WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.200 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. It is so great 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:04.879 to have you with us again today. Yeah, thanks 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.960 for joining us. Whether you are prepping for 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:10.740 a big meeting or you're just incredibly curious 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:13.679 about the underlying mechanics of history, you 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:17.039 are in the exact right place. Absolutely. Because 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:19.760 today we are pointing our lens at a single moment 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:24.179 in time that, well, literally rewrote the 20th 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:27.260 century. The assassination of Archduke Franz 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:29.780 Ferdinand. It's such a profound topic, and it's 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:32.079 one of those historical events where almost everyone 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.359 knows the one sentence summary, right? The gunshot 00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:37.359 that started World War I. Exactly. But when you 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:39.259 look at the comprehensive historical article 00:00:39.259 --> 00:00:42.179 we are using as our source material today, you 00:00:42.179 --> 00:00:46.259 realize the actual details of June 28, 1914 are 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:49.439 vastly more complex. And frankly, more bizarre 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.859 than the simplified version we often hear. Right, 00:00:51.859 --> 00:00:54.159 and our mission for this deep dive is to shortcut 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:56.380 your way to being well informed on the subject. 00:00:56.460 --> 00:00:58.719 We are going to unpack not just the what of the 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:01.119 event, but the how. Because when you examine 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:05.000 the shocking series of coincidences, the systemic 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:07.859 mishaps and the deeply entrenched motivations 00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:10.659 that all align to create this world -altering 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:14.140 moment, I mean the reality feels entirely like 00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:16.680 a movie script. Okay, let's unpack this. What's 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:18.640 fascinating here is that while this assassination 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:21.640 is universally recognized as catalyst for the 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:24.939 Great War. The actual day played out with so 00:01:24.939 --> 00:01:28.060 many unbelievable twists and turns that it defies 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:30.840 logic. It really does. It is a story rooted deeply 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:33.500 in human error, institutional arrogance, and 00:01:33.500 --> 00:01:35.739 sheer luck. both good and bad. Yeah. And you 00:01:35.739 --> 00:01:37.739 already know that Austria -Hungary was the dominant 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:40.359 power in the region. But to truly grasp the tension 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:42.900 of that specific day, we have to look at the 00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:44.680 political friction leading up to it. Right. The 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:47.340 geopolitical context. Exactly. The source points 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:49.879 heavily to the 1908 annexation of the province 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:52.379 of Bosnia at Herzegovina by Austria -Hungary. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:55.700 This move triggered a fierce reactive nationalism 00:01:55.700 --> 00:01:58.340 in neighboring Serbia. Because Serbia was riding 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:00.640 high from recent military successes in the Balkan 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.560 Wars. Yeah, and their driving ambition was to 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:07.099 liberate Bosnia to help form a common South Slav 00:02:07.099 --> 00:02:10.039 state, essentially a Yugoslav state. And that 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:12.979 intense nationalist sentiment did not just exist 00:02:12.979 --> 00:02:16.599 in the abstract. It gave rise to local militant 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:19.740 revolutionary groups. Our source notes one aggregation 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:22.300 of local movements in particular, known as Young 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:25.789 Bosnia. These were primarily students. You know, 00:02:26.110 --> 00:02:28.830 passionate, deeply driven and determined to end 00:02:28.830 --> 00:02:31.590 colonial rule. But these local movements didn't 00:02:31.590 --> 00:02:34.009 operate in a vacuum. No, not at all. They had 00:02:34.009 --> 00:02:36.770 highly organized, shadowy backing. And the level 00:02:36.770 --> 00:02:38.729 of that backing is staggering when you look at 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:41.689 the military intelligence ties. The assassins, 00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:44.330 this group of mostly Bosnian Serb students, they 00:02:44.330 --> 00:02:46.530 were secretly supported by the Black Hand. A 00:02:46.530 --> 00:02:48.849 notorious group. Yeah, a Serbian nationalist 00:02:48.849 --> 00:02:51.550 group embedded deeply within Serbian military 00:02:51.550 --> 00:02:53.789 intelligence. The support came directly from 00:02:53.789 --> 00:02:55.650 the chief of the military intelligence section 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:58.229 of the Serbian general staff and an operative 00:02:58.229 --> 00:03:01.849 named Major Vojislav Tenkosic. The Black Hand's 00:03:01.849 --> 00:03:04.360 involvement went far beyond ideology, too. They 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:06.879 provided the actual hardware required for a political 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:09.939 assassination. The guns and bombs. Exactly. The 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:13.039 source details that they supplied, four FN model 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:16.520 1910 semi -automatic pistols, multiple bombs, 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:19.379 and even suicide pills. I mean, consider the 00:03:19.379 --> 00:03:21.960 psychological reality of that for a moment. These 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:24.620 operatives were training teenagers. Yeah, young 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:27.900 guys. Young men like Gavrilo Princip and Nadelko 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:30.860 Abernovich training them in a park near Belgrade. 00:03:31.099 --> 00:03:33.360 They gave them a map detailing the locations 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:36.120 of the gendarmes, the heavily armed local police 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:38.580 forces. And then smuggled them across the border. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:41.139 Right. Using a clandestine tunnel network of 00:03:41.139 --> 00:03:43.699 safe houses, they were handing cyanide to students 00:03:43.699 --> 00:03:45.759 who were fully prepared to die for their cause. 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:49.919 Which brings us to a crucial and quite counterintuitive 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:52.680 detail about their chosen target. This part blew 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:55.490 my mind. Right. because conventional wisdom might 00:03:55.490 --> 00:03:58.189 suggest the assassins targeted Archduke Franz 00:03:58.189 --> 00:04:00.250 Ferdinand because he was a hardline, oppressive 00:04:00.250 --> 00:04:02.789 figure intent on crushing the Slavic people. 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:05.490 But the historical reality is the exact opposite. 00:04:05.830 --> 00:04:08.509 Yes. Ferdinand was actually a leading advocate 00:04:08.509 --> 00:04:11.889 for a policy called trialism. And under trialism, 00:04:12.169 --> 00:04:14.469 the Austro -Hungarian Empire would be fundamentally 00:04:14.469 --> 00:04:17.430 reorganized. It would combine the Slavic lands 00:04:17.430 --> 00:04:20.870 into a third crown alongside Austria and Hungary. 00:04:21.129 --> 00:04:24.029 meaning this reform would have given the Slavic 00:04:24.029 --> 00:04:27.170 regions significantly more power and autonomy 00:04:27.170 --> 00:04:29.949 within the empire's legal framework. And that 00:04:29.949 --> 00:04:32.870 potential leniency is exactly what made him a 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:36.930 target. Exactly. A pacified, content Slavic kingdom 00:04:36.930 --> 00:04:39.410 operating comfortably within the Austro -Hungarian 00:04:39.410 --> 00:04:42.149 Empire would have been a massive bulwark against 00:04:42.149 --> 00:04:44.350 Serbian expansionism. Because they wouldn't want 00:04:44.350 --> 00:04:47.089 to rebel anymore. Right. Hardline separatists 00:04:47.089 --> 00:04:49.629 viewed his proposed reforms as a direct threat 00:04:49.629 --> 00:04:52.910 to their goals. If the local population was satisfied 00:04:52.910 --> 00:04:55.449 with the economy provided by trialism, they would 00:04:55.449 --> 00:04:57.970 be far less likely to support a violent, bloody 00:04:57.970 --> 00:05:01.269 revolution for total independence. Wow. Princip 00:05:01.269 --> 00:05:04.250 himself even stated at his trial later that preventing 00:05:04.250 --> 00:05:06.610 Ferdinand's planned reforms was one of his primary 00:05:06.610 --> 00:05:09.550 motivations. So he was killed not for his tyranny, 00:05:09.670 --> 00:05:11.970 but because his potential for political compromise 00:05:11.970 --> 00:05:14.290 threatened revolution. That is an incredible 00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:17.129 historical irony. It really is. And it pairs 00:05:17.129 --> 00:05:19.389 with another massive irony regarding why the 00:05:19.389 --> 00:05:21.709 Archduke was even visiting Sarajevo in the first 00:05:21.709 --> 00:05:24.629 place. The trip was heavily rooted in his personal 00:05:24.629 --> 00:05:27.470 life, specifically his marriage to Sophie, Duchess 00:05:27.470 --> 00:05:31.209 of Hohenberg. The source outlines the rigid legal 00:05:31.209 --> 00:05:34.490 framework of their union. While Sophie was of 00:05:34.490 --> 00:05:37.910 high aristocratic birth, she was not from a ruling 00:05:37.910 --> 00:05:40.509 dynastic family. Right, so she wasn't quite royal 00:05:40.509 --> 00:05:43.949 enough. Exactly. Because of this... Emperor Franz 00:05:43.949 --> 00:05:46.829 Josef only consented to their marriage on the 00:05:46.829 --> 00:05:48.949 strict condition that it be Morgan Attic. And 00:05:48.949 --> 00:05:51.529 a Morgan Attic marriage meant that their descendants 00:05:51.529 --> 00:05:54.050 would never be allowed to ascend to the throne. 00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:57.269 But the immediate day to day consequences for 00:05:57.269 --> 00:06:00.470 Sophie were deeply humiliating. She was constantly 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:03.170 denied royal privileges. Court protocol dictated 00:06:03.170 --> 00:06:05.350 that she could never share his rank. She could 00:06:05.350 --> 00:06:07.910 not share in his imperial splendors. And she 00:06:07.910 --> 00:06:10.329 was forbidden from even sitting beside him in 00:06:10.329 --> 00:06:12.560 public during official state functions. But there 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.779 was a single very specific loophole to this protocol. 00:06:16.300 --> 00:06:18.300 So if he could enjoy the recognition of Ferdinand's 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:20.680 rank only when he was acting strictly in a military 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:24.319 capacity. So in 1914, Ferdinand decided to inspect 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.410 the army in Bosnia. The trip to the capital city 00:06:27.410 --> 00:06:29.930 of Sarajevo was a rare excuse for the Archduke 00:06:29.930 --> 00:06:32.649 and his wife to ride side by side in an open 00:06:32.649 --> 00:06:34.949 carriage. For their 14th wedding anniversary, 00:06:35.129 --> 00:06:37.170 no less? Yeah. The source phrases the underlying 00:06:37.170 --> 00:06:39.870 tragedy of this decision beautifully, quote, 00:06:40.269 --> 00:06:43.170 thus for love did the Archduke go to his death. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.459 It adds a deeply poignant layer to the cold calculus 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:49.379 of the geopolitics. He brought her to a volatile 00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:51.759 region just so they could be treated as equals 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:54.420 in public for a few days. So we arrive at Sunday, 00:06:54.740 --> 00:06:58.100 June 28th, 1914, and the date itself is a powder 00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:00.899 keg. Oh, absolutely. It is St. Vitus Dei, or 00:07:00.899 --> 00:07:03.920 a Vit of Dawn, which commemorates the 1389 Battle 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.800 of Kosovo. This is a profoundly important day 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.699 in Serbian history and myth, marking their historical 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:11.839 struggle against foreign empires. So emotions 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:13.839 are already running incredibly high. Exactly. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.420 The motorcade begins its journey, and the security 00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:19.139 presence is shockingly inadequate. It is a classic 00:07:19.139 --> 00:07:21.459 case of institutional arrogance. When an empire 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:23.439 believes its mere presence is enough to command 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.040 respect, it often stops preparing for actual... 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:28.220 Does it just assume no one would dare? Right. 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:32.160 The local military commander had proposed lining 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:34.819 the route with troops, but he was told that such 00:07:34.819 --> 00:07:37.939 a display would offend the loyal citizenry. Unbelievable. 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:40.959 Consequently, protection was left entirely to 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.699 the Sarajevo police. On that specific Sunday, 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.500 in a city known to be a hotbed of revolutionary 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:49.459 activity, there were only about 60 police officers 00:07:49.459 --> 00:07:52.660 on duty for the entire event. So the motorcade 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:55.399 is rolling down the Apple Quay, a main thoroughfare. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.670 It is a procession of six cars. The Archduke 00:07:58.670 --> 00:08:01.089 and Sophie are in the third car, which is a sports 00:08:01.089 --> 00:08:03.069 car with the convertible top completely folded 00:08:03.069 --> 00:08:05.829 down. A very clear target. Yeah. Waiting for 00:08:05.829 --> 00:08:08.209 them along this route, coordinated by a conspirator 00:08:08.209 --> 00:08:10.870 named Danello Illich, are six separate assassins. 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:14.079 As the motorcade passes the first two, they freeze 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.420 and fail to act. But then the cars approach the 00:08:16.420 --> 00:08:19.279 third assassin, Nadelko Apernovich. And he doesn't 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:21.959 hesitate. He throws his bomb. But because the 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:24.040 top of the Arshuk's car was folded down, the 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:26.139 bomb actually bounced off the convertible cover 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:28.540 and rolled into the street. Just a lucky bounce. 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:32.679 Yeah. The device had a timed detonator, so it 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:34.620 exploded right underneath the following car in 00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:37.700 the motorcade. The blast left a crater in the 00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:40.019 road and wounded somewhere between 16 and 20 00:08:40.019 --> 00:08:43.610 people. Ferdinand and Sophie, however, were unharmed. 00:08:43.610 --> 00:08:46.570 Right. But Abernovich's escape plan immediately 00:08:46.570 --> 00:08:49.690 falls apart in a way that is almost darkly comical. 00:08:50.210 --> 00:08:52.830 Having failed his mission, he swallows his cyanide 00:08:52.830 --> 00:08:56.309 pill and leaps off a nearby bridge into the Miljaka 00:08:56.309 --> 00:08:59.070 River. But the cyanide he was provided was expired. 00:08:59.289 --> 00:09:01.830 It doesn't kill him, it merely induces violent 00:09:01.830 --> 00:09:04.629 vomiting. And as for the dramatic leap into the 00:09:04.629 --> 00:09:07.850 river, Sarajevo was experiencing a hot, dry summer. 00:09:08.289 --> 00:09:11.070 The river at that moment was exactly 13 centimeters 00:09:11.070 --> 00:09:13.789 deep. That is roughly five inches of water. Five 00:09:13.789 --> 00:09:16.570 inches? He is simply lying in a shallow puddle, 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:19.330 sick from expired poison, until the police drag 00:09:19.330 --> 00:09:21.350 him out and the angry crowd severely beats him. 00:09:21.389 --> 00:09:23.690 Just a complete disaster of an escape. Meanwhile, 00:09:23.769 --> 00:09:25.870 the Archduke's motorcade speeds away from the 00:09:25.870 --> 00:09:27.610 site of the explosion, driving right past the 00:09:27.610 --> 00:09:29.799 remaining assassins. including Gavrilo Princip. 00:09:30.139 --> 00:09:32.659 Exactly. Who do nothing as the cars fly past 00:09:32.659 --> 00:09:35.000 them in the chaos? Think about the shock and 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:37.059 adrenaline pumping through the Archduke's veins 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:40.919 at this moment. The motorcade speeds to the town 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:44.100 hall for a scheduled reception. When they arrive, 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.379 the mayor, seemingly oblivious to the gravity 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:49.960 of what just occurred, simply begins reading 00:09:49.960 --> 00:09:53.500 his prepared, joyful welcome speech. He just 00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:56.799 sticks to the script. Yeah. And Ferdinand completely 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:59.700 loses his temper. He interrupts the mayor, shouting, 00:09:59.820 --> 00:10:02.259 Mr. Mayor, I came here on a visit and I am greeted 00:10:02.259 --> 00:10:05.299 with bombs. It is outrageous. Sofie had to lean 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:07.820 in and whisper in his ear to calm him down. Right. 00:10:09.059 --> 00:10:11.519 After a tense pause, he allowed the mayor to 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:14.440 finish. The source notes that when they finally 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:16.799 brought Ferdinand his own prepared speech to 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:19.840 read, the paper was still visibly wet with blood 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.100 from the injured people in the damaged car. The 00:10:22.100 --> 00:10:24.080 scheduled events of the day are completely thrown 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:26.639 out the window at this point. Fernand makes a 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:28.519 fateful decision. He decides he wants to visit 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:30.840 the hospital to check on the victims of the bombing. 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:33.879 And the Archduke's Chamberlain wisely suggests 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:36.279 bringing troops into the city to line the streets 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:38.860 for security. But the governor general, Oscar 00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:42.519 Petorik, vetoes the idea. Displaying that same 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:45.100 fatal institutional arrogance, he aggressively 00:10:45.100 --> 00:10:48.399 asks the Chamberlain, do you think that Sarajevo 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.840 is full of assassins? Famous last words. Seriously, 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:54.940 here's where it gets really interesting. Governor 00:10:54.940 --> 00:10:57.759 Podiorek does decide that for safety, the motorcade 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:00.500 should not go back through the crowded city center 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:02.700 as originally planned. Right, they should drive 00:11:02.700 --> 00:11:05.340 straight along the Appelquay, directly to the 00:11:05.340 --> 00:11:08.740 hospital. It is a logical route change, but... 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:11.320 In the absolute chaos and adrenaline of the moment, 00:11:11.860 --> 00:11:14.019 nobody communicates this route change to the 00:11:14.019 --> 00:11:16.860 drivers. The driver of the Archduke's car, Leopold 00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:19.440 Lojka, is operating entirely on the original 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.080 plan. He follows the two cars in front of him 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.500 and makes the originally scheduled right turn 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:27.100 onto a side street, right at the Latin Bridge. 00:11:27.460 --> 00:11:29.440 Governor Potiorek realizes what is happening 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:32.379 and yells at the driver to stop, explicitly telling 00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:34.759 him they are going the wrong way. Put yourself 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:36.899 in the driver's seat with Leopold Lojka for a 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:39.200 second. It would be terrifying. You're driving 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:42.740 a heavy, early 20th century manual transmission 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:45.600 carriage. You are suddenly being screamed at 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.500 by the Governor General. In your panic to hit 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:50.899 the brakes and throw the heavy car into reverse, 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:53.500 you accidentally stall the engine. The worst 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:56.600 possible time. The car comes to a dead stop and 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.139 it stalls right in front of a shop called Schiller's 00:11:59.139 --> 00:12:01.419 Delicatessen. We should take a moment here to 00:12:01.419 --> 00:12:04.100 correct a very persistent piece of the historical 00:12:04.100 --> 00:12:06.799 record. Oh, the sandwich thing. Yes. If you ask 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.200 many people about this specific moment, they 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:11.639 will tell you that Guerrilla Princip was inside 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:13.639 Schiller's Delicatessen eating a sandwich because 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.120 he had given up on the plot, and the Archduke's 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:18.139 car just happened to magically stop outside. 00:12:18.659 --> 00:12:20.720 But the source material addresses this famous 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.259 sandwich myth head -on. It points out that there 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:25.639 is absolutely no historical record of this sandwich 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:27.940 ever existing. None at all. The myth actually 00:12:27.940 --> 00:12:31.019 originated from a fictionalized 2001 novel called 00:12:31.019 --> 00:12:34.399 12 Fingers. The historical reality is that Princip, 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:37.019 after hearing the first bomb fail earlier in 00:12:37.019 --> 00:12:39.700 the day, deliberately moved to a position near 00:12:39.700 --> 00:12:42.600 the Letton Bridge, anticipating a potential return 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:45.419 journey by the motorcade. So Princip is standing 00:12:45.419 --> 00:12:48.779 purposefully on the sidewalk. Suddenly, the man 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:51.620 he has sworn to kill stalls his car just a few 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:54.340 feet away from him. It is a sitting duck scenario. 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:56.639 Princep steps right up to the footboard of the 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:00.379 open car. He raises his FN Model 1910 pistol 00:13:00.379 --> 00:13:04.200 and fires twice at point blank range. The result 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:07.139 is immediate and devastating. One bullet hits 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:09.279 the Archduke in the jugular vein. The second 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.600 bullet strikes Sophie in the abdomen. Princep 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:13.879 attempts to turn the gun on himself but is immediately 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.220 tackled by the crowd and arrested. The scene 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:19.480 inside the vehicle is heartbreaking. Sophie immediately 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:23.059 falls unconscious onto Ferdinand's legs. An officer 00:13:23.059 --> 00:13:25.500 standing on the running board recorded the Archduke's 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:28.759 last words. Ferdinand pleaded, Sophie, Sophie, 00:13:28.860 --> 00:13:31.120 don't die, live for our children. Awful. When 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.120 the officer asked if he was in pain, Ferdinand 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:34.840 just repeatedly whispered, it is nothing, it 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:36.980 is nothing. They were rushed to the governor's 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:39.259 residence, but they were both dead by 1130 that 00:13:39.259 --> 00:13:41.820 morning. Two gunshots and the trajectory of the 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:44.360 modern world was permanently altered. But the 00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:46.500 indignities for the Archduke certainly did not 00:13:46.500 --> 00:13:49.440 end with his death. No, because even in death, 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:51.799 Ferdinand was subjected to the petty politics 00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:54.940 of the imperial court. The funeral was organized 00:13:54.940 --> 00:13:57.820 by Alfred, the second prince of Montenuovo, who 00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:01.620 was a lifelong bitter enemy of Ferdinand. With 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:04.659 the emperor's tacit approval, Montenuovo essentially 00:14:04.659 --> 00:14:07.399 turned the funeral into a massive snub. They 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:09.740 deliberately uninvited most foreign royalty. 00:14:10.139 --> 00:14:12.299 They excluded the couple's three children from 00:14:12.299 --> 00:14:14.419 the public ceremonies. And because of her non 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:17.559 -royal blood, Sophie's coffin was placed on a 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:20.279 slant, noticeably lower than Ferdinand's, to 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:22.700 constantly reassert her lower social status. 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:24.980 They even placed lady -in -waiting gloves on 00:14:24.980 --> 00:14:27.879 top of her casket as a final, visible insult. 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:30.240 Ultimately, they were not even permitted to be 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:32.779 buried in the imperial crypt. It highlights the 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:34.840 rigid, unyielding nature of the empires that 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:37.000 were about to tear themselves apart. Meanwhile, 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:39.440 the legal aftermath was unfolding in Sarajevo. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:41.940 The Austro -Hungarian authorities aggressively 00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:44.379 rounded up the assassins and the broader network 00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:46.679 of safehouse operators who had facilitated the 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:49.100 plot. The sentences handed down to the trials 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:52.299 varied wildly, largely based on a quirk of Austro 00:14:52.299 --> 00:14:55.080 -Hungarian law. The law capped sentences at a 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:57.820 maximum of 20 years for anyone who was under 00:14:57.820 --> 00:15:00.600 the age of 20 at the time of the crime. Princip, 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:03.419 Abernovich, and another key assassin were all 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:05.870 just under 20. Because of this, They avoided 00:15:05.870 --> 00:15:08.470 the death penalty and received 20 year sentences. 00:15:08.750 --> 00:15:10.429 However, the conditions in the military prisons 00:15:10.429 --> 00:15:14.009 were brutal. Both Princip and Abernovich contracted 00:15:14.009 --> 00:15:16.929 tuberculosis and died in prison before the First 00:15:16.929 --> 00:15:19.429 World War even ended. The older conspirators 00:15:19.429 --> 00:15:22.049 who facilitated the weapons and the border crossings 00:15:22.049 --> 00:15:25.120 were sentenced to death by hanging. So the immediate 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:27.519 actors are dealt with, but finding a few teenagers 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:30.139 guilty doesn't satisfy an empire looking for 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:33.019 blood and a geopolitical advantage. No. The Ofta 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:34.940 Hungarian government needed a bigger target, 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.139 which leads us to the geopolitical blame game 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:40.600 and specifically what the Serbian government 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:43.019 actually knew beforehand. If we connect this 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:45.980 to the bigger picture, the controversy over Serbia's 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:48.080 prior knowledge is crucial to understanding how 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.940 this localized event became a global war. The 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:52.779 source indicates that Serbia's prime minister 00:15:52.779 --> 00:15:55.500 actually had early information about the assassination 00:15:55.500 --> 00:15:58.820 plot, but his loyalties were deeply divided and 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:01.039 the military factions within his own country 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:04.620 held a tremendous amount of power. So Serbia 00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:07.759 did attempt to issue a warning to Austria -Hungary, 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:11.549 but it was intentionally incredibly vague. The 00:16:11.549 --> 00:16:13.750 Serbian ambassador met with the Austro -Hungarian 00:16:13.750 --> 00:16:16.570 finance minister and essentially just mused that 00:16:16.570 --> 00:16:19.490 public opinion in Bosnia was inflamed and some 00:16:19.490 --> 00:16:22.090 generic misadventure might occur during the military 00:16:22.090 --> 00:16:24.190 inspection. The finance minister basically brushed 00:16:24.190 --> 00:16:26.549 the comment off responding simply, let us hope 00:16:26.549 --> 00:16:29.330 nothing does happen. It was a calculated political 00:16:29.330 --> 00:16:32.129 hedge. By giving a vague warning without providing 00:16:32.129 --> 00:16:34.850 specific names or concrete details, the Serbian 00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:36.669 government could later claim they tried to stop 00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:39.289 the tragedy without fully betraying the powerful 00:16:39.289 --> 00:16:41.570 military intelligence figures who had orchestrated 00:16:41.570 --> 00:16:45.269 the plot. But Austria -Hungary, sensing an opportunity 00:16:45.269 --> 00:16:48.330 to crush Serbian nationalism once and for all, 00:16:48.809 --> 00:16:50.929 was naturally not satisfied with this excuse. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.700 Within weeks, Austria -Hungary issues what becomes 00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:56.820 known as the July ultimatum to Serbia. This was 00:16:56.820 --> 00:17:00.340 a list of extreme demands deliberately designed 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:02.899 to be rejected. For instance, they demanded that 00:17:02.899 --> 00:17:05.259 Austro -Hungarian officials be allowed to operate 00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:08.400 inside Serbian territory to suppress subversive 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:11.799 movements, which was a clear, unacceptable violation 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:14.740 of Serbian national sovereignty. Serbia accepts 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:17.960 most of the terms, but predictably rejects the 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:20.420 violations of their sovereignty. Austria -Hungary 00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:23.339 uses this as the pretext to break diplomatic 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.480 relations and declare war. And that localized 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:29.359 declaration of war activates a massive tangled 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:32.160 web of secret treaties and alliances across the 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:34.799 continent. Russia mobilizes its army to protect 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:37.930 Serbia. Germany mobilizes to support Austria 00:17:37.930 --> 00:17:39.950 -Hungary. France is pulled into the conflict 00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:42.009 by its alliance with Russia and soon Britain 00:17:42.009 --> 00:17:45.109 follows suit to protect Belgian neutrality. Millions 00:17:45.109 --> 00:17:47.230 of men are mobilized to slaughter each other 00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:49.509 over an event that at the time many ordinary 00:17:49.509 --> 00:17:51.970 people across Europe barely paid attention to. 00:17:52.329 --> 00:17:54.549 The legacy of that single event and specifically 00:17:54.549 --> 00:17:57.529 the memory of Gavrilo Princip remains highly 00:17:57.529 --> 00:17:59.829 complicated and fiercely debated even today. 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:01.839 We want to be very clear to you, the listener, 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.680 that we are simply reporting the historical reality 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:07.559 outlined in our source text here as the legacy 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:10.039 of this individual is deeply divided depending 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:12.759 on historical perspective. The source explains 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.339 that following the eventual breakup of Yugoslavia 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:18.680 decades later, Opinions on Princip in the successor 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:21.740 states split largely along ethnic lines. For 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:24.579 many Bosniaks and Croats, Princip is viewed primarily 00:18:24.579 --> 00:18:27.339 as a terrorist and an ethnic Serb nationalist 00:18:27.339 --> 00:18:29.920 who violently destroyed a functioning legal order. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:33.059 Conversely, many Serbs consider Princip a national 00:18:33.059 --> 00:18:35.660 hero and a freedom fighter who bravely sought 00:18:35.660 --> 00:18:37.940 liberation from an oppressive occupying power. 00:18:38.269 --> 00:18:41.769 For the 100th anniversary in 2014, while official 00:18:41.769 --> 00:18:44.289 international commemorations took place, Serb 00:18:44.289 --> 00:18:46.690 nationalists unveiled new statues of Princip 00:18:46.690 --> 00:18:49.970 in East Sarajevo and later in Belgrade, openly 00:18:49.970 --> 00:18:52.329 celebrating his actions. It demonstrates how 00:18:52.329 --> 00:18:54.450 historical memory is completely dependent on 00:18:54.450 --> 00:18:56.849 perspective. And speaking of the long shadow 00:18:56.849 --> 00:18:59.009 of this event, the source mentions one bizarre 00:18:59.009 --> 00:19:01.529 historical footnote about Princip's legacy that 00:19:01.529 --> 00:19:03.769 truly illustrates the dark collision of history. 00:19:04.009 --> 00:19:06.430 At the exact site of the assassination by the 00:19:06.430 --> 00:19:09.220 Latin Bridge, there was a marble plaque commemorating 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:13.859 Principa. In 1941, invading German troops removed 00:19:13.859 --> 00:19:15.859 that plaque from the wall. And they presented 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:18.519 it to Adolf Hitler as a 52nd birthday present. 00:19:19.140 --> 00:19:21.339 The man who provided the spark for the First 00:19:21.339 --> 00:19:23.660 World War was commemorated on a plaque given 00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:25.920 as a trophy to the man who started the second. 00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:27.859 The source notes the plaque later disappeared 00:19:27.859 --> 00:19:31.140 from a Berlin museum in 1945. When you look back 00:19:31.140 --> 00:19:33.960 at all the granular details of this event. What 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:37.039 really stands out is the sheer fragility of history. 00:19:37.539 --> 00:19:39.880 Think about the chain of seemingly minor events 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.539 we just walk through. Right. Consider how often 00:19:42.539 --> 00:19:44.920 you encounter minor inconveniences in your own 00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:47.480 life. Now, project that onto the global stage. 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.880 A mix of expired poison, a river that was only 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:54.019 five inches deep because of a dry summer, a frustrated 00:19:54.019 --> 00:19:56.519 archduke wanting to visit a hospital, an arrogant 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:59.630 governor who refused military security, Exactly. 00:19:59.890 --> 00:20:02.509 A logical route change that simply wasn't communicated 00:20:02.509 --> 00:20:05.569 to a driver, and a heavy car engine stalling 00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:08.230 at the exact moment it was parked next to an 00:20:08.230 --> 00:20:11.529 armed assassin. If any one of those mundane errors 00:20:11.529 --> 00:20:14.029 doesn't happen, the entire trajectory of the 00:20:14.029 --> 00:20:17.049 20th century looks completely different. It really 00:20:17.049 --> 00:20:20.490 emphasizes how monumental outcomes often hinge 00:20:20.490 --> 00:20:23.190 on the smallest of margins. And I want to leave 00:20:23.190 --> 00:20:25.289 you, the listener, with a final thought to mull 00:20:25.289 --> 00:20:28.039 over. Okay. Our source mentions a specific historical 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:31.039 study from 2021 regarding the outbreak of the 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:34.059 war. It notes that Archduke Franz Ferdinand's 00:20:34.059 --> 00:20:36.140 absence in the weeks immediately following the 00:20:36.140 --> 00:20:38.599 assassination was actually the key factor in 00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:41.059 the breakdown of diplomacy. Right, really? Yes. 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:43.460 Because Ferdinand himself had actually been the 00:20:43.460 --> 00:20:45.759 most powerful and effective proponent for peace 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.619 in Vienna. He was the one consistently pushing 00:20:48.619 --> 00:20:50.740 back against the war hawks within the Austro 00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:52.859 -Hungarian empire who wanted a conflict with 00:20:52.859 --> 00:20:56.160 Serbia. So imagine this ultimate historical irony. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.640 If that driver, Leopold Lojka, hadn't taken the 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:02.319 wrong turn at the Latin Bridge, the very man 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:04.700 whose death provided the spark to ignite World 00:21:04.700 --> 00:21:07.619 War I might have been the exact and perhaps the 00:21:07.619 --> 00:21:10.640 only person with enough power and desire to prevent 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:12.660 it. That is definitely something to think about. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:14.559 Thank you for taking this deep dive with us today. 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:16.460 Keep questioning, keep learning, and we will 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:17.180 catch you next time.