The Fatal Phaeton: How the Automobile Became a Symbol of the Beginning of World War I
On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin, the Most Serene Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated in Sarajevo. They were shot by Serbian high school student Gavrilo Princip, part of a group of six terrorists (five Serbs and one Bosniak) coordinated by Danilo Ilić.
The political goal of the assassination was to separate the South Slavic territories from Austria-Hungary and subsequently annex them to a Greater Serbia or Yugoslavia. Members of the group had contacts with a Serbian terrorist organization known as the "Black Hand." The assassination became the pretext for the outbreak of World War I. Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, which was partially rejected. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia on July 28.
About it historical Much has been written about the event and its aftermath. This article will focus on the car in which the Archduke and his wife were shot. It could be said that it became a symbol of sorts for the beginning of the first world war in human history.
On the day of his assassination, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife were traveling in a luxury car from the Austrian manufacturer Gräf & Stift, a Doppel-Phaeton-Karosserie (Double-Coach Phaeton). Such cars were popular among wealthy individuals in the first three decades of the 20th century.
Over the years, the "fatal" Gräf & Stift convertible has become the subject of several conspiracy theories, including that it was cursed or that it was involved in the deaths of others. However, these theories became most widespread in the second half of the last century and are likely partly fiction. This is akin to the belief that you shouldn't buy cars that have been in accidents.
The 1910 Gräf & Stift double phaeton with a four-cylinder, 32-horsepower engine belonged to Count Franz von Harrach, an officer in the Austrian Army's transport corps. In 1914, the Austrian army faced budget constraints, so the Archduke was provided with a private, rather than a military, car. Count von Harrach was on the running board at the time of the assassination and witnessed it.
Many sources claim that Gräf & Stift's car lacked a reverse gear, causing it to slow down when changing direction. This delay allowed the killer, Gavrilo Princip, to approach the car and fire. In fact, as was later discovered, the car did have a reverse gear, but due to the technical standards of the time, shifting gears took some time.
The first owner of the fatal car after the Archduke's death was General Potiorek. He developed mental problems and later died in a mental hospital. An army captain, the next owner, died in an accident after hitting two peasants.
The car was then purchased by the governor of Yugoslavia. He was involved in four accidents in four months, the last of which resulted in the amputation of his right arm. The governor sold the car to a doctor, who died when the car rolled over and crushed him. With each new owner, the tragedies continued. The owners of the fatal car were either injured or died in accidents while in the vehicle.
In total, thirteen people died in connection with the car—the cursed "iron horse" was fortunately decommissioned. Today, this supposedly haunted Graf & Stift is on display at the Military History Museum in Vienna—the bullet holes from the assassination are still visible. The last Emperor of Austria-Hungary, Charles I, drove a 1914 Graf und Stift into his Swiss exile in 1920. However, it was a different car of the same class.
The Austrian automaker Graf & Stift, which specialized in premium vehicles, later belonged to the MAN AG automobile concern (formerly Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg; SE). The company was founded by brothers Franz, Heinrich, and Karl Graf and investor Wilhelm Stift in 1902, although actual automobile production began in 1907. It was located in Vienna, and production facilities there remain, but the Gräf & Stift name is no longer used.
As for the fatal assassination in Sarajevo, it was partly a confluence of circumstances, in which not only the Gräf & Stift phaeton but also its driver played a role. For starters, the Archduke was forced, as they would say today, due to a lack of funding, to use a private convertible for the trip. History defies the subjunctive mood, but it's plausible to assume that had Ferdinand and his wife been in a closed car, they would at least not have been identified by the terrorist.
The events of June 28, 1914, unfolded with lightning speed. Ferdinand informed local authorities that he was abandoning the planned program. But then a chain of fatal mistakes and coincidences occurred.
The first bomb thrown at the Crown Prince's motorcade by Gavrilo Princip's accomplice, Nedeljko Čabrinović, hit the police escort car. Afterward, the Archduke sought refuge in the nearby town hall, but then decided to continue his journey, unguarded.
Ferdinand gets into the car, but driver Leopold Loika gets confused and takes a different route. Realizing this, the head of the motorcade orders a U-turn. At that moment, the Crown Prince's procession is spotted by the same Gavrilo Princip, who had been hanging out at Moritz Schiller's Delicatessen.
The terrorist sees the Archduke driving straight toward him in an open limousine. He runs to the car and fires at point-blank range. The first bullet hit the Archduke in the jugular vein, the second hit Sophie in the abdomen, fatally wounding both.
Of course, had the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne not been assassinated, one can safely assume that it would have merely delayed a major war in Europe. However, who knows how events would have unfolded without a fateful confluence of circumstances, in which the Gräf & Stift phaeton coincidentally played a role.
The First World War lasted five years and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Coincidentally, as history often does in cyclical repetitions, peace was signed in France on the same day that Prince Ferdinand was assassinated, June 28, 1919.
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