A Wrong Turn Led To The Death Of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand And Sparked WWI

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was a key event in the leadup to WWI, one often considered to have started it all. In truth, tension among European powers was intense by the time Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, visited Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The demise of both may never have happened had it not been for a wrong turn.

Franz Ferdinand was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and visited the capital of Bosnia to oversee military drills. Slavic nationalists in the region, many of whom were in the Black Hand, wanted to establish an independent state and rid Bosnia of Austro-Hungarian occupation. The Black Hand was determined to make this happen – with violence, if necessary.

The group stationed members all along the Archduke’s motorcade route. Three conspirators failed to eliminate Franz Ferdinand during the morning hours of June 28: one neglected to throw a bomb, another didn’t pull out his pistol, and another bomb thrown at his car missed. 

Later that day, a discussion to detour from the Archduke’s planned route went untranslated to the driver of his car. As a result, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie’s vehicle took a wrong turn onto a road it never should have traversed. 

On that road, Gavrilo Princip was waiting. He saw the Archduke, fired a pistol at the car, and hit both Franz Ferdinand and his wife, who both succumbed to their injuries. 

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia exactly one month later. Russia then mobilized to support Serbia, which resulted in Germany declaring war on Russia on August 1. By the time Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on August 6, Germany had already declared war on France (one of Russia’s allies), which prompted Britain to declare war on Germany. 

The extent to which Franz Ferdinand’s demise caused the conflict – or triggered a larger domino effect – remains a topic of discussion among historians and the general public alike.