On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was visiting Sarajevo. His motorcade took a wrong turn and stalled on a street corner. There, a 19-year-old student named Gavrilo Princip stepped forward. Firing his pistol from only a few feet away, he killed both the Archduke and his wife, Sophie. Princip was a member of a student revolutionary movement called Young Bosnia. Though he was not in the infamous Black Hand, officers from that secret Serbian military society had armed him and five other assassins stationed along the route. For a month, the shots seemed like another crisis in the Balkans. But these deaths would soon be the trigger for a global catastrophe.
The July Crisis
The weeks between Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 and Britain's entry into the war on 4 August, as ultimatums, mobilisations and declarations of war spread across Europe.
Chapter 1
A Pistol in Sarajevo
0:47
Part of
Frequently Asked Questions
Who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
The assassin was Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old student. He was part of Young Bosnia, a revolutionary movement. The secret Serbian military society known as the Black Hand organized the plot and supplied the weapons.
What was the 'blank check' in the July Crisis?
The 'blank check' was Germany's unconditional promise of support to its ally, Austria-Hungary, on July 6, 1914. Given by Kaiser Wilhelm II and Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, it assured Austria that Germany would stand by them, even if their actions against Serbia led to war with Russia.
Why did Great Britain enter World War I?
Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, after Germany invaded neutral Belgium. This violated the 1839 Treaty of London. The German Chancellor dismissed the treaty as a 'scrap of paper,' a remark which confirmed for Britain that Germany was not respecting international law.
Learn more
To continue the story, download the Chunks Microlearning app
Or get it straight away:
Download on iOS
Download on Android