Noble Blood - The Death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Episode Date: May 24, 2022

The day began with an explosion, and it ended in death, and it changed the course of history forever. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, Anatomy: A Love StorySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The morning of June 28, 1914, began with golden light spilling over Sarajevo. It was a perfect day in a summer full of perfect days. In later years, reflecting on the bloodshed that was to come, observers would remark on how beautiful the summer had been, the way the world had seemed to hum in harmony, the way the sun had shone on Europe. No one in the crowds gathered along the appellate, a broad street running along the Miljack River in central Sarajevo, knew quite how precious

this day would be, the beginnings and endings that it would mark. For both the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and for his assassin, June 28th held special significance. For Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-East and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, it was the anniversary of the day he had taken the oath of renunciation, the bitter compromise that had allowed him to marry his beloved wife, but at the cost of renouncing the rights of his children to inherit his titles. Fourteen years on from that day, it was still a painful reminder of the strictures of tradition that bound Franz Ferdinand to a dying system of governance. For his assassin, Gavrilo-Princep, it was St. Vitis's day, a day of remembrance and resistance.

On June 28, 1389, the Serbs had been defeated by the Ottomans at the Battle of Kosovo-Polye, an event that dashed their dreams of an independent Serbia and ushered in five centuries of Ottoman rule. But Kosovo-Polyte was also the site of an important victory, the killing of the Ottoman Sultan, Murad I, by the Serbian knight Milos Orblik. Five hundred years later, Serbs celebrated Obelik's feet. on the feast day of St. Vitis, honoring the sacrifices of generations of forbearers in the quest for an independent Serbia. This June 28th, the two men had arrived in the same city, each for a reason that echoed the meaning of the day in his own mind. Franz Ferdinand was there, an official royal

business, making a royal progress through the capital of the recently annexed territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He hadn't wanted to make the trip. He had opposed the annexation, but he felt duty-bound to. Gavrillo Princep, a passionate poetry-mad young student, was there in the spirit of Milash Obelik, determined to win freedom for his people at any cost. This June 28th, the forces of monarchy and modernism, of tradition and terrorism, were on a deadly collision course.

The study of history is often a study of themes, the rise and fall of movements, ideas, and passions. And here, now, the grand forces of history were coalescing, rippling unseen through the crowds, gathering power, and refracting through the bodies of two men, one mustachioed, middle-aged archduke, and a fervent tubercular teenager. But on that sunny Sarajevo afternoon, they were ultimately just two people drawn inexorably towards one another by virtue of fulfilling what they felt to be their duties. They couldn't have known that at the moment of their meeting, the forces that had shaped their lives and become embodied in them would slip their mortal forms and transcend them, eventually drawing the world into the bloodiest conflict it had ever. known. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. The great European war, the German Chancellor Addo von Bismarck is alleged to have said in 1888, will, quote, come out of some damned,

foolish thing in the Balkans. Though the quote is apocryphal, it does neatly capture the precariousness of the political situation in southeastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th. centuries. It would be nearly impossible to do justice to the nuances and intricacies of the political evolution of the Balkans in an entire season of a podcast, let alone one episode. But to understand why Givrillo Prince went to Sarajevo in June 1914 to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand, here's what you need to know. The Balkans is the name given to the mountainous swath of land that stretches north from present-day Greece up until it butts into the southern borders

of present-day Austria, Hungary, and Ukraine. First formally incorporated as Roman provinces in the first century BC, the region was eventually controlled by Slavic invaders from the north, who organized the land into a series of kingdoms, whose name still remain. Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, and so on.

A quick note here. Over time, the Slavic people inhabiting the Balkans became known as Southern Slavs and further ethnic subgrouping developed with these ethnic subgroups sharing the names of the kingdoms they occupied, with Bosniaks in Bosnia and Croats in Croatia, for example. In the modern age, as new land borders were established, these groups mingled, becoming citizens of countries that might not share the same name as their ethnic subgroups. For example, Gavrilo Princep was a Bosnian Serb, which meant that he was an ethnic Serb, but living in the country of Bosnia. Back to the Middle Ages, over the 14th and 15th centuries, the Balkan kingdoms were conquered by the Ottoman Empire in a series of battles,

including the defeat of the Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo Polié in 1389. A defeat, but with one victory. the slaying of the Ottoman Sultan Marad I by the Serb Milash Obelik, events commemorated on St. Vitis's day. For the next five centuries, various resistance groups would revolt against the Ottomans, mainly along ethnic or religious lines. By the 19th century, the most powerful social movement was a pan-Slavic one, which aimed to win the right to self-determination for southern Slavs. In 1878, it looked like they might finally have a chance. The year before, the Russian Empire had come to the aid of Orthodox rebels in the region,

creating a powerful coalition that would eventually, after a bloody conflict, defeat the Ottomans. The Treaty of San Stefano, signed by the Russians and the Ottomans in the spring of 1878, granted increased independence or autonomy to a number of new nations. states. But the other imperial powers, Great Britain, France, Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Germany, had different ideas. Worried that the newly unoccupied region would lead to an imbalance in the power structure that they had so carefully curated in their favor, those great powers met with Russia in July 1878 to determine a future for those who had just fought for the right to determine the future for themselves. The resulting Treaty of Berlin granted Austria-Hungary protectorate powers over

the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Neighboring Serbia, which had gained nearly full autonomy from the Ottomans earlier in the century, struggled internally over whether to ally with the Russians or with Austria-Hungary. Meanwhile, some ethnic Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina dreamed of uniting with Serbia to create a Slavic nation. Tensions only rose when Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia in 1908, ostensibly to prevent the Ottomans from trying to reclaim it, but really to curb the expansion of Serbia. Nearly everyone was frustrated by the situation,

with the Slavs feeling that they had driven out the Ottoman occupiers only to find themselves subjugated to a new order. It was into this fraught situation that Maria and Peter Princep welcomed a son, Gavrillo, on July 13, 1894. The Princeps lived in Oblage, a small village in northern Bosnia. Peter, a farmer who had served as the village postman, had fought in the Bosnian War for independence and was known for his religious piety. Maria, known as Nana, had a beautiful singing voice and bright blue eyes. and she would carry a small bag of sugar at her waist to give to village children. Their life was a difficult one, wracked by poverty and illness.

Of the nine children Nana gave birth to, only three would survive childhood. Gavrillo grew up to be a slight but scrappy child. A surviving relative would later tell the story of a young Gavrillo throwing his pencil case at the head of a teacher who was caning another student. He might have been small, said the relative, but the village boys all knew he was ferocious if you tried to wrestle him. Gavrillo had a reputation for taking on bullies and also for bookishness. When he wasn't caring for his family's chickens or working in the fields with his father, Gavrillo could be found with his nose in a book, a precious resource in his remote village.

He particularly loved the myths of patriotic Serbs past, whose legends, including that of the Sultan's slayer Milash Obelik were passed on through the generations via epic poetry. In 1907, Gavrillo left his tiny village of Obelage to continue his education in Sarajevo. Unable to afford the train ticket, he traveled the 147 miles to the city on foot alongside his father. It was on this journey that the young Gavrillo began to fully realize the deprivations his people were suffering under the Habsburg's rule. At his trial, seven years later, he would recount his impressions of the villagers he saw,

quote, they are completely impoverished. They are treated like cattle. Once in Sarajevo, Gavrilla was met by his older brother, Yovan, who planned to send him to an Austro-Hungarian military school. However, Yovan was dissuaded from this course of action

by a friend who begged him not to make young Gavrillo into quote, an executioner of his own people, or so the story goes. Whatever the cause, Yovan ultimately sent Gavrilo to merchant school, where he studied for three years. It was at this school that Gavrillo was first exposed to the political movement for Slavic unification, a movement whose aim was to see the Slavic people, particularly the Serbs, a Slavic subgroup, who mainly lived in Serbia and Bosnia, rule their own nation. Over time, as Gavrillo discussed politics with classmates, read theory, and traveled the country,

witnessing oppression his people faced, he became more and more convinced that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was just another bully, the kind he had long felt compelled to fight. By 1912, teenage Gavrillo had been expelled from school for participating in student protests against Austro-Hungarian rule. Determined to aid the Slavic movement,

Gavrillo traveled to the Serbian capital of Belgrade. It was an opportune time for Gavrilo to commit himself to the revolutionary cause. In October 1912, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia had declared war against the Ottoman Empire, which had maintained a minor foothold in the region. Only eight months later, the group, known as the Balkan League, had defeated the Ottomans, who ultimately ceded all of their lands west of Istanbul.

It was a striking show of strength by the Balkan League, and it was especially galvanizing for nationalist Serbs, who were further empowered by the second Balkan War of 1913, in which Serbia gained more territory. Gavrillo had tried to enlist in the Serbian army for both conflicts, but suffering from tuberculosis he was deemed too weak. Not dissuaded, he turned his attention to more unofficial channels, and underwent military training conducted by one anti-Austrian organization, and then by its more radical spin-off, commonly known as the Black Hand. In the spring of 1914, Princep decided to take his radicalism one step further.

After reading about Franz Ferdinand's upcoming visit in a paper, Prinsip approached two young men, Trifco Grabez and Nadelko Khabrinovik with an idea. Like Princep, Grabez and Khabernovic were in their teens, and they were faithful members of young Bosnia, the Pan-Slavist radical group. All three had been born in Bosnia to serve families, and all were deeply committed to the anti-Austrian cause. It did not take much for Princepip to sell Grabez and Khabernovic on his plan, a plan to assassinate the Archduke. It was, they thought, their chance to make a difference, to strike back on behalf of their people. Why target Franz Ferdinand? We focused last episode on the softer side of Franz Ferdinand, his shyness, his devotion to Sophie, but as is so often the case with royalty, who they are is less

important to the story than what they represent. And Franz Ferdinand represented the Habsburgs, a conservative, often oppressive, enormously powerful imperial dynasty. In some ways, the public characterization was fair. As the historian Vladimir Dedegier writes, Franz Ferdinand was, quote, Above all, a true Habsburg, brought up strictly in the spirit of some of their most renowned representatives. His energies were directed primarily to restoring the Urse House the prestige and dignity it had enjoyed over the past centuries. End quote. Franz Ferdinand's role was a political one, and it required him to take stances that were not always popular. He was a deeply religious Catholic, too, which many in the Balkans saw as a threat to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

This fear, it seems, was overstated. Though pious, Franz Ferdinand supported the right of all to practice their religion. Although, I will note here, like many Europeans at the time, France Ferdinand did believe in some incredibly harmful, very anti-Semitic myths. Still, the Archduke may have been more open-minded and forward-facing than his uncle, the emperor, given his belief in greater autonomy for many of the empire's diverse ethnic and religious groups, but he was still ultimately a believer in the supremacy of the Austrian Empire, and he wished to see it thrive.

For those reasons and for what Franz Ferdinand represented, the young men thought he had to die. In order to get the weapons they would use, Princep reached out to the Black Hand network, who agreed to help facilitate the assassination. Whether or not the three students formally became members of the Black Hand is still debated, but historians do agree that the Black Hand facilitated their work,

providing them with weapons and transport, and connecting them with another group of would-be assassins who join their band. Muhammad Mehmed BASIC, Danilo Il-Ivik, Vaso Kubralovic, and Svetko Popovic. The last two were high school students. After a complicated series of train and boat trips, punctuated by border crossings, all seven men made it to Sarajevo, and by the morning of June 28th had received their weapons. They were all prepared to kill or be killed. While the men who were planning on killing them assembled, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie, his wife, were praying in the makeshift chapel at the Hotel Bosna.

It was the 14th anniversary of the day Franz Ferdinand had sworn his oath of renunciation, which allowed him to marry Sophie. The couple had written a telegram to their children that morning, saying that, quote, Papa and Mama looked forward to seeing them soon. The couple were both dressed for a public appearance. Sophie wore a white silk summer dress, and a matching white hat was splendid with ostrich feathers, and an ermine stole. Franz Ferdinand was dressed in the uniform of an Austrian cavalry general,

his black pants tucked into black leather boots, and his blue tunic ornamented by gold epaulets. His hat, in the style of the day, was draped in peacock feathers. The white lace parasol that he held at his waist. side might have looked incongruous with his military outfit, but he was holding it for his wife. A train took them from their hotel outside of the city into Sarajevo, where they were met by Governor-General Potioric and the Sarajevo mayor. The entourage continued on to the Philippovic barracks, and then they all proceeded to the motorcade waiting for them. It was then that an error

occurred, the first in a fatal series of errors that would define the day. The Archduke and the Archduke and Archduchess had traveled to the city with a small group of special security officers who were meant to ride in the first car of the motorcade. But when they tried to enter the car outside the barracks, four local police officers insisted that the car had been reserved for local use only, and they filled the car. The elite team of guards brought to Sarajevo specifically to protect the couple, were left behind at the barracks. The motorcade progressed along the Pell Quay, the sun beat down on the heads of Franz Fernand and Sophie, who sat in an open-topped convertible. From a fortress above the city, a 24-canon salute sounded, the booms echoing across the hills,

and mixing with the noise of the crowd, who called out, Zivio, long may he live, as the Archduke came into view. Unbeknownst to those in the motorcade, they had already escaped two would-be assassins, Vaso Kubralovic and Mohamed Mehmet Basic, both of whom had lost their nerve and failed to shoot when the motorcade passed. They would not get so lucky a third time. As the cars drew near the Kumarjah bridge, Nadelko Kabrinovik drew a grenade from his pocket, banged it sharply against a lamp post to dislodge the cap, and hurled it at the Archduke. Leopold Lochka, the driver of the Archduke's car, was the first to spot the black shape flying through the air, and he acted on reflex, accelerating sharply. Franz Ferdinand threw up his arms to

shield Sophie. The bomb arced closer, but Lodzka's reaction proved crucial. The bomb missed most of the car, hitting the lower top of the convertible, and rolling to the ground, detonating beneath the next car, sending shrapnel flying and leaving a hole in the road half a foot deep. Miraculously, no one died. Two officers, suffered superficial wounds, as had one of Sophie's ladies in waiting. Sophie had been grazed on the shoulder blade by a piece of shrapnel. Twenty or so members of the crowd had also been injured. Determined to martyr himself, Krebrenovic ran towards the river and leapt off the 26-foot-high bank. All this got him, though, was a painful landing in the nearly dry riverbed. On his way down, he had swallowed a cyanide pill. But the point of the point of the point of the end of the same thing. The first one of the

poison seemed to have lost its potency, and Khabernovic, still alive, was quickly seized by the crowd. Maintaining his composure, Franz Ferdinand, after being assured that no one was critically injured, ordered that the motorcade proceed onto the town hall. Come on, he calmly said to his entourage. The fellow is insane. But by the time they reached the town hall, his fear and anger had grown, As the mayor began his prepared welcome remarks, the Archduke loudly interrupted him, saying, I come to Sarajevo and am greeted with bombs. It is outrageous. Sophie took his arm and whispered in his ear, calming him. After an awkward moment, Franz Ferdinand gestured for the mayor to continue, saying,

Now you may speak. When the mayor, thrown off stride, finally completed his faltering speech, Franz Ferdinand turned to reply, only to find that the draft of his own speech had been soaked by the blood of one of his injured men. Undaunted, he spoke a few lines, even ad-libbing a reference to recent events, thanking the mayor for the, quote, expressions of pleasure made by the Sarajevans, quote, over the failure of the assassination attempts, concluding with a passage in Serbo-Croatian, an impressive feat for the Archduke was almost comically bad at languages, Franz Ferdinand said, quote, I ask you to give my heartiest greetings to the population of this beautiful capital city, and I assure you of my unchangeable grace and kindness. The second he was out of the public eye, though, all traces of grace evaporated.

After learning of Khabanovich's capture, Franz Ferdinand spat, just watch. Instead of rendering the fellow harmless, they will be truly Austrian about it all and give him a medal. pulling Potioric aside, he angrily inquired, Do you think any more attempts are going to be made against me today? Go at ease, Potioric said. I accept all responsibility.

But of course, things were not that simple. Debate broke out over how best to proceed. Franz Ferdinand wished to visit those injured in the bombing at the local hospital, and it was decided that the motorcade would return to the Apelquay, which would allow them to travel at high speed. on a straight path to the hospital. Sophie was not scheduled for any further official business, and various members of the party discouraged her from continuing on.

As long as the Archduke shows himself in public today, she said to an aide, I will not leave him. Even Franz Ferdinand could not persuade her. No franzi, she said to have told him, I'm going with you. The original itinerary for the visit had Franz Ferdinand going from the town hall to the museum, traveling down the appalquay before taking a right onto Franz Joseph Strauss. Under the new plan, the motorcade would pass Franz Joseph Strauss and speed further along the quay before turning onto a later street, which would lead directly to the hospital. The remaining assassins knew that the Archduke's

itinerary was likely to change following the failed attempt earlier in the day, but they could only guess at how. And so they took up a variety of positions along the quay in its side streets. ready to strike if the now very unlikely chance presented itself. At 10.45 a.m., the royal party returned to their cars. After helping Franz Ferdinand and Sophie into their car, Count Franz von Harich, a close friend and military adjunct of the Archdukes, took up a position on the running board. If anyone was going to make another attempt from the quay,

Herrick recounted thinking, I can shield him with my body. The motorcade roared off at high speed, Passing one assassin, Trifco Gras, before he even had time to react. In the first car was the chief detective, in the second, the chief of police and mayor. In the third, Franz Ferdinand, Sophie, and Potiorek, with Harek on the running board. It was at the corner of Franz Joseph Strauss that the second error was made. It's unclear whether the driver of the first car had not been informed of the change in plans

or had forgotten about them. Either way, instead of continuing straight down the Apalquay, the first car turned right. The second car followed, passing under a 12-foot sign shaped like a bottle of wine, marking Mort Schiller's delicatessen, and, though no one knew it yet, coming within feet of a young man who had nearly given up on his plans for terror, Gavrillo Princep. The driver of the second car had instinctively followed the first, heading down Franz John's Joseph Strauss. The cars were moving at such a high speed that it's unlikely that Prince, or any other would-be assassin, could have successfully aimed a gun or a bomb. But that didn't matter because it was then that the third error occurred. Seeing the first two cars erroneously turn,

Potioric in the third car, loudly shouted, what is this? Stop! You're going the wrong way! We ought to go via Apelquay! Instead of joining his companion, and speeding down Franz Joseph Strauss, the driver of the third car, Leopold Lochka, whose quick thinking earlier in the morning had saved his passengers from the bomb, braked hard in front of the delicatessen. It took several seconds for him to shift the car into reverse,

and in those few seconds, Gavrillo Princep looked up and saw, as if in a vision, the man he had come to kill, sitting only a few feet from him. The night before, Princep had laid flowers on the grave of a man named Bogdan Zerzegh, a Serb who, in 1910, had attempted to kill the current Governor General's predecessor. His attempt, having failed, Zerzhak committed suicide,

becoming a martyr in death for the cause of Serb independence. Princep found himself drawn back again and again to the grave site in the days before the assassination, soaking up the revolutionary ardor of Zerzegh, who, like Princep's childhood hero, the medieval knight Milosh Obelik, had been willing to fight and die for his cause. Now it was Princep's turn. Summoning his courage, stoking his anger, feeling his ancestors beside him, he drew his pistol and fired once and then again at Archduke Franz Ferdinand. No one quite knew what had happened. By the delicatessen, the crowd swarmed Princep and attacked him. Princep swallowed a cyanide pill,

but as with Kebrinovics, it had no effect. The driver, Alokia, frantically turned the car around and sped back down the quay. It was only then that those in the car could pause and take stock. Only then that Count von Herrick saw the thin trickle of blood leaking from Franz Ferdinand's mouth. Sophie turned to look at her husband, screaming, for God's sake, what has happened to you?

She fainted onto his lap in what the others thought was shock. Franz Ferdinand, looking down at his beloved wife, cried out, Soferl, soferl, don't die. Stay alive for our children. Harak grabbed the Archduke's coat collar and shook him. Blood sprayed from the Archduke's mouth onto the Count's cheek.

Is your highness in great pain? he asked. It is nothing, Franz Ferdinand said, repeating it six or seven times, his face growing paler and his words growing fainter with each utterance. It is nothing, it is nothing. And then he too fell into unconsciousness. Neither Franz Ferdinand nor Sophie would wake again. A bullet had hit Sophie's right side, running through her body, and she died in the car before they could reach the governor's residence. Franz Ferdinand was carried to a bed at the residence. struggling to unclasp his collar, they cut open the Archduke's tunic with a saber.

The Archduke's bare chest revealed a gold chain that he had hung with seven good luck charms, and it revealed a bullet hole in his neck, just above his right collarbone. When they tried to lift him, blood spurred it from his mouth onto the men around him and the walls of the chamber. By 11.30 a.m., he too was gone. days later when she said goodbye to her parents for the last time little sophy their daughter only 13 said quote god wanted mommy and poppy to join him at the same time it's best that they died together because poppy couldn't live without mommy and mommy could not have gone on without poppy sophy and friends ferdinand had died as they had lived their final thoughts even as they

face death were for each other. They did not speak of war or of peace, as the rest of the continent soon would, of ultimatums, of negotiations, of threats, or of treaties, though they represented an empire, though they wore its uniforms and symbolized its feats and its follies. In the end, they were simply a man and a woman who had lived for one another, but who would be remembered for their deaths, and how those deaths would change the world. What happens next is complicated, and we will get to the political maneuvering that leads to the outbreak of World War I later in that summer. But for now, I think it's worth taking just another moment to focus on the Archduke, Sophie, and the assassin. Even in death, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were not treated as equals.

Faced with mounting and violent evidence that the world was becoming hostile to their way of life, the Habsburg chose to respond to the assassination by doubling down on air. everything that made the Hapsburgs, Hapsburgs. Emperor Franz Joseph led the funeral planning, along with his Lord High Chamberlain, Alfred de Montenovu, architect of so many of Sophie's humiliations in life. The two men retained their stubborn, snobby insistence on protocol. The resulting funeral, quote, so startlingly simple, so insulting to the feelings of a grieving people, as the Vienna Reichs boast put it, was the first time that an heir to the year to the year to be a year to to the Austrian throne had been denied a state funeral. No foreign dignitaries were invited to attend,

nor were any members of the military. The Emperor and Montenuevo even banned the couple's three children from attending the funeral service, because, in the chilly logic of the Habsburgs, the descendants of a Morgonatic marriage were not worthy of mourning alongside the full-blooded members of the imperial family. The slapdash, insulting nature of the funeral arrangements were not lost even on the Austrian nobility, and resentment toward the emperor and Montenuovo began to grow. At the final procession of the couple's coffins to the train station, the anger bubbled over and led to revolt, albeit revolt in the more muted style of the aristocracy.

Montenuovo had requested that no members of the nobility, join this final procession, but fed up a hundred aristocrats, counting among their number members of the most prominent families in the empire, spontaneously joined on foot, marching behind the coffins. After an additional service at the Habsburg's home in Austria, where the family had spent so many summers, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were finally laid to rest in a pair of identical white marble tombs, each bearing the same inscription in last. joined in marriage, they were joined by the same fate. And what of Gavrillo Princep and his fellow co-conspirators?

Of the seven men who had waded along the main street to kill the Archduke, only one would escape. Mohamed Mimid Basik fled into Montenegro, whose government refused to extradite him to Austria for trial. He would live until 1943 when members of a Croatian fascist group killed him during World War II. Princip and Cabernovic had both been arrested on the day of the assassination, and both were interrogated by the authorities for days about the plot. Both denied the involvement of the Black Hand, hoping to protect their network. However, after their remaining co-conspirators were

rounded up and arrested, more of the story began to emerge. In October 1914, six men went to trial. Under the Bosnian constitution, only those over the age of 20 could receive the death penalty, and four of the six defendants were still teenagers. For some of the men who had dreamed of martyrdom for the cause, this was disappointing, but they made the best of it, defiantly declaring the righteousness of their actions in court. I do not feel like a criminal, Prince said, because I put away the one who was doing evil. Grabes called the assassination, quote, of the greatest works in history. Only Krebinovic, who had thrown the bomb that had nearly killed Franz Ferdinand first, expressed remorse. All of us, he said on the stand, nevertheless feel very sorry,

because we did not know the late Franz Ferdinand was the father of a family. We were greatly touched by the last words he uttered to his wife. I humbly submit my apologies to the children of the heir apparent and ask them to forgive us. Amidst all the political talk, it was a shocking reminder of the personal aspect of it all. Princip was not pleased and stood up, shouting that Khebernovic

did not speak for him. On October 28th, sentences were handed down. Popovic received 13 years in prison. Princep, Kepernovic, and Grabas, 20, and Ilick and Kubralovic were sentenced to death by hanging.

Nearly all of the men had been suffering from tuberculosis even before the assassination, and the conditions in prison did not help. One by one over the next several years, they began to die. Cabernovic was the first to go, but before he died, he was the recipient of a profound act of forgiveness. Two of France, Ferdinand and Sophie's children, Little Sophie and Max, having heard about his statements of remorse and his apology in court, wrote him a letter, telling him that

his conscience could be at peace, for they forgave him for his part in the death of their parents. Princep himself died in April, 1918. His tuberculosis had become so grave that at the time of his death, aged 23, he weighed only 90 pounds. He had lived to see his actions spark a deadly World War far beyond what he had expected, but he would not live to see it end. He died eight months before armistice. How exactly did the assassination of France Ferdinand spark World War I? Join me on a journey back to your high school history class to review the falling dominoes.

After the assassination on June 28th, those in the Austrian government who wanted war with Serbia, including Franz Ferdinand's old nemesis, Conrad, saw an opportunity. He organized a meeting with the German ambassador to ensure that Germans would support the Austrians should war be declared. The German ambassador was reluctant, but he sent a telegram. to Kaiser Wilhelm I. Informing him of the conversation. The Kaiser was profoundly affected by the assassination,

furious and grief-stricken, and sent back a reply containing, among other things, one fateful line. The Serbs must be sorted, and that right soon. The Austrians had the encouragement they needed, which was only solidified

by the so-called blank check, a guarantee delivered by a German count on behalf of the Kaiser, that Germany would support Austria unconditionally. A month of secret discussions between the two governments ensued as they decided to pursue war. They realized that any threat against Serbia would probably be seen as a threat against Serbia's ally, Russia, but this was not necessarily seen as a bad thing. It might be the chance Germany and Austria-Hungary needed to weaken Russia and her allies. And Wilhelm, was all too happy to challenge his first cousin, the Tsar of Russia. At 6 p.m. on July 23rd,

the Austrian minister in Serbia delivered an ultimatum to Serbia with a 48-hour deadline. The ultimatum contained 10 demands. Two days later, Serbs released a statement, agreeing to nearly all of the demands, a response that was seen by most as diplomatic and conciliatory. What the Serbian government did not know, though, was that the minister had been instructed, quote, however the Serbs react to the ultimatum, you must break off relations and it must come to war. Over the next five days, the great powers of Europe scrambled, both to avoid war and to decide, should war come, whose side they would take. On July 28th, Austria declared war against Serbia and bombed Belgrade two days later.

On August 1st, Germany declared war on Russia, then on France, on August 3rd, topping it all off by invading neutral Belgium. Britain sent Germany an ultimatum, withdraw from neutral Belgium, or we will enter the war. The ultimatum rejected, Britain declared war on Germany, August 4th.

It was yet another family entanglement. King George V of England was also a first. cousin of the Tsar and Kaiser. By August 12th, all of the major European powers had configured into two alliances, the allied powers which include France, Russia, and Great Britain, among others, and the central powers, which included Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, among others. In the next four years, countries from around the world would join, including Japan, China, and the United States. The fighting would be unlike

any seen before. More than 8.5 million soldiers would die, and it is estimated, 13 million civilians. Franz Ferdinand and Sophie could not have foreseen this as they returned, resolutely to their car, in which they had already survived one assassination attempt that day. Gavrillo Princip could not have possibly known as the Archduke's motor car braked in front of him. What would happen once he raised his pistol and fired. No one could have seen it coming, could have glimpsed the monstrous specter of death and destruction that lurched towards them that had been summoned to Sarajevo by the chance meeting of the Archduke and his assassin. That's the story of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit

more about one more tiny consequence. Readers Katie's finalists, publicists, we have an incredible a new episode this week for you guys. We have our girl Hillary Duff in here and we can't wait for you to hear this episode. They put on Lizzie McGuire at 2 a.m. Video on Demand. This guy's... 2 a.m. Whatever time it is. Lizzie McGuire.

And I'm like... A wild batch you were with. It was like a first like closet moment from me where I was like... You're like, I don't feel like she's hot. Like the rest of that room. No, no. I was like, she's beautiful. But I'm appreciating her in a different way

than these boys are. I'm not like... But listen to Lascaulteirosis on the IHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts. wherever you get your podcast. Readers, Katie's finalists, publicists, we have an incredible new episode this week for you guys. We have our girl

Hillary Duff in here and we can't wait for you to hear this episode. They put on Lizzie McGuire 2am, video on demand. This guy's 2 a.m. 2 a whatever time it is. Lizzie McGuire and I'm like Wild, a wild batch you were with. It was like a first closet moment from me where I was like, I don't feel like she's hot like the rest of that.

No, no, no. I was like, she's beautiful. But I'm appreciating her in a different way than these boys are. I'm not like, Listen to Los Angeles on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or whatever you get your podcasts. World War I was a global conflict inflamed by the close family relationships of the countries involved. And some of those close family relations were slightly too close for comfort. King George V of England was first cousins with both Tsar Alexander II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm. All three were grandchildren of Queen Victoria.

and they all shared a strong family resemblance. After the outbreak of World War I, anti-German sentiment was running rampant in England, but go back a few generations and recall that the British royal family was actually pretty German themselves. It was because of that anti-German sentiment that the king decreed in June 1917

that their family name would no longer be the incredibly German-sounding, Sacks Cobra Gotha, and would instead be the much more familiar and much more English-sounding, Windsor. Noble Blood is a production of I-Heart Radio and Grimmin-Mild from Aaron Menke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Danish Warts. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The show is produced by Rima L. Kali, with supervising producer Josh Thain. and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.

For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Readers, Katie's finalists, publicists. We have an incredible new episode this week for you guys. We have our girl Hillary Duff in here, and we can't wait for you to hear this episode. They put on Lizzie McGuire at 2 a.m. Video on Demand, this guy's bobo-oo-Boo-A-M-M-Wyer. I'm like, Lizzie McGuire. Lizzie McGuire. And I'm like, a wild bat.

You were like. It was like a first like closet moment for me where I was like. You're like, I don't feel like she's hot like the rest of that. No, no, no. I was like, she's beautiful. But I'm appreciating her in a different way than these boys are. I'm not like, ugh. But listen to Los Angeles on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast, or whatever you get your podcast.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.