Gavrilo Princip: The Assassin Who Started the First World War The Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was shot dead, with his wife, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914-a murder that could easily have been prevented. The First World War followed one month later. Who was the assassin, and what was his connexion to the Black Hand? What was the role played by the director of Serbian military intelligence, Colonel Apis; and what happened to the assassins? The shooting of an obscure Archduke in the Balkans led to the death of millions and the destruction of four empires. Why? And how is Princip a figure for our times? |
