Editing Gavrilo Princip (section)

== Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand ==
{{Main|Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand}}

[[File:DC-1914-27-d-Sarajevo-cropped.jpg|thumb|left|Gavrilo Princip fatally shooting the royal couple as illustrated by [[Achille Beltrame]] in [[La Domenica del Corriere]]]]
[[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] of Austria and his wife, [[Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg|Duchess Sophie Chotek]], arrived in [[Sarajevo]] by train shortly before 10 a.m. on 28 June 1914. Their car was the third in a six-car motorcade heading towards [[Vijećnica|Sarajevo Town Hall]].{{sfn|''Prague Guide ~ Prague Tours ~ Private Guided Tours''|1900}}

Princip and five other conspirators were positioned along the route, spaced out along the Appel Quay, each instructed to assassinate the Archduke when the royal car reached their position. The first conspirator, [[Muhamed Mehmedbašić]], stood near the [[Austro-Hungarian Bank]] but lost his nerve and allowed the car to pass without acting. At 10:15&nbsp;am, as the motorcade passed the central police station, 19-year-old student [[Nedeljko Čabrinović]] hurled a [[hand grenade]] at the Archduke's car. The driver accelerated upon seeing the grenade, which had a 10-second delay, and the bomb exploded under the fourth car, seriously wounding two occupants.{{sfn|Dedijer|1966|loc=ch. XIV, footnote 21}} Following this failed attempt, the motorcade sped away, and the remaining conspirators, including Princip, were unable to act due to the high speed of the vehicles.{{sfn|Dedijer|1966|p=15}}

After delivering his scheduled speech at Town Hall, the Archduke decided to visit the victims of Čabrinović's grenade attack at the Sarajevo Hospital.{{sfn|''NPR.org''|2014}} To avoid the city centre, [[Oskar Potiorek|General Oskar Potiorek]] directed the royal car to travel straight along the Appel Quay to the hospital. However, Potiorek failed to inform the driver, [[Leopold Lojka]], a [[Czechs|Czech]], about this change.{{sfn|''NPR.org''|2014}} On the way to the hospital, Lojka, following the original plan, turned onto a side street where Princip happened to be standing in front of a delicatessen. After Potiorek shouted at him to stop, Lojka halted the car and began reversing. As he did so, the engine stalled, and the gears locked. Princip stepped forward, drew an [[FN Model 1910|FN Model 1910 semi-automatic pistol]], and fired twice at close range into the car. The first bullet struck the Archduke in the neck, while the second hit the Duchess in the [[abdomen]]. Both died shortly afterward.{{sfn|Remak|1959|pp=137–142}}

On 13 July 1914, Austro-Hungarian official [[Friedrich Wiesner]] submitted a report concluding that there was no evidence to implicate the Serbian government in the conspiracy behind the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo.{{sfn|Shermer|2022|p=213}} This assessment, communicated to Vienna, confirmed that the Serbian state had not been involved in the plot.{{sfn|Shermer|2022|p=213}} Despite this, the Austro-Hungarian government, perceiving Serbia's nationalist ambitions as a direct threat to the stability of its multi-ethnic empire, seized upon the assassination as a pretext for action against Serbia.{{sfn|Fried|2014|p=26}}{{sfn|Fromkin|2009|p=}}{{sfn|Armour|2012|p=226}} 

This pivotal event set off the [[July Crisis]], a rapid sequence of diplomatic and military escalations among Europe's great powers. Tensions reached a breaking point on 28 July 1914, when [[Austro-Hungarian entry into World War I|Austria-Hungary declared war]] on Serbia. Within days, the conflict expanded as Germany, France, Russia, and Great Britain issued their own declarations of war, plunging Europe into the First World War. [[Samuel R. Williamson Jr.|Samuel Williamson]], a preeminent authority on Austria-Hungary and its role in the lead-up to the war, asserts that Vienna's unwavering determination to exploit the assassination to subjugate Serbia and assert dominance over the Balkans was the principal driving force behind the outbreak of the global conflict.{{sfn|Sked|2014|p=16}}