• 1914 – Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by Bosnia Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I.

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand
  Archduke of Austria-Este
  Pretence	1875–1914
  Predecessor	Francis II
  Successor	Charles
  Spouse	Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg
  Issue	Princess Sophie of Hohenberg Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg Prince Ernst of Hohenberg
  House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
  Father	Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria
  Mother	Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
  Born	18 December 1863 Graz, Austrian Empire
  Died	28 June 1914 (aged 50) Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary
  Signature
  Religion	Roman Catholicism

  

  Archduke Franz Ferdinand with his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg and their three children (from left), Prince Ernst von Hohenberg, Princess Sophie, and Maximilian, Duke of Hohenburg in 1910

  Franz Ferdinand 

  (18 December1863 – 28 June 1914) was anArchduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince ofHungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

  His assassination in Sarajevoprecipitated Austria-Hungary'sdeclaration of war against Serbia. This caused 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, starting World War I.

  Assassination

  On Sunday, 28 June 1914, at approximately 10:45 am, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Gavrilo Princip, 19 at the time, a member of Young Bosnia and one of a group of assassins organized by the Black Hand. The event led to a chain of events that eventually triggered World War I.

  Earlier in the day, the couple had been attacked by Nedeljko Čabrinović, who had thrown a grenade at their car. However, the bomb detonated behind them, hurting the occupants in the following car. On arriving at the Governor's residence, Franz angrily shouted, "So this is how you welcome your guests — with bombs?!"

  After a short rest at the Governor's residence, the royal couple insisted on seeing all those who had been injured by the bomb at the local hospital. However, no one told the drivers that the itinerary had been changed. When the error was discovered, the drivers had to turn around. As the cars backed down the street and onto a side street, the line of cars stalled. At this same time, Princip was sitting at a cafe across the street. He instantly seized his opportunity and walked across the street and shot the royal couple. He first shot Sophie in the abdomen and then shot Franz Ferdinand in the neck. Franz leaned over his wife crying. He was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid. His dying words to Sophie were, 'Don't die darling, live for our children.' Princip's weapon was the pocket-sized FN model 1910 pistol chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge, a relatively low-power round,. 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.

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