Archduke Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated
In an event that is widely acknowledged to have sparked the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is shot to death along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on this day in 1914. Assassinated June 28, 1914
Synopsis
Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was born on December 18, 1863, in Graz, Austria. In 1900, Ferdinand gave up his children's rights to the throne in order to marry a lady-in-waiting. While in power, he attempted to restore Austro-Russian relations while maintaining an alliance with Germany. In 1914, a Serb nationalist assassinated him.
Archduke of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary was a polyglot empire of different ethnic groups at odds with each other over religion and politics, and united to a flag that wasn't theirs. The only thing the divergent ethnic people hated more than each other was Hapsburgs. Archduke Franz Ferdinand's public persona was cold, sharped-tongued and short-tempered. He was also rumored to be insane due to the inbreeding of the Hapsburg family.
A Shot that Changed the World - The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand I PRELUDE TO WW1 - Part 3/3