Saturday, 12 October 2013

This is the man who started started WW I

Gavrilo Princip was a Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.

His assassination precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia.

The Central Powers (including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies of World War I (countries allied with Serbia or Serbia's allies) to declare war on each other.

Princip shot Sophie in the abdomen and Franz Ferdinand in the jugular vein. He was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid. His dying words to Sophie were, 'Don't die darling, live for our children.

The archduke's aides attempted to undo his coat but realized they needed scissors to cut it open. It was too late; he died within minutes. Sophie also died en route to the hospital.

The event led to a chain of events that eventually triggered World War I.

The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was over 37 million. There were over 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.

No comments:

Post a Comment