FULL FEATURE: Franz Ferdinand Pt.II

The Assassination and What Might Have Been

To read part one of this piece of work, you can read last month’s feature for free:

https://achurchill.substack.com/p/full-feature-franz-ferdinand

On the morning of 28^th June 1914, the holiest of Serbian days, the 50-year-old Archduke had risen and dressed himself as a general of the Austrian cavalry. A powerful, robust figure of a man, he stepped out high leather boots, a fitted blue tunic and a helmet adorned with green peacock feathers. Costume donned, Franz Ferdinand was prepared to face his audience. Reluctantly, for he had lacked any real desire to pay this visit to Sarajevo. In fact, he had done plenty to try and get out of it in the end.

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Bosnia had only been formally annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908, and tensions there ran high. The reason for the Archduke’s presence in June was not out of the ordinary. Largescale army manoeuvres were going to be taking place in the province until 27^th June, and in his role as Inspector General of the Armed Forces, it made sense for Franz Ferdinand to be there. Even more so on this occasion, because the Archduke was resolved to make major changes at the head of the army and he needed to evaluate his options whilst watching commanders in action.

However, it was aggressively advocated by the current Governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Oskar Potiorek, who was earmarked to command a division in the event of war, that he then venture into Sarajevo. This was a miserable prospect for Franz Ferdinand. A dour looking, shaven headed man in his early sixties, Potiorek had requested the visit as a display of pageantry, a PR exercise for the monarchy, yes, but more so for himself. Given the recent Balkan Wars, it suited him to have someone like the Archduke to show his face in the far south of the Empire, to demonstrate that the people belonged to the Habsburg Empire.

Oskar Potiorek (Wikipedia)