Sunday, June 28, 1914. The beginning of the modern world.

 

The seal of the Black Hand.

On this day, in 1914, the modern world, for good or ill, was ushered in at the muzzle end of Gavrilo Princept's M1910 Belgian Automatic.  Princept was acting as a member of the Young Bosnian's, in concert with the Black Hand, two Serbian nationalist movements that saw the increasingly imperialist nature of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as frustrating their aspirations for a larger Serbia.

Bosnia & Herzegovina had been occupied by Austro Hungaria since 1878, having been ruled prior to that by the Ottoman Empire..  In 1908 the Austro Hungarian Empire formally annexed the region as a defense to renewed Ottoman aggression, or Serbian aggression.  The annexation spawned resistance groups, including the Narodna Odbrana, of which the Black Hand was part.  Ultimately Young Bosnia, a more radical group, formed.  Young Bosnia, moreover, was inclined towards violence.

The resulting violence lead to Austro-Hungarian police action.  Archduke Ferdinand's July 1914 visit to Sarajevo was at the local governor's request, and was designed to demonstrate Austro-Hungarian strength and resolve.  

It was a grave error.

A look back to a prior post.

Es ist nichts, Es ist nichts...

Society of the Military Horse • View topic - Today in the history of mounted warfare

 And so it began.

Tuberculitic Gavrilo Princip, on this day, assassinated Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife lighting the fire that would kill millions in the next four years.

Today In Wyoming's History: June 28:  1914  Archduke Franz Joseph assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, shortly leading to World War One.

Sometimes forgotten, there were two assassination attempts on that day, the first one by Nedeljko Čabrinović, who unsuccessfully threw a bomb at the Archduke's vehicle.  It bounced off the car and wounded 20 people behind it.  He attempted unsuccessfully to kill himself with cyanide but failed.  He died in 1916 from illness and maltreatment in detention.

Gavrilo Princept, of course, was successful with his attempt and pointlessly killed the Archduke's wife Sophie in the same actions.

Anti-Serbian riots broke out in Sarajevo as soon as the news broke, so the violence was off and running.

A prior local look at things:

Making it personal: Lex Anteinternet: Es ist nichts, Es ist nichts...

Lex Anteinternet: Es ist nichts, Es ist nichts...: Society of the Military Horse • View topic - Today in the history of mounted warfare  And so it began. Tuberculitic Gavrilo Princip, ...

June 28, 1914, was a Sunday.

So, putting a personal spin on this, if you subtracted whole to the year 1914, and lived in that century, how would this news have realistically impacted you?  That is, if your life played out in a reasonably predictable manner, with hindsight.  That's not always an easy thing to do, as things have changed very much.

But, if you lived a century ago, would this have amounted to much more than sad news to you? When would you have even learned of it?  I'm posting this on June 30, and I'd guess I would have known by Monday June 29, 1914, but I certainly wouldn't have thought the world on the verge of one of the great wars of human history, on that following Tuesday.

 Tragedy of all types carried on, the August 1, 1914 killing of French Canadian Reservist Antoine Nottar by a Sergeant of the 5th Highlanders.

The killing had impacts far beyond what the conspirators could have imagined.  In a way, ultimately, their goals were achieved, but not without the death of millions.  And beyond that, it led to the accelerated demise of the Old Order.

Indeed, it was the imperiled state of the Old Order in Europe that brought about the cataclysm.  Europe had been struggling to deal with the decline of the monarchical Old Order since 1798, with some states, such as the United Kingdom and the Scandinavia states handling it well, and others not.  Generally, the more democratic a nation was, the more it was able to deal with the massive social change of the end of the Renaissance, the rise of an industrial and middle class, and the decline in a rational basis for monarchy.  The more the monarchical class remained in power, and attempted to do so, the stronger radical groups within the same societies remained.

The monarchical imperialist class was strongest in Russia, the German Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Radical socialism was strong in all of those countries as well.  The shot that Princept fired would kill all three empires, but it would also bring about untold turmoil and violence that continues to this very day.  Monarchy and the Old Order would die, but Communism and Fascism would rise up in the vacuum, and in some regions of the globe, notably Russia, the sorting out of power continues on.

The 12th Tour de France commenced.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, June 27, 1914. Distributing weapons.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Austro Hungaria, Diplomacy, Serbia, Serbian Black Hand, World War One