Assassination Of Archduke Franz Ferdinand example essay topic

Everybody usually learns sometime in his or her life about the start of World War I, but not everyone learns the same thing. Some people learn that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand caused the war to start. Other people learn that other factors such as nationalism, militarism, and diplomacy started World War I. "The causes of great wars are never simple. Many causes may work quietly under the surface for years before they are recognized" (Snyder 9). The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a factor that led to World War I. Nevertheless, even if the assassination had never occurred, the war would have still started due to other factors such as nationalism, and militarism.

"On the morning of June 28, 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife paid an official visit to Sarajevo, capital of the province of Bosnia in the Balkans" (Pimlott 6). The Archduke was planning to direct army maneuvers in the neighboring mountains. June 28, 1914, just happened to be the 525th anniversary of Serbia's freedom from Turkish rule. A group of men were well aware of that fact, and they highly detested the Archduke's arrival. The men were terrorists from a secret society who pledged themselves to work for freedom. The group of men was known as the Black Hand.

(Shackelford 2). They had met one night to discuss what to do about the coming display of armed might in their conquered land. They had made the decision to kill the Archduke. The Archduke was chosen as a target because Serbians feared that after his ascension to the throne, he would continue the persecution of Serbs living within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The plan was quite simple.

Eight members of the society were selected. Each person was placed five hundred yards apart along the route that the Archduke had to travel while he was going from the railroad station to the Town Hall. With the people so strategically placed, one of them was bound to succeed in killing Franz Ferdinand. As the Archduke was going to the Town Hall, one of the members of the Black Hand threw a bomb at Archduke Franz Ferdinand's car. The Archduke moved out of the way and so no one was injured. He and his wife made it to the Town Hall alive.

After Archduke Franz Ferdinand's meeting at Town Hall was over, he requested to leave the city by taking the shortest route. As he was leaving the city, the chauffeur took an incorrect turn onto a bridge. Only one of the members of the Black Hand had decided to keep waiting to kill the Archduke, coincidentally, he was right by the bridge. As the car stopped to turn around, the nineteen-year-old assassin pulled out his pistol and fired three shots. He killed the Archduke and the Archduke's wife.

The boy's name was Gavril o Princip. Princip was arrested immediately, and he was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. "Within six weeks, this seemingly minor event in a backwater area of Europe had sparked off a major war that was to last for four terrible years" (Pimlott 6). "Of equal importance was the rampant spirit of nationalism, especially unsettling in the empire of Austria-Hungary and perhaps also in France". (History Channel). Many people in Europe believed strongly in nationalism.

Nationalism is described as "a feeling that binds together people who live in the same country, speak the same language, and have similar customs and ideas". (Snyder 10). The nationalism that was spreading throughout Europe during the World War I era was like a crippling disease. Nations who suffered from this 'disease' were starting to feel superior to others and they wanted to covet the land of neighboring countries. The countries were ready to go to war to get the land that they wanted.

The Alsace-Lorraine area was the rich industrial region between Germany and France. France and Germany had been fighting over this strip of land for years. During the war of 1870-1871 Germany had won the land. France now wanted the region of land back from Germany. Germany already had a plan to keep France from winning back the Alsace-Lorraine. (Pimlott 9).

Poland was another region of land where many of the Polish people had a great feeling of nationalism. Poland actually wasn't on the map in 1914 due to the country having been split up three times between Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The Polish people were spread all over Europe, and they wanted their country back. (Snyder 10). The Balkan States consisted of many proud ethnic cultures that did not wish to be ruled by any authority other than themselves.

Although the Balkans were unimportant in relation to more powerful countries of the time, they managed to play an important part in the history of Europe through their determination. Within the Balkan States, the nationalism of the early 19th century erupted into an ocean of patriotic fever causing the citizens of Sarajevo to want to kill the Archduke. (Snyder 1). Every country in Europe was trying to build up their own army. This process was called militarism. France had spent a lot of money increasing her armed forces.

France had a population of forty million, and France's armed forces had a population of nine hundred thousand. Russia had a huge army of one million three hundred thousand, but it had poor equipment and was poorly trained. Germany's army of seven thousand was well trained and had modern equipment. (History Channel).

All of the countries were developing new weapons to use. An example of how militarism was causing a great problem would be the competition between Germany and Britain. Britain and Germany were competing to see who could build up the biggest and best military. The Kaiser William II of Germany hated and envied Britain for having a stronger navy than his.

He increased the German navy and built many warships. Britain responded by building more ships and increasing its navy too. This started a race for building more and better warships and it created tension and competition between those two countries. As it is seen, the world was already on the edge of war even before the assassination at Sarajevo. The wheels of war had started to speed up.

The whole world was taking sides after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Historians have learned that factors like the imperialistic, territorial, and economic rivalries had a great deal in helping the Great War to start. These causes had played particularly strong part among Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Due these reasons, I believe that my thesis is correct. The war would definitely still have started even if Archduke Franz Ferdinand had not been assassinated. Karpilovsky, Suzanne.

"The Great War: Causes" Pimlott, Dr. John. Conflict in the 20th Century, The First World War. New York, NY: Aladdin Books Ltd., 1986. Shackelford, Micheal. "The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand". 6 pp.

Snyder, Louis L. The First Book of World War I. New York: Franklin Watts, 1958. "World War I" 5 pp..