Chapter 854 History is made up of countless accidents
June 28 is a special day for Serbians. More than five hundred years ago, on June 28, 1389, the Kingdom of Serbia was defeated by the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Kosovo. The Kingdom of Serbia was destroyed and its army was massacred.
Serbs became slaves of the Ottoman Empire.
Since this year, June 28 has become an unforgettable day for Serbian people. This day is called St. Vitus Day. Every year, Serbian people hold a grand commemorative ceremony to commemorate the once glorious Kingdom of Serbia and remember the years of freedom and equality.
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Last year, through the Balkan War, Serbia finally got rid of the enslavement of the Ottoman Empire and became an independent country.
But in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania, there were still many Serbs under foreign rule, so St. Vitus Day in 1913 was destined to have special significance for all Serbs.
June 28 is also a special day for Archduke Ferdinand, the Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Thirteen years ago on June 28, Archduke Ferdinand tied the knot with Countess Sophie Hotek, who came from a declining Czech aristocratic family.
Good luck, this day is their thirteenth wedding anniversary.
In order to marry Sophie Hotek, the price Archduke Ferdinand paid was the inheritance rights of his descendants to the throne. According to the regulations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, if Ferdinand married Sophie Hotek, Sophie's descendants would automatically lose their Austrian throne.
Succession to the throne of the Hungarian Empire.
On June 28, 1900, Archduke Ferdinand attended the secret cabinet meeting of the Habsburg dynasty, and solemnly promised in the presence of Emperor Joseph of the Austria-Hungary Empire, Archbishop of Austria, Archbishop of Hungary, ministerial officials, and the Grand Duke of the Habsburg dynasty,
He and Sophie's descendants, as well as their descendants, voluntarily gave up their right to inherit the throne, and then successfully married Sophie Hotek.
Three days later, the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie Hotek was held. Only Archduke Ferdinand’s mother and sisters from the large Habsburg family attended the wedding. Even Archduke Ferdinand’s brothers did not attend.
After that, Sophie suffered so much humiliation that she could not appear in public with Archduke Ferdinand, could not attend state banquets together, or even enjoy operas in the same box. When Archduke Ferdinand attended the palace ball as the heir to the throne, Su Fei
Fei was placed in a lower position, and even the lowest-ranking female members of the royal family were placed further back.
Therefore, as long as there is an opportunity, Archduke Ferdinand will always try his best to compensate Sophie Hotek. In Vienna, Archduke Ferdinand has to follow the royal arrangements. Even if he loves Sophie, there is nothing he can do, but in the remoteness of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
In this region, Archduke Ferdinand could ignore the public eye and give Sophie the honor and care she deserved from her husband.
In 1913, against the background of the arms race, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also frantically expanding its military in preparation for the upcoming world war. In Bosnia, an unprecedented military exercise will be held this summer. As the crown prince, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria is
The Chief Prosecutor of the Hungarian Army brought Sophie to Bosnia on the 25th. While supervising military exercises, he also took a vacation with Sophie, so that Sophie could truly enjoy the respect that a grand duchess deserves.
On Saturday, Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie went to the antique market in the resort town of Bad Elize.
On Sunday, Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie celebrated mass in the hotel's temporary chapel.
Then Archduke Ferdinand sent a telegram to the three children, telling them that their parents were doing well and that they looked forward to returning home next Tuesday.
On June 28, Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie went to Sarajevo, the southernmost part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, for an official visit. In order to let Sophie enjoy the glory of being a duchess more directly, Archduke Ferdinand decided to take a convertible with Sophie.
Drive through Sarajevo to the City Hall.
It was a sunny morning. It had been rainy the previous week. The air was slightly chilly but fresh and moist. Archduke Ferdinand was wearing a traditional Austro-Hungarian imperial round hat and an imperial field marshal uniform. Sophie was wearing a
She wore a white lady's hat with feathers and a transparent veil with star dots on her face. She was in a very happy mood. Because she was traveling in a convertible and was worried about rain, Sophie also wore a hat, which was more decorative than practical.
parasol.
In 1913, the streets in the city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were extremely narrow and the ground was uneven. When people in Sarajevo heard that the imperial crown prince and his wife were coming to Sarajevo, they crowded the streets with people, expecting to see the crown prince and his wife.
The convertible drove slowly along the narrow street. Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie were in a happy mood. They frequently waved to the cheering people on both sides of the street. Archduke Ferdinand had always done a good job in this regard.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a complex multi-ethnic country with 16 languages, 13 ethnic groups, 5 regions, 16 pieces of land, and 2 parliaments. In 1859, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost Italy. In 1866, the Austro-Hungarian Empire
After losing Germany, Austria-Hungary gained Bosnia through the Berlin Conference in 1878, but Bosnia still nominally belonged to the Ottoman Empire, just like Egypt under British control.
Archduke Ferdinand is considered to be the person most likely to end all this. For a long time, Archduke Ferdinand believed that the increasingly populous Slavs should be given their due status in order to maintain the unity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the main body of Bosnia.
The population was Slavs, so Archduke Ferdinand thought that people in Bosnia should like him because he was fighting for the benefits that Bosnia deserved.
Before Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie came to Sarajevo, several assassins from the Serbian Black Hand arrived in Sarajevo in advance and lurked. This organization was founded in 1911 and is also known as "Unity or Death"). The "Black Hand" advocates
The goal of taking terrorist actions is to "realize national ideas and unify all Serbian nations."
The goal of these assassins was to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand. They made bombs and carried pistols produced in Belgium, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire when the opportunity arose.
The leader of the "Black Hand" and also the leader of the Serbian intelligence department is Colonel Dragutin Dimitrivich, nicknamed "Sacred Cow". Therefore, it is difficult to clearly explain the relationship between the "Black Hand" and the Serbian government.
One thing is certain, before the "Black Hand" decided to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand, Serbian Prime Minister Pasic had actually received relevant information and issued a warning to the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the Serbian Ambassador to Austria.
But this ambassador was also a radical Serbian nationalist. After receiving Pasic's order, he did not go to the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Chief of Police or the Austro-Hungarian Chief of General Staff.
The Minister of Finance of the Hungarian Empire did not make it clear what was about to happen, but only vaguely stated that some Serbian youths might put real bullets in magazines and fire them.
Simply put, there may be an assassination attempt.
Another person might be more vigilant, but for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, especially the Chancellor of Exchequer in 1913——
Well, in this era, assassinations were really common. In the 20 years before 1913, the assassinated national leaders included the President of the United States, the President of France, the President of Mexico, the President of Guatemala, the President of Uruguay, and the Dominican President.
Countries with prime ministers assassinated include: Russia, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Persia, and Egypt.
The countries where royal members were assassinated are: Austria, Italy, Serbia, Greece, and Portugal.
Therefore, the finance minister did not think that the assassination would have any serious consequences.
In particular, among the six assassins who sneaked into Sarajevo in the early stage, five were Serbs. Their average age was less than twenty years old. All five of them suffered from tuberculosis. This disease was a terminal disease in 1913, so no matter how you look at it,
, Archduke Ferdinand seems to be in doom.
On the way to the city hall, the assassins attacked the car in which Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were riding. A bomb made by the assassins was thrown into the convertible car in which Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were riding.
The driver noticed the abnormality and immediately accelerated. Archduke Ferdinand saw the bomb and blocked it with his hand. The bomb fell behind the car in which Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were riding, damaging a car and injuring several people.
Before Archduke Ferdinand and his wife arrived at the city hall, the car in which Archduke Ferdinand and his wife passed passed the four assassins. Except for the bomb, the other three did not launch attacks, although they all had weapons. Afterwards,
During the investigation, the third assassin was the most honest. He admitted that he was so scared that he did not dare to pull out his gun.
After the welcome ceremony at the city hall, Princess Ferdinand proposed to go to the hospital to visit the injured who had been injured by the previous bomb. This is a Habsburg tradition to show the royal family's love for its subjects.
On the way to the hospital, the fifth assassin did not take action. The lead vehicle did not go to the hospital, but followed the established route. The Bosnian local governor in the convoy discovered that the lead vehicle was going the wrong way and ordered the convoy to stop and change its route.
It was a coincidence that would have far-reaching consequences for the future world. At that time, the car in which Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were traveling was parked on the street less than five feet away from the last assassin, Gavrilo Princip.
Princip was only 19 years old, the leader of the assassination team and a patient with tuberculosis. He pulled out an M1910 pistol produced by the Belgian and Starr Arsenal and fired twice at Archduke Ferdinand and his wife.
Archduke Ferdinand was shot in the neck and was bleeding profusely.
However, Archduke Ferdinand did not pay attention to his injuries. Instead, he hugged Sophie who was more seriously injured and shouted Sophie's name, hoping that Sophie could survive for their child.
Sophie was shot in the abdomen, damaging a major artery. A few minutes later, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife died.
Gavrilo Princip attempted suicide after shooting, but was stopped by the surrounding crowd. Princip then swallowed a bottle of cyanide, but the cyanide had expired, and Princip did not die.