# Canonical recap data for Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assassinated in Sarajevo (1914)
# Source: https://recap.at/1914/franz-ferdinand-assassination
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: franz-ferdinand-assassination
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1914/franz-ferdinand-assassination"
title: Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assassinated in Sarajevo
aliases:
- Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
- Sarajevo shooting
- June 28, 1914
subtitle: A teenager's bullets topple empires and launch total war.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1914-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1914
decade: 1910
summaryShort: Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb, shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914-an assassination that unraveled into World War I.
summaryLong: |-
  On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip fired two shots in Sarajevo that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Princip, 19, was one of several assassins positioned along the route of the Archduke's motorcade that day; an earlier bomb attack had failed to kill him. The assassination itself was the work of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist organization bent on undermining Austro-Hungarian rule in the Balkans. But what made this particular killing consequential wasn't Princip's aim-it was the diplomatic domino effect that followed.

  Austria-Hungary, already rattled by Balkan instability and Serbian nationalist movements, interpreted the assassination as a Serbian act of war. On July 23, 1914, the empire issued a harsh ultimatum to Serbia, which Serbia rejected. Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28. Because of a tangle of pre-existing military alliances-Russia sided with Serbia, Germany backed Austria-Hungary, France supported Russia, and Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium brought Britain into the conflict-what might have remained a regional dispute exploded into a continental war. Within weeks, the major powers of Europe were mobilized.

  Princip was arrested at the scene and died in prison in 1918, likely from tuberculosis exacerbated by harsh conditions. He never lived to see the war's end or the redrawing of Europe's map. The assassination became the symbolic moment historians point to when explaining how Europe slid into the First World War-not because the killing itself was unprecedented, but because the political machinery it set in motion had no off switch. Historians debate how much Princip's bullets caused the war versus how much they simply triggered an already-inevitable collapse, but the date June 28, 1914, remains the hinge on which the 20th century turned.
lede: On June 28, 1914, a 19-year-old man named Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, along with the Archduke's wife Sophie. The assassination took place in Sarajevo, a city in Bosnia that Austria-Hungary controlled. Within a month, this single shooting had triggered a chain reaction of military alliances and declarations of war that pulled the major powers of Europe into what became World War I, reshaping the continent for the next hundred years.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Sarajevo_-_Latinska_%C4%87uprija_%2849094942983%29.jpg/1280px-Sarajevo_-_Latinska_%C4%87uprija_%2849094942983%29.jpg"
heroImageCredit: "\"Sarajevo - Latinska ćuprija (49094942983)\" by Fred Romero from Paris, France is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/."
importance: 50
sourceConfidence: 50
keyFacts:
- label: Date
  value: June 28, 1914
- label: Location
  value: Sarajevo, Bosnia
- label: Assassin
  value: Gavrilo Princip, age 19
- label: Victims
  value: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie
- label: Organization behind attack
  value: Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist group
- label: Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia
  value: Issued July 23, 1914
- label: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
  value: July 28, 1914
- label: Days between assassination and Austria-Hungary's war declaration
  value: 30 days
timeline:
- date: 1914-06-28
  title: Assassination in Sarajevo
  description: Gavrilo Princip shoots Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in their motorcade. An earlier bomb attack on the same route had failed.
- date: 1914-06-28
  title: Princip arrested
  description: Princip is captured at the scene and taken into custody by Austro-Hungarian authorities.
- date: 1914-07-23
  title: Austria-Hungary issues ultimatum to Serbia
  description: Austria-Hungary demands Serbia suppress anti-Austro-Hungarian activities and accept Austro-Hungarian investigators on Serbian soil. Serbia rejects key terms.
- date: 1914-07-28
  title: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
  description: Unable to resolve the crisis through diplomacy, Austria-Hungary formally declares war.
- date: 1914-07-30
  title: Russia mobilizes
  description: Russia begins military mobilization in support of its Serbian ally.
- date: 1914-08-01
  title: Germany declares war on Russia
  description: Germany, allied with Austria-Hungary, declares war on Russia.
- date: 1914-08-03
  title: Germany declares war on France
  description: Germany declares war on France, Russia's ally, and begins invasion of Belgium.
- date: 1914-08-04
  title: Britain declares war on Germany
  description: Britain, bound by treaty to defend Belgian neutrality, declares war on Germany. Continental conflict becomes continental war.
- date: 1918-04-28
  title: Gavrilo Princip dies
  description: Princip dies in an Austro-Hungarian prison, likely from tuberculosis. He is 23 years old.
sources: []
related: []
relationships:
- targetSlug: treaty-of-versailles
  type: caused
  confidence: 99
  evidence: The assassination triggered World War I, which ended with the Treaty of Versailles signed exactly five years later on June 28, 1919. The harsh treaty directly resulted from the Central Powers' defeat in a war initiated by Austria-Hungary's response to the killing.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: hitler-rise-to-power
  type: caused
  confidence: 92
  evidence: The assassination set off a chain of events-war, German military defeat, the Treaty of Versailles with its punitive reparations and humiliation-that created the economic and political conditions for Hitler's rise in 1930s Germany.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: october-revolution-1917
  type: caused
  confidence: 88
  evidence: World War I, triggered by the assassination, brought Russia into a catastrophic war that killed millions. Military collapse and war exhaustion directly enabled Lenin and the Bolsheviks to seize power in October 1917.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: league-of-nations-established
  type: caused
  confidence: 85
  evidence: The First World War, initiated by the assassination's diplomatic cascade, killed millions and created the impetus for Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations (established 1920) as a mechanism to prevent future great-power conflicts.
  source: ai
- targetSlug: first-opium-war
  type: happened_during
  confidence: 52
  evidence: The Opium Wars (1840s–1850s) were part of the imperial competition framework that dominated the 1914 European order. The assassination occurred within a century-long era of European imperial dominance that those wars had established in Asia.
  source: ai
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/DC-1914-27-d-Sarajevo-cropped.jpg/1280px-DC-1914-27-d-Sarajevo-cropped.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/DC-1914-27-d-Sarajevo-cropped.jpg/800px-DC-1914-27-d-Sarajevo-cropped.jpg"
  caption: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
  credit: Wikipedia · "Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand"
  width: 330
  height: 400
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Postcard_for_the_assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_in_Sarajevo.jpg/1280px-Postcard_for_the_assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_in_Sarajevo.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Postcard_for_the_assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_in_Sarajevo.jpg/800px-Postcard_for_the_assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_in_Sarajevo.jpg"
  caption: Postcard for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo
  credit: Walter Tausch
  width: 1000
  height: 640
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: La Marche de Lorraine
  artist: French military march (composer attributed to François Casimir Carbonelle)
  year: 1914
  note: Patriotic marching songs dominated pre-war Europe; this became a rallying cry for French national pride during mobilization.
  referenceCard:
  status: not_found
  checkedAt: "2026-05-27T07:36:16.067Z"
- title: God Save the King/Britannia
  year: 1914
  note: British national anthems and patriotic hymns were central to the cultural mood as Britain declared war in August.
  playback:
  kind: sample
  previewUrl: "https://audio-ssl.itunes.apple.com/itunes-assets/AudioPreview221/v4/5e/34/25/5e34255e-d2ed-6df2-c10a-173f0de98f6e/mzaf_10713843962527222226.plus.aac.p.m4a"
  provider: itunes
  artworkUrl: "https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music211/v4/7f/32/7f/7f327f4c-155f-41f8-4e66-c4606675d58b/artwork.jpg/600x600bb.jpg"
  playbackVerifiedAt: "2026-05-24T18:54:07.488Z"
  referenceCard:
  status: not_found
  checkedAt: "2026-05-27T07:36:16.067Z"
topFilms:
- title: The Battle of the Somme
  year: 1916
  note: First major documentary film of the war, released two years after the assassination, shown widely in Britain; cinema became a tool for public morale and remembrance.
  referenceCard:
  status: ok
  checkedAt: "2026-05-27T07:36:16.067Z"
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: In June 1914, Europe was intoxicated by imperial confidence, naval races, and romantic nationalism. Archduke Franz Ferdinand's visit to Sarajevo was meant to display Austro-Hungarian power in the Balkans. Within weeks, that confidence had shattered. The pre-war world had believed in the rational ordering of empires through diplomacy and dynastic marriage; the assassination proved that a single act of political violence could topple that entire structure. The dominant mood shifted from gilded-age optimism to total mobilization, and by August 1914 young men across Europe rushed to enlist, believing the war would be over by Christmas.
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: European great powers at peace
  thenValue: 6 major powers (Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy)
  thenYear: 1914
  nowValue: Multiple power centers (EU, NATO members, Russia as regional power)
  nowYear: 2024
  note: The rigid alliance system of 1914 has been replaced by multilateral institutions and economic interdependence, though geopolitical tension remains.
- metric: Global deaths from conflict in the year
  thenValue: ~900,000 (World War I alone)
  thenYear: 1914
  nowValue: ~200,000–300,000 across all active conflicts globally
  nowYear: 2023
  note: The First World War introduced industrialized warfare; modern conflicts are more dispersed but less total in scale.
- metric: Empires controlling global territory
  thenValue: British, French, German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman empires dominated
  thenYear: 1914
  nowValue: No formal imperial structures; former colonies are independent nation-states
  nowYear: 2024
  note: The war accelerated the end of empire. The Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires fell by 1918; decolonization completed the process by 1970.
impactStatement: On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip's bullets in Sarajevo killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, detonating the diplomatic powder keg of European great-power rivalries. Within weeks, alliance systems and imperial ambitions transformed a regional crisis into the First World War, reshaping the map, the monarchy, and the modern world.
consequences:
- title: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
  year: 1914
  description: Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23, 1914, and declared war on July 28, 1914, setting off the cascade of mobilizations that dragged all major European powers into conflict.
- title: Russia mobilizes; Germany declares war
  year: 1914
  description: Russia began full mobilization on July 30, 1914 in support of Serbia. Germany declared war on Russia on August 1 and on France on August 3, honoring its commitment to Austria-Hungary and executing the Schlieffen Plan.
- title: Britain enters World War I
  year: 1914
  description: Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914, citing German violation of Belgian neutrality and its obligations under the Treaty of London. The British Empire and its dominions were now at war.
- title: Ottoman Empire and Central Powers alliance
  year: 1914
  description: The Ottoman Empire signed a secret alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in early August 1914, formalizing the Central Powers bloc that would oppose the Entente throughout the war.
- title: Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany
  year: 1919
  description: The peace treaty signed on June 28, 1919-exactly five years after the assassination-imposed harsh reparations, territorial losses, and military restrictions on Germany, creating resentment that would fuel fascism.
- title: Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved
  year: 1918
  description: Austria-Hungary collapsed in November 1918 after military defeat and nationalist uprisings. The empire that Franz Ferdinand was heir to ceased to exist, replaced by smaller successor states including Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.
archiveSnapshots: []
categories:
- war
metaDescription: Gavrilo Princip's bullet kills Austria-Hungary's heir, igniting the powder keg of European tensions and triggering the cascade that became World War I.
originSignals:
- "wikipedia:franz-ferdinand-assassination"
translations:
es:
lede: El 28 de junio de 1914, un joven de 19 años llamado Gavrilo Princip disparó y mató al Archiduque Francisco Fernando, heredero del trono de Austria-Hungría, junto con la esposa del Archiduque, Sofía. El asesinato tuvo lugar en Sarajevo, una ciudad de Bosnia controlada por Austria-Hungría. En menos de un mes, este único disparo había desencadenado una reacción en cadena de alianzas militares y declaraciones de guerra que arrastró a las principales potencias de Europa hacia lo que se convertiría en la Primera Guerra Mundial, remodelando el continente durante los siguientes cien años.
summaryShort: Gavrilo Princip, un serbio bosnio de 19 años, disparó y mató al Archiduque Francisco Fernando de Austria y su esposa Sofía en Sarajevo el 28 de junio de 1914, un asesinato que desembocó en la Primera Guerra Mundial.
summaryLong: |-
  El 28 de junio de 1914, Gavrilo Princip disparó dos tiros en Sarajevo que mataron al Archiduque Francisco Fernando de Austria y su esposa Sofía, herederos del trono austrohúngaro. Princip, de 19 años, era uno de varios asesinos posicionados a lo largo de la ruta del cortejo del Archiduque ese día; un ataque con bomba anterior no había logrado matarlo. El asesinato en sí fue obra de la Mano Negra, una organización nacionalista serbia empeñada en socavar el dominio austrohúngaro en los Balcanes. Pero lo que hizo que este asesinato en particular fuera consecuente no fue la puntería de Princip, sino el efecto dominó diplomático que siguió.

  Austria-Hungría, ya inquieta por la inestabilidad balcánica y los movimientos nacionalistas serbios, interpretó el asesinato como un acto de guerra serbio. El 23 de julio de 1914, el imperio emitió un duro ultimátum a Serbia, que Serbia rechazó. Austria-Hungría declaró la guerra el 28 de julio. Debido a una maraña de alianzas militares preexistentes -Rusia se puso del lado de Serbia, Alemania respalda a Austria-Hungría, Francia apoyó a Rusia, y la invasión alemana de la neutral Bélgica llevó a Gran Bretaña al conflicto-, lo que podría haber seguido siendo una disputa regional estalló en una guerra continental. En cuestión de semanas, las principales potencias de Europa se movilizaron.

  Princip fue arrestado en el lugar y murió en prisión en 1918, probablemente de tuberculosis agravada por las duras condiciones. Nunca vivió para ver el fin de la guerra ni el rediseño del mapa de Europa. El asesinato se convirtió en el momento simbólico al que los historiadores señalan cuando explican cómo Europa se deslizó hacia la Primera Guerra Mundial, no porque el asesinato en sí fuera sin precedentes, sino porque la maquinaria política que desencadenó no tenía apagador. Los historiadores debaten cuánto causaron las balas de Princip la guerra en comparación con cuánto simplemente desencadenaron un colapso ya inevitable, pero la fecha 28 de junio de 1914 sigue siendo la bisagra sobre la que giró el siglo XX.
generatedAt: "2026-06-05T05:45:26.824Z"
fr:
lede: Le 28 juin 1914, un jeune homme de 19 ans nommé Gavrilo Princip a tiré et tué l'archiduc François-Ferdinand, héritier du trône d'Autriche-Hongrie, ainsi que l'épouse de l'archiduc, Sophie. L'assassinat a eu lieu à Sarajevo, une ville en Bosnie contrôlée par l'Autriche-Hongrie. En moins d'un mois, ce simple coup de feu avait déclenché une réaction en chaîne d'alliances militaires et de déclarations de guerre qui a entraîné les grandes puissances européennes dans ce qui devint la Première Guerre mondiale, remodelant le continent pour les cent années suivantes.
summaryShort: Gavrilo Princip, un Serbe de Bosnie âgé de 19 ans, a tiré et tué l'archiduc François-Ferdinand d'Autriche et son épouse Sophie à Sarajevo le 28 juin 1914-un assassinat qui dégénéra en Première Guerre mondiale.
summaryLong: |-
  Le 28 juin 1914, Gavrilo Princip a tiré deux coups de feu à Sarajevo qui ont tué l'archiduc François-Ferdinand d'Autriche et son épouse Sophie, héritiers du trône austro-hongrois. Princip, 19 ans, était l'un de plusieurs assassins positionnés le long du trajet du cortège de l'archiduc ce jour-là ; une attaque à la bombe antérieure n'avait pas réussi à le tuer. L'assassinat lui-même était l'œuvre de la Main noire, une organisation nationaliste serbe déterminée à saper la domination austro-hongroise dans les Balkans. Mais ce qui rendit ce meurtre particulier conséquent n'était pas la visée de Princip-c'était l'effet de dominos diplomatiques qui s'ensuivit.

  L'Autriche-Hongrie, déjà ébranlée par l'instabilité des Balkans et les mouvements nationalistes serbes, interpréta l'assassinat comme un acte de guerre serbe. Le 23 juillet 1914, l'empire adressa un ultimatum brutal à la Serbie, que la Serbie rejeta. L'Autriche-Hongrie déclara la guerre le 28 juillet. En raison d'un enchevêtrement d'alliances militaires préexistantes-la Russie soutint la Serbie, l'Allemagne appuya l'Autriche-Hongrie, la France soutint la Russie, et l'invasion allemande de la Belgique neutre amena la Grande-Bretagne dans le conflit-ce qui aurait pu rester un différend régional explosa en guerre continentale. En quelques semaines, les grandes puissances européennes étaient mobilisées.

  Princip a été arrêté sur les lieux et est mort en prison en 1918, probablement de la tuberculose aggravée par des conditions difficiles. Il n'a jamais vu la fin de la guerre ni le redécoupage de la carte de l'Europe. L'assassinat devint le moment symbolique auquel les historiens font référence pour expliquer comment l'Europe a glissé vers la Première Guerre mondiale-non pas parce que le meurtre lui-même était sans précédent, mais parce que la mécanique politique qu'il a mise en mouvement n'avait pas de bouton d'arrêt. Les historiens débattent de la question de savoir si les balles de Princip ont causé la guerre ou si elles ont simplement déclenché un effondrement déjà inévitable, mais la date du 28 juin 1914 reste le pivot autour duquel le XXe siècle a basculé.
generatedAt: "2026-06-05T05:45:33.446Z"
de:
lede: Am 28. Juni 1914 schoss der 19-jährige Gavrilo Princip Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand, den Thronfolger Österreich-Ungarns, sowie dessen Ehefrau Sophie in Sarajevo, einer von Österreich-Ungarn kontrollierten Stadt in Bosnien, nieder. Innerhalb eines Monats löste diese einzelne Schießerei eine Kettenreaktion von Militärbündnissen und Kriegserklärungen aus, die die Großmächte Europas in den Ersten Weltkrieg zog und den Kontinent für die nächsten hundert Jahre umgestaltete.
summaryShort: Gavrilo Princip, ein 19-jähriger bosnisch-serbischer Attentäter, erschoss am 28. Juni 1914 in Sarajevo Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand von Österreich und dessen Ehefrau Sophie – ein Attentat, das sich zum Ersten Weltkrieg auswuchs.
summaryLong: |-
  Am 28. Juni 1914 feuerte Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo zwei Schüsse ab, die Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand von Österreich und dessen Ehefrau Sophie, den Thronfolger der Austro-Ungarischen Monarchie, töteten. Der 19-jährige Princip war einer von mehreren Attentätern, die an diesem Tag entlang der Strecke des Erzherzogs-Motorkonvois positioniert waren; ein früherer Bombenanschlag hatte ihn nicht getötet. Das Attentat selbst war das Werk der Schwarzen Hand, einer serbischen nationalistischen Organisation, die darauf abzielte, die austro-ungarische Herrschaft auf dem Balkan zu untergraben. Doch was diesen besonderen Mord folgenreich machte, war nicht Princips Zielgenauigkeit – es war der diplomatische Dominoeffekt, der folgte.

  Österreich-Ungarn, bereits beunruhigt durch balkanische Instabilität und serbische nationalistische Bewegungen, deutete das Attentat als serbischen Kriegsakt. Am 23. Juli 1914 stellte das Imperium Serbien ein hartes Ultimatum, das Serbien ablehnte. Österreich-Ungarn erklärte am 28. Juli den Krieg. Wegen eines Wirrwarrs bereits bestehender Militärbündnisse – Russland stand an Serbiens Seite, Deutschland unterstützte Österreich-Ungarn, Frankreich stand an Russlands Seite, und Deutschlands Invasion des neutralen Belgien zog Großbritannien in den Konflikt – entwickelte sich das, was ein regionaler Streit hätte bleiben können, zu einem Kontinentalkrieg. Innerhalb weniger Wochen waren die Großmächte Europas mobilisiert.

  Princip wurde am Tatort verhaftet und starb 1918 im Gefängnis, wahrscheinlich an Tuberkulose, verschärft durch harte Bedingungen. Er erlebte das Kriegsende oder die Neukartierung Europas nie. Das Attentat wurde zum symbolischen Moment, auf den Historiker hinweisen, um zu erklären, wie Europa in den Ersten Weltkrieg abglitt – nicht weil die Tötung selbst beispiellos war, sondern weil die politische Maschinerie, die sie in Gang setzte, keinen Ausschalter hatte. Historiker debattieren darüber, wie sehr Princips Kugeln den Krieg verursachten oder ob sie nur einen bereits unvermeidlichen Zusammenbruch auslösten, aber das Datum 28. Juni 1914 bleibt das Scharnier, um das sich das 20. Jahrhundert drehte.
generatedAt: "2026-06-05T05:45:41.320Z"
