Why was Archduke Franz Ferdinand killed?
Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia leaving the Sarajevo City Hall after reading a speech on June 28, 1914. Five minutes later they were killed
110 years ago, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated. This provocation marked the beginning of the July Crisis in Europe and the First World War.
On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia begins mobilization. On August 1 and 3, Germany declared war on Russia and France. On August 4, England enters the war. A pan-European war began.
Empire federalization project
Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph von Habsburg was the eldest son of Archduke Charles Ludwig (brother of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph) and Princess Maria Annunziata of the Two Sicilies. The elderly Emperor Franz Joseph I had ruled since 1848 and outlived his heirs. The only son and heir of Emperor Franz Joseph, Crown Prince Rudolf, died in 1889 at Mayerling Castle. According to the official version, he killed his beloved Baroness Maria Vechera and then shot himself.
However, there is a version that the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire became the victim of a conspiracy - it was a political murder disguised as suicide. After this mysterious murder, Archduke Karl Ludwig was considered the heir to the throne of the empire. In 1896, Karl Ludwig unsuccessfully drank water from the Jordan River, fell ill and died. The emperor's nephew, Franz Ferdinand, became the official heir.
Franz Ferdinand became the main hope of the decrepit Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1906, the heir to the throne formulated the idea of transforming Austria-Hungary, which could extend the life of the Habsburg Empire. Created with the help of a politician and lawyer of Romanian origin, Aurelius Popovich, the plan envisaged the federalization of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The politician planned to create the United States of Greater Austria (German: Vereinigte Staaten von Groß-Österreich), which solved the problem of interethnic contradictions in the empire, where the Germans made up only about 25% of the population and formed the political, military, financial-industrial and scientific-cultural elite of the empire.
Another privileged nationality were the Hungarians, who achieved their rights through a long and persistent struggle that almost destroyed the Habsburg Empire. In 1867, the Austro-Hungarian Agreement was concluded, which transformed the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary, a constitutional dualist monarchy.
The other numerous peoples of the empire - Czechs, Croats, Slovaks, Slovenes, Serbs, Rusyns, Little Russians, Poles, Romanians and Italians - did not have the rights and opportunities that the German-Austrians and Hungarians had.
The “Patchwork Empire” was heading towards its collapse; only an external impulse was needed. Therefore, Vienna was very afraid of the Russians and the ideology of Pan-Slavism. The Austrians were afraid that Russia would receive the “inheritance” of another “sick man of Europe - Turkey”, would occupy a dominant position in the Balkans, leading the Orthodox and Slavic peoples. This will cause an uprising of the Slavic part of the Habsburg Empire and destroy it.
Therefore, the Viennese court in the 1877th and early 1878th centuries actively put spokes in the wheels of Russia. In particular, Austria's hostile position led Russia to defeat in the Crimean (Eastern) War. Also, Russia was unable to take advantage of the victory over Turkey in the war of XNUMX–XNUMX.
The Austrian question also became a prerequisite for the deterioration of relations between the German Empire and Russia. The British cleverly used these moments to pit the Germans and Russians against each other, breaking their traditional alliance since the wars with Napoleon.
Franz Ferdinand and Aurel Popovic wanted to continue the reform and establish a trialist federation (Austro-Hungarian-Slavia). This could breathe new life into the old empire. Popovich proposed creating about 15 autonomous equal regions (“states”) on a national-territorial basis.
In addition, they planned to establish several national enclaves (mostly German) in Bohemia, Slovakia, Hungary and Transylvania. Some large cities received autonomy within their “state”: Prague, Budapest, Lvov, Brasov and others.
Each large nationality received its own autonomy and all the conditions for the development of national culture, language and economy. So it was proposed to highlight:
– German Austria (Austria, South Tyrol, southern part of the Czech Republic);
– German Bohemia (northwestern part of the Czech Republic);
– German Moravia (north-eastern part of the Czech Republic), in these three areas the German language predominated;
– Czech Bohemia (central and southern Czech Republic);
– Slovak lands (Slovakia);
– Polish Western Galicia (Lesser Poland);
– Eastern Galicia (Rusyns);
– Hungary (Hungary, southern Slovakia, northern Vojvodina);
– Hungarian Székely lands (Székely region is the territory inhabited by Hungarians in Transylvania, modern Romania);
– Romanian Transylvania (Transylvania, Banat, Bukovina);
– Italian Trento (Trentino);
– Italian Trieste (Trieste, Gorica, western part of Istria);
– Slovenian Krajina (Kraina, southern Carinthia);
– Croatia (Croatia, Srem, Bay of Kotor);
– Serbo-Croatian Vojvodina (Vojvodina).
In this way, several problems were solved.
Firstly, the Habsburg Empire was preserved, it received a chance to renew itself and maintain its status as a great power. This was in the interests of the House of Habsburg.
Secondly, the Slavs received their own autonomous regions. In particular, this reconciled the Czech national movement. The Slavs benefited from the creation of Austro-Hungarian Slavia.
Thirdly, the nationalists had the opportunity to direct their energy in a peaceful direction, to the development of their autonomies, and not to the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Proposed map of the United States of Greater Austria and the main ethnic groups of Austria-Hungary
Opposition. Supporters of Greater Hungary
The idea of radical reform of the empire also had strong opponents. Thus, the Hungarian elite was an uncompromising opponent of the triune state. The plan threatened the exceptional position of Hungary, which, thanks to the 1867 agreement, gained power over 1/2 of the territory of the Habsburg Empire. Thus, Transleithania (the lands located on the eastern side of the Leitha-Litava River) included the Kingdom of Hungary, including the Grand Duchy of Transylvania, the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia, and the free port city of Fiume.
The Hungarians emphasized the presence in Hungary of “a single political nation – the indivisible Hungarian” and actively pursued a policy of Magyarization. The Hungarian nobility did not want to lose lands and political influence in the empire. It got to the point that the Hungarian Prime Minister Count István Tisza declared: “If the heir to the throne decides to carry out his plan, I will raise a national Magyar revolution against him and wipe him off the face of the Earth.”
As a result, a version of the “Hungarian trace” even arose in the assassination attempt on the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.
In Vienna itself, Franz Ferdinand also had opponents.
The Archduke, like many other representatives of the Austrian nobility, did not like Russia and even more the Serbs. But the heir had enough common sense to understand the obvious: a preventive war with Serbia would lead to tragic consequences. The clash with Serbia led to a conflict with Russia, and this threatened serious consequences, including the collapse of the “patchwork empire.”
Franz Ferdinand was a realist and tried his best to avoid such a conflict. By this, he aroused the hatred of certain forces in the Habsburg Empire itself and powerful forces that were leading Europe to carnage and had already written off the Austro-Hungarian, German and Russian empires.
Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph von Oesterreich-Este (Archduke d'Este) (1863 - June 28, 1914) - Archduke of Austria, since 1896 heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. General of the Cavalry (1899).
"Greater Serbia"
Another force that wanted to eliminate the Duke were Serbian nationalists. They wanted to destroy Austria-Hungary in order to build “Greater Serbia.” The Balkans during this period were (as at the present time) a real breeding ground for games of various intelligence services, secret organizations, terrorists, revolutionaries and outright bandits. Here, one after another, secret organizations arose - “Black Hand”, “Mlada Bosna”, “Svoboda” and others.
Thus, the assassination attempt on the Archduke was organized by the Serbian nationalist organization “Black Hand” (“Unity or Death”). Its branch in Bosnia, captured by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was the Mlada Bosna organization, to which the murderer of the heir to the Austrian throne, high school student Gavrilo Princip, belonged.
The secret organization was created by the head of Serbian counterintelligence, Colonel Dragutin Dmitrievich, nicknamed “Apis” (the sacred bull in ancient Egyptian mythology). “Apis” was a patriot of Serbia, an enemy of pan-Germanism, and dreamed of building a “Greater Serbia,” and for this it was necessary to destroy Austria-Hungary.
Dmitrijevic, Tankosic and other organizers of the Black Hand were not only Serbian patriots, but also members of Masonic lodges. Among them was the Serbian minister L. Chupa, a prominent hierarch of the “freemasons”, who was associated with the Belgian and French masons. It was he who oversaw the organization. And the organization, after the coup of 1903, when the Serbian king Alexander Obrenovic and his wife Draga were killed, occupied leading positions in Serbia. Participants in the conspiracy entered the entourage of the new King Peter, occupying the highest military positions.
The organization's agitation was carried out from pan-Slavist, patriotic and Great Serbian positions. It was planned to achieve the main goal - the creation of “Greater Serbia” through war, with the obligatory participation of the Russian Empire.
Serbien muss sterb[i]en! (“Serbia must die!”). Cartoon shows Austria's hand destroying a Serbian terrorist
Preparing for world carnage
Thus, the Great Game was going on, the Serbs were seduced by the idea of “Greater Serbia”. Russia was generally dragged into the war in secret; it did not need this war. Russia and the German world had no key contradictions; controversial issues could be resolved peacefully. The French and British skillfully dragged the Russians into the war, using them as “cannon fodder” against the Germans and as a “cash cow.”
The hawks in Austria-Hungary and Germany wanted war to resolve the issue with Serbia (dominance in the Balkans) and France (dominance in continental Europe). However, the Germans did not calculate all the consequences of the war, hoping for a blitzkrieg against France, and then a quick separate peace with Russia, which would lose its main ally in Europe. England, according to their calculations, should have remained on the sidelines.
In reality, all the benefits were received by the forces that stood behind England and the USA, the behind-the-scenes structures of that time (the Masonic lodges were part of them). The financial international (capital), whose family houses directed the policies of Britain, France and the USA. The crisis of capitalism caused by interest rates (living on debt, parasitism) was decided to be stopped by war. Along the way, fish in the troubled waters of war. Make money on military supplies, robbery and dismemberment of defeated powers.
The masters of the then collective West (France, England and the USA) planned to solve the most important strategic problems. To do this, it was necessary to eliminate competitors within the Western project - the German world, which still adhered to the outdated principles of the people's aristocratic society, the monarchy. They were going to dismember the German world, develop it, and include it in the common market. Also destroy the only civilization and power that did not submit to the West - Russian civilization, Russia. Then build your own “new world order” on the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian, German and Russian empires.
The car in which Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo. Militaryhistorical museum (Vienna)
Sarajevo murder
The Black Hand had enormous influence in Serbia and established branches in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Bosnia. The King of Serbia, Peter I Karadjordjevic, and the head of government, Nikola Pasic, did not share the views of the radical organization, but could not control its activities. Everything was done so that Vienna would see in Belgrade the culprit in the death of the Archduke. Just before the assassination attempt, the terrorists were brought to the Serbian capital, where they underwent training at a shooting range in the royal park and were armed with Serbian pistols and bombs. In fact, a “Serbian trace” was created on purpose.
Apparently, there were also people in Vienna who benefited from the high-profile murder. The Serbian Prime Minister Pasic and the Russian Ambassador to Serbia Hartwig, through their agents, learned about the impending assassination attempt and notified the Vienna Court. However, the Austrian government did not cancel the Archduke's visit to Sarajevo and did not take adequate measures to strengthen security.
As a result, on June 28, 1914, terrorists were able to organize two assassination attempts at once. The first was unsuccessful - an explosive device thrown by Nedeljko Gabrinovic killed the driver and injured several people.
This assassination attempt, oddly enough, did not become a reason for strengthening the security of Franz Ferdinand or his immediate removal from Sarajevo. Moreover, the security of the heir to the throne that day was suspiciously curtailed. The terrorists had the opportunity to commit another assassination attempt.
From the Appel embankment, the Archduke's motorcade turned onto Franz Joseph Street, General Oskar Potiorek began to scold the driver for going the wrong way. The car (it was open) tried to turn around, but in a narrow place filled with townspeople it was difficult to do so. At this time, Gavrilo Princip jumped out of the crowd, raised his revolver and fired twice. His hands were shaking from fear, and he hit a woman - Sophia, the Archduke covered her with himself, and the third bullet killed Franz.
The crowd pinned down the killer and nearly tore him to pieces. Princip was saved by the police. Gavrilo Princip tried to poison himself, but the poison did not work (another oddity). For some reason, the wounded Franz and Sophia were taken not to the hospital, which was only a couple of blocks away, but to Potiorek’s residence, where, amid the lamentations of their entourage, they died of blood loss without receiving medical care.
The Mlado Bosna conspirators were convicted, adults were executed, and minors were sent to prison. In 1917, the terrorists Princip, Gabrilovich, Grabech, who were imprisoned in an Austrian prison, “themselves” died within a few weeks.
The leaders of the Black Hand were arrested and shot in 1917 on trumped-up charges (they allegedly wanted to open a front for the Austrian army). In 1918, the archives of the Sarajevo trial disappeared. In 1919, when Vienna wanted to return the Belgrade archives to Serbia (they were seized during the occupation of Serbia during the war), the ship that was carrying the documents disappeared on the Danube along with its crew. Thus, direct witnesses and documents disappeared.
This event led to a global catastrophe.
Obviously, the death of the heir to the throne of the Habsburg Empire and his wife could not lead to war.
But certain forces wanted war, and they got it. Everything was ready. Serbian patriots dreamed of a “Greater Serbia,” Vienna dreamed of defeating Serbia, Berlin dreamed of defeating France and redistributing colonies and world markets in its favor, France was eager to take revenge for its defeat in the war of 1870–1871. England needed to destroy Germany’s industrial might and its fleet, to preserve their colonial empire.
Only Russia did not want war, but it was skillfully used. The Russians were pushed into a massacre with the Germans. And London and Washington received all the benefits from the war.
Thus began a war that claimed millions of lives, destroyed millions of destinies, destroyed the Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman and Russian empires, greatly changed the political map of the world and even previous value systems.
Finance capital, England and the United States received all the benefits from the war. Financial and industrial clans made huge profits from the war, destroyed the aristocratic elites of the old empires, which were outdated and interfered with the construction of a new, “market-democratic” world order.
And most importantly, the main competitors of the Anglo-Saxon elite and large global capital - Russia and Germany - were pitted against each other and eliminated.
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