The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Murder that Changed the World [Paperback] King, Greg and Woolmans, Sue Paperback – 4 June 2014

I always wanted to know about reason behind first world war I had known several things about archduke Franz Ferdinand but this book is Epic and provide every minute detail of his life and his struggle I admire the author for collecting this all information and inconvenience generation.

Una biografía fascinante como pocas, devuelve la vida a dos personajes que han sido reducidos a meras anécdotas históricas sobre el origen de la Gran Guerra. El libro se estructura de forma cronológica, también se dedican varios capítulos a la vida cotidiana de la pareja y de la familia, a la génesis del complot terrorista que acabó con su vida y, quizás lo más curioso, a los trágicos destinos de sus hijos.En resumen, no solo es una obra que reivindica la olvidada y menospreciada figura de Franz Ferdinand, sino que además sirve de complemento a los recientes estudios que se han dedicado a su mecenazgo y a sus residencias.

Amazing true story, as reading the pages I wondered again and again what Europe and the world would be if both bullets had been diverted just some centimetres away ...Franz Ferdinand's plan to transform the ancient and unuseful dual-monarchy into a modern Union of States, which should share a common Parliament, Army and Executive Power while giving each nationality their own regional rule ... was to be the solution to all inner problems in Austria-Hungary.Had the old and hated Kaiser Franz Iosef died two years before ... how much blood Europe would have saved !!Who could be blamed for the war ? In first place General Konrad (Chief of the Austrian Main Staff) and his fancy idea that a war against Serbia should be a limited one, an idea that Kaiser Franz Iosef was unable to dismiss.Secondly some military and political circles in Germany, which encouraged Austrian action against Serbia.In third place, Tsar Nicholas II who ordered a general movilization without taking into account that neither his country nor his Army were well-prepared for a war. Even his own authority was at stake at that moment.Otherwise never had happened, Russia was a crumbling empire and should fell apart by itself in a few years, unless Tsar Nicholas II had undertaken measures to become the authoritarian and absolutist monarchy into a parlamentarian one, but that sounds unlikely.United Kingdom should continue putting its interest out of Europe and overseas, furthermore, struggling against its own nationalist- independent movements, which were already on stage in India, South Africa and other colonies.France never had dared attack Germany by herself.The book's reader witnesses each step of the development of the crazy idea of taking a car tour througout Sarajevo's streets, almost without security and giving the would-be assassins the knowledge of the route Franz Fredinand's car would take more than a week ahead the visit.One of the best books I have ever read.

This is a book that I couldn't put down. It's an extensive and extraordinarily well researched history. It is also the amazing and true story of a great romance. The book is incredibly thorough yet not by any means stifling. I feel as though I have a much fuller picture of what the time period immediately prior to the start of the Great War was like. I have read so many things about Franz Ferdinand and they were all dispelled by this book. With the 100 year anniversary approaching soon, absolutely everyone should read this book. It answers a lot of questions.

While most people know that the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on 28th June 1914 was the spark that ignited the First World War, few know little or anything about the Archduke himself and the life he lived before that fateful day. As we approach the 100th anniversary of his murder this highly topical book by Greg King and Sue Woolmans provides an interesting and detailed account of the lives of Franz Ferdinand and his family and the role they played in pre-WW1 Europe during the last years of The Austro-Hungarian Empire.The story begins in 1889 when the morally earnest, conservative and deeply religious Franz Ferdinand became the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. Sometime In 1894 [the book makes clear no-one knows exactly when] he met and fell in love with his future wife, the Countess Sophie Chotek [although initially he was forbidden to marry her because she did not belong to one of the reigning or formerly reigning dynasties of Europe and was therefore considered too lowly]. However in 1899, after he had refused to marry anyone else, the Archduke's uncle, the Emperor Franz Joseph, relented and allowed the couple to marry but only on the condition that the marriage would be morganatic and that any children they had would not have succession rights to the throne. They wed on 1 July 1900 and would remain happily married until their deaths in June 1914.Using the Austrian and the recently opened Czech and Hungarian archives, as well as various other sources such as diaries, letters, contemporary newspaper reports and interviews with their descendants, the authors piece together a comprehensive appraisal of the Archduke, his wife, their three children and the society they lived in. The account of the family's idyllic private life at their home, Konopiste Castle, located just outside of Prague, is particularly endearing. Yet, while the book deliberately paints a sympathetic portrait of Franz Ferdinand in order to "correct a century of misinformation and errors", it is justifiably scathing about the Imperial Court and it catalogues years of cruelty, spite and vindictiveness directed towards Sophie by officials, courtiers and the wider Imperial family - petty humiliations Franz and Sophie bore with dignity and fortitude during their time together and which, absurdly, even continued after their deaths.However, this is so much more here than historical romance and when it comes to the assassination itself and the machinations behind it the authors consider how history has generally ignored the Serbian government's complicity in the murder of the couple and they illustrate how Serb officials either deliberately - or through sheer incompetence - enabled the crime to take place. They also look at a number of conspiracy theories that have been raised over the years. Finally, there's the sad fate of Franz and Sophie's three orphaned children, Sophie, Maximillian and Ernst who are the largely forgotten victims of their parents' murder. Their fate becomes all the more poignant when you consider Franz Ferdinand's famous dying words to his fatally wounded wife: "Sophie, don't die! Stay alive for our children".I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a fantastic read. On a personal level it was a great antidote to the communist-era rubbish I was fed about the Archduke and his wife when I visited their former home at Konopiste a few years ago but there is probably something in here for everyone. The Assassination of the Archduke is one of those true stories that read like a novel and even if you've only a passing interest in history, it should be on your reading list for 2014. The world we live in today was born on 28th June 1914.

A sympathetic take on Franz Ferdinand , the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary , whose assasination in 1914 acted as the catatlyst for World War. King and Woolmans aim from the outset to rescue the heir and Sophie Chotek (his morganatic wife who died with him) from 100 years of misinformation , propaganda and lazy stereotyping - a period where , as individuals, they have largely been ignored and marginalized ; significant only because of the disastrous political consequences stemming from their violent deaths.Franz Ferdinand has invariably been portrayed as a bad tempered misanthrope , renowned for his hunting excesses and excessive wealth .He is also seen as being deluded in his vision for the future of the Hapsburg empire as a Triple Monarchy . The authors explain that none of these are exactly true . In fact his hunting exploits were typical for an aristocrat of his time ; he was often in debt ; his vision of monarchy did not get the opportnity to be tested ; and his ill temper was more often than not the result of the various humiliations heaped upon his wife Sophie - a woman deemed unworthy of her positon as wife to a Hapsburg - due to her unequal status as a ''lesser aristocrat ''.The source of this treatment was the emperor Franz Josef , uncle of Franz Ferdinand. His enmity towards his nephew and his wife (and also their children) was unrelenting , and was facilitated at court by other family members and aides , especially Count Montenuevo , who comes across as a malevolent , cold hearted persecutor of the family - a stance he maintained even after their murder , continuing to humiliate the couple , Sophie in particular , in the discriminatory funeral arrangements.Of course , the Count and others could quickly point to the authority wielded by Franz Josef , and that they were simply obeying the will of the emperor. The portrayal here of the ageing autocrat is far from flattering. He was in the end a man of the 19th century , rooted in traditionalism and conservatism ; the champion of reactionary forces, and determined to maintain his familys power and prestige in spite of internal and external threats to his dominions .Hence his inflexible attitude not only towards political reform , but also towards his nephew and his wife's scandalous marriage - which he believed undermined the dignity of the dynasty .It is odd indeed that Franz Josef is rarely singled out , at least by the general public , as being a villain of history . He has to take a large share of the responsibilty for the outbreak of World War One. The fatal decision to attack Serbia was the last in a long line of military blunders made by the Emperor . His record , regarding military affairs, was poor .Yet the Tsar and the German Kaiser get all the ridicule and blame and are damned by history , while Franz Josef is treated sympathetically ; no doubt due to in part to his advanced age and various private tragedies (the suicide of his son , murder of his wife ,etc) .The heir himself was flawed too - his support of Conrad as head of the military proved to be disastrous when Conrad turned out to be a relentless warmonger . Yet Franz Ferdinand did his best to restrain him and even demanded his resignation on more than one occasion . Alas, the killing of Franz Ferdinand left Conrad free to wield his influence at court and his demands for vengeance against Serbia were heeded by the Emperor. Franz Ferdinand also had an elevated sense of duty, love for his wife and a religious fatalism , which proved, in the end ,to be his and Sophies' undoing . He did not wish to upset the local governor Poitorek by cancelling the drive through Sarajevo , and allows Sophie to sit in the car next to him AFTER the first non-fatal attack by the assasins at her insistence. Indeed, his instincts were not to visit Bosnia at all and not to agree with Poitorek that they were safe from terrorist attacks.But duty prevailed. It makes for stunning reading - the first failed attempt at assasination by the conspirators where a bomb missed the car and left the couple shaken but uninjured; the subsequent town hall rendez vous where the entourage debated how to get the Archduke out of the city alive and, incredibly, decide on retracing the route down towards the site of the first assasination attempt . Governor Poitoreks role in all this is questioned by the author - was he incompetent ? In on the conspiracy ? Or just willing to let fate decide the outcome of the Archdukes visit to the hotbed of anti-Hapsburg sentiment ? King concedes we are never likely to know . What is certain is that Franz Ferdinand was not mourned by Poitorek's boss - the emperor . Tellingly , neither Poitorek nor anyone else faced any disciplinary action for performing their task so shoddily that day in Sarajevo.The assassins , especially the man who fired the fatal shots , Princip , are given a fair hearing by the authors, but are ultimately damned as terrorists , not freedom fighters . Many Serbs, and others, would disagree , but of course any opinion on this matter is highly subjective and contentious.The book also details the lives of Franz and Sophie's children Max , Ernst and Sophie post 1914 . Persecuted , evicted , stolen from , imprisoned , yet somehow dignified and unbowed , their tale is a cautionary one , and the worst of it takes place largely amidst the hellish backdrop of Nazi Europe, where Maz and Ernst served time in concentration camps. The fallen dynasty of the Habsburgs represented a threat to Nazi rule as ghosts of a bygone era that could be brought back to life . Yet the assasinations in Sarajevo had already set in motion the events that lead to the Empires permanent demise. There has been no resurrection of Hapsburg power. Nazi paranoia and persecution showed how the impact of the assasination of the archduke and his wife continued to resonate long after their deaths . Indeed a century later the world is still living with the consequences of that sunny morning in Sarajevo in 1914 , a day which ushered in the modern era . This book helps to give the two almost forgotten first victims of that apocalyptic war , a voice.