LONG: The Crazy, Kooky, Mixed-Up Start of World War I, 100 Years Ago You probably know Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Autro-Hungaria, was assassinated 100 years ago today, sparking WWI. Were it not for that tragic, awful result, one could almost see the Coen Brothers making a movie about the attempt. Put it this way; the mores of the time and the Archduke himself made it all too easy. Firstly, he wasnt popular among the elite themselves, so he wasnt exactly beloved by the nation. He was known for his massive temper, huge blowout arguments with the Emperor every time they met, and was quite bloodthirsty; he had a recorded 300,000 game kills under his belt. The only nice thing that can be said about the man was that he deeply loved his wife. When he decided to visit Sarajevo, he toured the city without a military escort. This was because the military had been drilling and their clothes were too dirty to be presentable. In the wisdom of the time, they published his exact parade route. This was handy for the six assassins who wanted to kill him. Mind you, they all six had different reasons for wanting to kill him off. Even so, five of them chickened out at the last minute. Only one fellow threw a bomb, swallowed poison, and leapt 15 feet into a river that was only six inches deep. He lived. So did the Archduke. The bomb injured several members of his entourage behind him. The procession stopped and rather than whisking Franz away, he went back to personally check on the injured making himself a handy target in case the killer wanted to finish the job. He didnt. He had broken legs and was in that river I mentioned. So, the procession proceeds. The major of the city gives a prepared speech that in no way mentioned the attempt on the Archdukes life. During, Franz proclaims, So this is how you welcome your guests - with bombs? The Mayor is allowed to proceed and Franz calms down. He then wipes the blood from the injured folks wounds off his own speech and gives his prepared speech. He and his wife decide to visit the injured in the hospital. Unfortunately, no one told the driver. As they turn a corner heading the wrong way someone realizes the mistake and they all try to turn around. And here they stop directly in front of Gavrilo Princip who had earlier decided against killing the Archduke. Suddenly realizing he has a second chance, he leaps up from where hed been sitting at a cafe across the street, fires two shots, and fatally wounds Franz and Sophie. Sadly, the couple are shocked by the sight of each others wounds, Franz pleads with Sophie to live for the children and each dies both on route and upon arrival at the hospital. This event triggered World War I before the assassin and would-be assassins could be tried. They all noted that had they known the consequences of their plots, they would never have done what they did. Amazingly, some of the numerous co-conspirators were not executed.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 01:43:19 +0000
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