In The Assassination of the Archduke, Greg King and Sue Woolmans offer readers a vivid account of the lives - and cruel deaths - of Franz Ferdinand and his beloved Sophie. Combining royal biography, romance, and political assassination, the story unfolds against a backdrop of glittering privilege and an Imperial Court consumed with hatred, taking readers from Bohemian castles to the horrors of Nazi concentration camps in a compelling, fascinating human drama. As moving as the fabled romance of Nicholas and Alexandra, as dramatic as Mayerling, Sarajevo resonates with love and loss, triumph and tragedy in a vibrant and powerful narrative. It lays bare the lethal circumstances surrounding that fateful Sunday morning in 1914, examining not only the Serbian conspiracy that killed Franz and Sophie and sparked the First World War but also insinuations about the hidden powers in Vienna that may well have sent them to their deaths. With a Foreword from the Archduke's great-granddaughter, Princess Sophie von Hohenberg, and drawing on a wide variety of unpublished sources and with unique access to previously restricted Hungarian and Czech archives, including Sophie's diaries and family papers, King and Woolmans have written the most comprehensive account of this momentous event available in English. In doing so, they offer readers an intriguing and startlingly revisionist look at this most famous of Archdukes, his family, and their momentous collision with destiny in 1914.

Examines the events that led to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo in June 1914, and the conflict in Europe that resulted in World War I.

Examining the chain of events that led to the Great War and what could reasonably have been done differently to avoid it, an acclaimed political psychologist creates plausible worlds, some better, some worse, that might have developed.

In 1914, a young Serbian named Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria?a violent act that sparked World War I. Henrik Rehr's riveting graphic novel imagines the events that led Princep to become history's most significant terrorist.

*Includes pictures *Profiles Franz Ferdinand and the people behind the overarching conspiracy to assassinate him *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "It is nothing." - Archduke Franz Ferdinand after being shot on June 28, 1914 Although a couple of wars were fought on the European continent during the 19th century, an uneasy peace was mostly maintained across the continent for most of the 19th century after Napoleon. Despite this ostensible peace, the Europeans were steadily conducting arms races against each other, particularly Germany and Britain. Britain had been the world's foremost naval power for centuries, but Germany hoped to build its way to naval supremacy. The rest of Europe joined in on the arms race in the decade before the war started. With Europe anticipating a potential war, all that was missing was a conflagration. That would start in 1908, when Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Balkan Peninsula, drawing it into dispute with Russia. Moreover, this upset neighboring Serbia, which was an independent nation. From 1912-1913, a conflict was fought in the Balkans between the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the weakening of the Ottoman Turks. After the First Balkan War, a second was fought months later between members of the Balkan League itself. The final straw came June 28, 1914, when a Serbian assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Austria-Hungary immediately issued ultimatums to Serbia, but when they declared war on Serbia July 28, 1914, Russia mobilized for war as well. The Germans mobilized in response to Russia on July 30, and the French, still smarting from the Franco-Prussian War, mobilized for war against Germany. The British also declared war on Germany on August 4. Thus, in the span of one week, six nations had declared war, half of which had no interest in the Balkans. Though nobody can know for sure, it's altogether possible that World War I would have still broken out even if Franz Ferdinand had not been murdered. Regardless of events in the Balkans, Germany was already bellicose, France and Austria were concerned and involved, Russia was outwardly aggressive but also dealing with internal dissatisfaction, Italy was poised on the brink, and Britain was desperate to remain aloof but committed to its continental allies and a host of smaller countries clamoring for independence. Europe was too explosive to be rescued by any but the best of diplomats, if at all. At the same time, it's important not to underestimate the importance of Franz Ferdinand's assassination. In many respects, it was a momentous occasion, both because of the nationality of the conspirators and the context and manner in which it occurred, as well as the disturbing facts that came to light during the subsequent trial. The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: The History and Legacy of the Event That Triggered World War I chronicles the history and legacy of one of the 20th century's most important events. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand like never before, in no time at all.

Full story of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914, an act that exploded Europe into World War I.

Examining the origins of the First World War has been called "the ultimate who dunnit". In his book, published on the anniversary of the assassination said to have triggered it, John Zametica, focusing on the Habsburg Empire and the Balkans, re-examines the evidence. This leads to a number of radical new interpretations and some remarkable revelations about the events that in 1914 led to the outbreak of the First World War. The centenary of WW1 has spawned many new books on the subject. Utilizing a wide range of Serbo-Croat and German-language sources, the author overturns most of what we have been led to believe about the respective culpability of Austria-Hungary and Serbia for the outbreak of war. He also re-examines the role of Russia and Germany in this. The reader is left to conclude that Britain was drawn reluctantly into the war in defence of two small countries, one on each side of Europe, which had been attacked simultaneously by Austria-Hungary and Germany without provocation. In Folly and Malice John Zametica reveals that: * The First World War was kick-started by an ailing Austria-Hungary which believed that waging a successful war was the only way it could remain a Great Power; * This empire, with its eleven squabbling nations, and with its statesmen unwilling to contem-plate any meaningful internal reform, was the real powder keg of Europe; * Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian Heir to the Throne normally portrayed as a likely enlightened reformer of the Empire, was actually seeking to destroy the Dualist political compromise between Austria and Hungary and replace it with his own centralist autocracy; * Serious antagonism between the Austria-Hungary and Serbia really only began as late as 1906 and had on the whole almost nothing to do with the supposedly crucial 'South Slav' question; * Gavrilo Princip, Franz Ferdinand ́s assassin, was impelled to do his deed by a Yugoslav ideology conceived and propagated from within Habsburg Croatia, not independent Serbia; * The notorious Black Hand, the secret Serbian officers' organisation, far from planning to assassinate Franz Ferdinand during his visit to Bosnia, was in May-June 1914 busy plotting to overthrow civilian rule in Serbia and replace it with a military-led dictatorship; * The famous Serbian warning to Vienna, intended to thwart Franz Ferdinand ́s assassination, was the work of Lieutenant-Colonel Apis, the leader of the Black H∧ * In July 1914, Vienna also wanted its 'good' war against Serbia so as to dislodge Russia from the Balkans and thus secure complete regional hegemony for itself. Germany, harbouring ambitions for continental supremacy, approved and encouraged Austria-Hungary ́s Balkan adventure. Both powers consciously risked the probability of a wider international conflict.