it sharply against the lamp
Speaker 1: post to dislodge the cap, and hurled it at the Archduke.
Speaker 1: Leopold Loochka, the driver of the Archduke's car, was the
Speaker 1: first to spot the black shape flying through the air,
Speaker 1: and he acted on reflex, accelerating sharply. Franz Ferdinand threw
Speaker 1: up his arms to shield Sophy. The bomb arched closer,
Speaker 1: but because reaction proved crucial, the bomb missed most of
Speaker 1: the car, hitting the lower top of the convertible and
Speaker 1: rolling to the ground, detonating beneath the next car, sending
Speaker 1: shrapnel flying and leaving a hole in the road half
Speaker 1: a foot deep. Miraculously, no one died. Two officers suffered
Speaker 1: superficial wounds, as had one of Sophie's ladies in waiting.
Speaker 1: Sophie had been grazed on the shoulder blade by a
Speaker 1: piece of shrapnel. Twenty or so members of the crowd
Speaker 1: had also been injured. Determined to martyr himself, Cabernovic ran
Speaker 1: towards the river and leapt off the twenty six foot
Speaker 1: high bank. All this got him, though, was a painful
Speaker 1: landing in the nearly dry river bed. On his way down,
Speaker 1: he had swallowed a cyanide pill, but the poison seemed
Speaker 1: to have lost its potency, and Cabernovic, still alive, was
Speaker 1: quickly seized by the crowd. Maintaining his composure, Franz Ferdinand,
Speaker 1: after being assured that no one was critically injured, ordered
Speaker 1: that the motor kid proceed onto the town hall. Come on,
Speaker 1: he calmly said to his entourage. The fellow is insane,
Speaker 1: but by the time they reached the town hall, his
Speaker 1: fear and anger had grown. As the Mayor began his
Speaker 1: prepared welcome remarks, the Archduke loudly interrupted him, saying, I
Speaker 1: come to Sarajevo and I'm greeted with bombs. It is outrageous.
Speaker 1: Sophie took his arm and whispered in his ear, calming him.
Speaker 1: After an awkward moment, Franz Ferdinand gestured for the Mayor
Speaker 1: to continue, saying, now you may speak. When the Mayor,
Speaker 1: thrown off stride, finally completed his faltering speech, Franz Ferdinand
Speaker 1: turned to reply, only to find that the draft of
Speaker 1: his own speech had been soaked by the blood of
Speaker 1: one of his injured men. Undaunted, he spoke a few lines,
Speaker 1: even add living a reference to recent events, thanking the
Speaker 1: mayor for the quote expressions of pleasure made by the
Speaker 1: sara Avans, quote over the failure of the assassination attempts,
Speaker 1: concluding with a passage and Serbo Croatian, an impressive feat
Speaker 1: for the Archduke was almost comically bad at languages. Franz
Speaker 1: Ferdinand said, quote, I ask you to give my heartiest
Speaker 1: greetings to the population of this beautiful capital city, and
Speaker 1: I assure you of my unchangeable grace and kindness. The
Speaker 1: second he was out of the public eye, though all
Speaker 1: traces of grace evaporated. After learning of Kabranovitch's capture, Franz
Speaker 1: Ferdinand spat, just watch instead of rendering the fellow harmless,
Speaker 1: they will be truly Austrian about it all and give
Speaker 1: him a medal. Pulling poteoric aside, he angrily inquired, do
Speaker 1: you think any more attempts are going to be made
Speaker 1: against me today? Go at ease, Potriarch said, I accept
Speaker 1: all responsibility, but of course things were not that simple.
Speaker 1: Debate broke out over how best to proceed. Franz Ferdinand
Speaker 1: wished to visit those injured in the bombing at the
Speaker 1: local hospital, and it was decided that the motorcaide would
Speaker 1: return to the appeal Quay, which would allow them to
Speaker 1: travel at high speeds on a straight path to the hospital.
Speaker 1: Sophie was not scheduled for any further official business, and
Speaker 1: various members of the party discouraged her from continuing on
Speaker 1: as long as the Archduke shows himself in public today,
Speaker 1: she said, to an aid, I will not leave him.
Speaker 1: Even Franz Ferdinand could not persuade her. No, Franzie, she
Speaker 1: said to have told him, I'm going with you. The
Speaker 1: original itinerary for the visit had had Franz Ferdinand going
Speaker 1: from the town hall to the museum, traveling down the
Speaker 1: Appell Quay before taking a right onto Franz Joseph Strauss.
Speaker 1: Under the new plan, the motorcade would pass Franz Joseph
Speaker 1: Strauss and speed further along the quay before turning onto
Speaker 1: a leader street, which would lead directly to the hospital.
Speaker 1: The remaining assassins knew that the archduke excitinerary was likely
Speaker 1: to change following the failed attempt earlier in the day,
Speaker 1: but they could only guess at how, and so they
Speaker 1: took up a variety of positions along the quay and
Speaker 1: its side streets, ready to strike if the now very
Speaker 1: unlikely chance presented itself. At ten am, the royal party
Speaker 1: returned to their cars. After helping Franz Ferdinand and Sophie
Speaker 1: into their car. Count Franz von Harrick, a close friend
Speaker 1: and military adjunct of the Archdukes, took up a position
Speaker 1: on the running board. If anyone was going to make
Speaker 1: another attempt from the quay, Herrick recounted, thinking I can
Speaker 1: shield him with my body. The motorcide roared off at
Speaker 1: high speed, passing one assassin triff go grabs before he
Speaker 1: even had time to react. In the first car was
Speaker 1: the Chief Detective, in the second, the Chief of Police
Speaker 1: and Mayor. In the third Franz Ferdinand, Sophie and Potiorek,
Speaker 1: with Herrick on the running board. It was at the
Speaker 1: corner of Franz Joseph Strauss that the second error was made.
Speaker 1: It's unclear whether the driver of the first car had
Speaker 1: not been informed of the change in plans or had
Speaker 1: forgotten about them. Either way, instead of continuing straight down
Speaker 1: the Apple, the first car turned right. The second car followed,
Speaker 1: passing under a twelve foot sign shaped like a bottle
Speaker 1: of wine marking morn Schiller's Delicatessen, and though no one
Speaker 1: knew it yet, coming within feet of a young man
Speaker 1: who had nearly given up on his plans for terror.
Speaker 1: Gavrilo Princip, the driver of the second car, had instinctively
Speaker 1: followed the first, heading down Franz Joseph Strauss. The cars
Speaker 1: were moving at such a high speed that it's unlikely
Speaker 1: that Prince Sip or any other would be assassin could
Speaker 1: have successfully aimed a gun or a bomb. But that
Speaker 1: didn't matter, because it was then that the third error occurred.
Speaker 1: Seeing the first two cars erroneously turned, Poteoric in the
Speaker 1: third car loudly shouted, what is this Stop, You're going
Speaker 1: the wrong way. We ought to go viap al Quai,
Speaker 1: instead of joining his companions and speeding down. Franz Joseph Strass,
Speaker 1: the driver of the third car, Leopold Lochka, who's quick
Speaker 1: thinking earlier in the morning had saved his passengers from bomb,
Speaker 1: breaked hard in front of the delicatessen. It took several
Speaker 1: seconds for him to shift the car into reverse, and
Speaker 1: in those few seconds Gavrillo Princip looked up and saw,
Speaker 1: as if in a vision, the man he had come
Speaker 1: to kill, sitting only a few feet from him. The
Speaker 1: night before, Princip had laid flowers on the grave of
Speaker 1: a man named Bogdan Zerjik, a Serb who in n
Speaker 1: had attempted to kill the current Governor General's predecessor. His
Speaker 1: attempt having failed, Zerjik committed suicide, becoming a martyr in
Speaker 1: death for the cause of Serb independence. Princip found himself
Speaker 1: drawn back again and again to the grave site in
Speaker 1: the days before the assassination, soaking up the revolutionary ardor
Speaker 1: of Zarazak, who, like Princip's childhood hero the medieval night
Speaker 1: milosh Obelik, had been willing to fight and die for
Speaker 1: his cause. Now it was Prince Sip's turn, summoning his courage,
Speaker 1: stoking his anger. Feeling his ancestors beside him, he drew
Speaker 1: his pistol and fired once and then again at Archduke
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand. No one quite knew what had happened By
Speaker 1: the delicatessen. The crowd swarmed Princip and attacked him. Prince
Speaker 1: SIPs swallowed a cyanide pill, but as with Kebernovis, it
Speaker 1: had no effect. The driver lookya frantically, turned the car
Speaker 1: around and sped back down the quay. It was only
Speaker 1: then that those in the car could pause and take stock.
Speaker 1: Only then that Count von Herrick saw the thin trickle
Speaker 1: of blood leaking from Franz Ferdinand's mouth. Sophie turned to
Speaker 1: look at her husband, screaming, for God's sake, what has happened?
Speaker 1: To you. She fainted onto his lap in what the
Speaker 1: others thought was shocked. Franz Ferdinand, looking down at his
Speaker 1: beloved wife, cried out, so frall, so frall, don't die,
Speaker 1: stay alive for our children. Hart grabbed the Archduke's coat
Speaker 1: collar and shook him. Blood sprayed from the Archduke's mouth
Speaker 1: onto the count's cheek. Is your highness in great pain?
Speaker 1: He asked? It is nothing, friends, Ferdinand said, repeating at
Speaker 1: six or seven times, his face growing paler and his
Speaker 1: words growing fainter with each utterance. It is nothing, It
Speaker 1: is nothing, And then he too fell into unconsciousness. Neither
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand nor Sophie would wake again. A bullet had
Speaker 1: hit Sophie's right side, running through her body, and she
Speaker 1: died in the car. Before they could reach the Governor's residence,
Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand was carried to a bed at the resident end.
Speaker 1: After struggling to unclasp his collar, they cut open the
Speaker 1: Archduke's tunic with a saber. The Archduke's bare chest revealed
Speaker 1: a gold chain that he had hung with seven good
Speaker 1: luck charms, and it revealed a bullet hole in his
Speaker 1: neck just above his right collar bone. When they tried
Speaker 1: to lift him, blood spurted from his mouth on to
Speaker 1: the men around him and the walls of the chamber.
Speaker 1: By eleven thirty am, he too was gone. Days later,
Speaker 1: when she said goodbye to her parents for the last time,
Speaker 1: little Sophie, their daughter only thirteen, said quote, God wanted
Speaker 1: Mommy and Poppy to join him at the same time.
Speaker 1: It's best that they died together, because Poppy couldn't live
Speaker 1: without Mommy, and Mommy could not have gone on without Poppy.
Speaker 1: Sophie and friends Ferdinand had died as they had lived.
Speaker 1: Their final thoughts, even as they faced death, were for
Speaker 1: each other. They did not speak of war or of peace,
Speaker 1: as the rest of the continent soon would, of ultimatums,
Speaker 1: of negotiations, of threats, or of treaties. Though they represented
Speaker 1: an empire, though they wore its uniforms and symbolized its
Speaker 1: feats and its follies, in the end, they were simply
Speaker 1: a man and a woman who had lived for one another,
Speaker 1: but who would be remembered for their deaths and how
Speaker 1: those deaths would change the world. What happens next is complicated,
Speaker 1: and we will get to the political maneuvering that leads
Speaker 1: to the outbreak of World War One later in that summer.
Speaker 1: But for now, I think it's worth taking just another
Speaker 1: moment to focus on the Archduke, Sophie and the assassin.
Speaker 1: Even in death, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were not treated
Speaker 1: as equals. Faced with mounting and violent evidence that the
Speaker 1: world was becoming hostile to their way of life, the
Speaker 1: Hapsburg chose to respond to the assassination by doubling down
Speaker 1: on everything that made the hapsburgs. Hapsburgs. Emperor Franz Joseph
Speaker 1: led the funeral planning along with his Lord High Chamberlain
Speaker 1: Alfred de Montinovo, architect of so many of Sophy's humiliations
Speaker 1: in life. The two men retained their stubborn, snobby insistence
Speaker 1: on protocol. The resulting funeral quote so startlingly simple, so
Speaker 1: insulting to the feelings of a grieving people. As the
Speaker 1: Vienna Reich's post put it was the first time that
Speaker 1: an heir to the Austrian throne had been denied a
Speaker 1: state funeral. No foreign dignitaries were invited to attend, nor
Speaker 1: were any members of the military. The Emperor and Montenuovo
Speaker 1: even banned the couple's three children from attending the funeral service, because,
Speaker 1: in the chilly logic of the Habsburgs, the descendants of
Speaker 1: a Morganatic marriage were not worthy of mourning alongside the
Speaker 1: full blooded members of the imperial family. The slapdash, insulting
Speaker 1: nature of the funeral arrangements were not lost even on
Speaker 1: the stray and nobility and resentment toward the Emperor and
Speaker 1: Montenuovo began to grow. At the final procession of the
Speaker 1: couple's coffins to the train station, the anger bubbled over
Speaker 1: and led to revolt, albeit revolt in the more muted
Speaker 1: style of the aristocracy. Monte Nuovo had requested that no
Speaker 1: members of the nobility joined this final procession, but fed
Speaker 1: up a hundred aristocrats, counting among their number members of
Speaker 1: the most prominent families in the Empire, spontaneously joined on foot,
Speaker 1: marching behind the coffins. After an additional service at the
Speaker 1: Habsburg's home in Austria, where the family had spent so
Speaker 1: many summers, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were finally laid to
Speaker 1: rest in a pair of identical white marble tombs, each
Speaker 1: bearing the same inscription in Latin. Joined in marriage. They
Speaker 1: were joined by the same fate, and what of Gavrilo
Speaker 1: Princip and his fellow co conspirators. Of the seven men
Speaker 1: who had waited along the main street to kill the archduke,
Speaker 1: only one would escape. Mohammed memed Basic fled into Montenegro,
Speaker 1: whose government refused to extradite him to Austria for trial.
Speaker 1: He would live until nineteen forty three, when members of
Speaker 1: a Croatian fascist group killed him during World War Two.
Speaker 1: Princip and Cabernovic had both been arrested on the day
Speaker 1: of the assassination, and both were interrogated by the authorities
Speaker 1: for days about the plot. Both denied the involvement of
Speaker 1: the Black Hand, hoping to protect their network. However, after
Speaker 1: their remaining co conspirators were rounded up and arrested, more
Speaker 1: of the story began to emerge. In October nineteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: six men went to trial. Under the Bosnian constitution, only
Speaker 1: those over the age of twenty could receive the death penalty,
Speaker 1: and four of the six defendants were still teenagers. For
Speaker 1: some of the men, who had dreamed of martyrdom for
Speaker 1: the cause, this was disappointing, but they made the best
Speaker 1: of it. Defiantly declaring the righteousness of their actions in courts.
Speaker 1: I do not feel like a criminal, Prince Ship said,
Speaker 1: because I put away the one who was doing evil.
Speaker 1: Graves called the assassination quote one of the greatest works
Speaker 1: in history. Only Keebernovic, who had thrown the bomb that
Speaker 1: had nearly killed Franz Ferdinand, first expressed remorse. All of us,
Speaker 1: he said on the stand, nevertheless feel very sorry because
Speaker 1: we did not know the late Franz Ferdinand was the
Speaker 1: father of a family. We were greatly touched by the
Speaker 1: last words, he uttered to his wife. I humbly submit
Speaker 1: my apologies to the children of the heir apparent and
Speaker 1: asked them to forgive us. Amidst all the political talk,
Speaker 1: it was a shocking reminder of the personal aspect of
Speaker 1: it all. Princip was not pleased and stood up, shouting
Speaker 1: that Kebernovic did not speak for him. On October to twenty,
Speaker 1: sentences were handed down. Popovic received thirteen years in prison, Princip,
Speaker 1: Kebernovic and Grabs twenty, and Ilik and Kuberlovic were sentenced
Speaker 1: to death by hanging. Nearly all of the men had
Speaker 1: been suffering from tuberculosis even before the assassination and the
Speaker 1: conditions in prison did not help. One by one, over
Speaker 1: the next several years, they began to die. Kabernovich was
Speaker 1: the first to go, but before he died, he was
Speaker 1: the recipient of a profound act of forgiveness too of France.
Speaker 1: Ferdinand and Sophie's children. Little Sophie and Max, having heard
Speaker 1: about his statements of remorse and his apology in court,
Speaker 1: wrote him a letter telling him that his conscience could
Speaker 1: be at peace, for they forgave him for his part
Speaker 1: in the death of their parents. Princip himself died in
Speaker 1: April nine eighteen. His tuberculosis had become so grave that
Speaker 1: at the time of his death, aged twenty three, he
Speaker 1: weighed only nine indep pounds. He had lived to see
Speaker 1: his actions spark a deadly World war, far beyond what
Speaker 1: he had expected, but he would not live to see
Speaker 1: it end. He died eight months before Armistice. How exactly
Speaker 1: did the assassination of Franz Ferdinand spark World War One?
Speaker 1: Join me on a journey back to your high school
Speaker 1: history class to review the falling dominoes. After the assassination
Speaker 1: on June, those in the Austrian government who wanted war
Speaker 1: with Serbia, including Franz Ferdinand's old nemesis, Conrad, saw an opportunity.
Speaker 1: He organized a meeting with the German ambassador to ensure
Speaker 1: that Germans would support the Austrians should war be declared.
Speaker 1: The German ambassador was reluctant, but he sent a telegram
Speaker 1: to Kaiser Wilhelm the Second informing him of the conversation.
Speaker 1: The Kaiser was profoundly affected by the assassination, furious and
Speaker 1: grief stricken, and sent back a reply containing, among other things,
Speaker 1: one fateful line, the Serbs must be sorted and that
Speaker 1: right soon. The Austrians had the encouragement they needed, which
Speaker 1: was only solidified by the so called blank Check, a
Speaker 1: guarantee delivered by a German count on behalf of the
Speaker 1: Kaiser that Germany would support Austria unconditionally. A month of
Speaker 1: secret discussions between the two governments ensued as they decided
Speaker 1: to pursue war. They realized that any threat against Serbia
Speaker 1: would probably be seen as a threat against Serbia's ally Russia,
Speaker 1: but this was not necessarily seen as a bad thing.
Speaker 1: It might be the chance Germany and Austria Hungary needed
Speaker 1: to weaken Russia and her allies, and Wilhelm was all
Speaker 1: too happy to challenge his first cousin, the Czar of Russia.
Speaker 1: At six pm on July, the Austrian minister in Serbia
Speaker 1: delivered an ultimatum to Serbia with a forty eight hour deadline.
Speaker 1: The ultimatum contained ten demands. Two days later, Serves released
Speaker 1: a statement agreeing to nearly all of the demands, a
Speaker 1: response that was seen by most as diplomatic and conciliatory.
Speaker 1: What the Serbian government did not know, though, was that
Speaker 1: the minister had been instructed quote. However, the Serbs react
Speaker 1: to the ultimatum, you must break off relations and it
Speaker 1: must come to war. Over the next five days, the
Speaker 1: great powers of Europe scrambled both to avoid war and
Speaker 1: to decide, should war come, whose side they would take.
Speaker 1: On July, Austria declared war against Serbia and bombed Belgrade.
Speaker 1: Two days later, on August one, Germany declared war on Russia,
Speaker 1: then on France on August three, topping it all off
Speaker 1: by invading neutral Belgium. Britain sent Germany an ultimatum withdraw
Speaker 1: from neutral Belgium or we will enter the war. The
Speaker 1: ultimatum rejected Britain declared war on Germany August four. It
Speaker 1: was yet another family entanglement. King George the Fifth of
Speaker 1: England was also a first cousin of the Czar and Kaiser.
Speaker 1: By August twelfth, all of the major European powers had
Speaker 1: configured into two alliances, the Allied Powers, which include France, Russia,
Speaker 1: and Great Britain, among others, and the Central Powers, which
Speaker 1: included Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire among others.
Speaker 1: In the next four years, countries from around the world
Speaker 1: would join, including Japan, China, and the United States. The
Speaker 1: fighting would be unlike any scene before. More than eight
Speaker 1: point five million soldiers would die, and it is estimated
Speaker 1: thirteen million civilians. Franz Ferdinand and Sophie could not have
Speaker 1: foreseen this, as they returned resolutely to their car, in
Speaker 1: which they had already survived one assassination attempt that day.
Speaker 1: Gavrillo princip could not have possibly known as the Archduke's
Speaker 1: motor car breaked in front of him. What would happen
Speaker 1: once he raised his pistol and fired. No one could
Speaker 1: have seen it coming, could have glimpsed the monstrous specter
Speaker 1: of death and destruction that lurched towards them that had
Speaker 1: been summoned to Sarajevo by the chance meeting of the
Speaker 1: Archduke and his assassin. That's the story of the assassination
Speaker 1: of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But keep listening after a brief
Speaker 1: sponsor break to hear a little bit more about one
Speaker 1: more tiny consequence. World War One was a glowable conflict,
Speaker 1: inflamed by the close family relationships of the countries involved,
Speaker 1: and some of those close family relations were slightly too
Speaker 1: close for comfort. King George the fifth of England was
Speaker 1: first cousins with both Czar Alexander the Second of Russia
Speaker 1: and Kaiser Wilhelm. All three were grandchildren of Queen Victoria,
Speaker 1: and they all shared a strong family resemblance. After the
Speaker 1: outbreak of World War One, anti German sentiment was running
Speaker 1: rampant in England. But go back a few generations and
Speaker 1: recall that the British royal family was actually pretty German themselves.
Speaker 1: It was because of that anti German sentiment that the
Speaker 1: king decreed in June nineteen seventeen that their family name
Speaker 1: would no longer be the incredibly German sounding Saxe cober
Speaker 1: Gotha and would instead be the much more familiar and
Speaker 1: much more English sounding windsor m M. Noble Blood is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild
Speaker 1: from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Wartz.
Speaker 1: Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick,
Speaker 1: Mura Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Laurie Goodman. The show is
Speaker 1: produced by Rema L. Kali, with supervising producer Josh Thain
Speaker 1: and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.