Shot in Sarajevo: The Spark That Ignited WWI
Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb nationalist, shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The assassination was the second attempt that day; an earlier bomb had missed the Archduke's car and injured bystanders. Princip happened to be standing on the corner where the Archduke's driver took a wrong turn. He fired two shots from five feet away. Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23; Serbia's response was conciliatory but insufficient. Austria declared war on July 28. Russia mobilized to support Serbia. Germany declared war on Russia on August 1 and on France on August 3. Britain entered on August 4 when Germany invaded Belgium. Within six weeks of two gunshots, all of Europe was at war. The resulting conflict killed 20 million people and destroyed four empires.
June 28, 1914
112 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on June 28
Crusader forces broke the siege of Antioch by routing Kerbogha’s army in a decisive field battle. This victory shattered the coalition of local Muslim rulers an…
Muhammed VI seized the Nasrid throne in Granada by orchestrating the assassination of his brother-in-law, Ismail II. This violent coup fractured the ruling dyna…
Ottoman forces under Sultan Murad I defeated a Serbian-led coalition under Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic at the Battle of Kosovo on June 28, 1389 (June 15 in the J…
Edward wasn't supposed to be king. His father died at Wakefield without ever wearing the crown, and Henry VI still sat on the throne when nineteen-year-old Edwa…
Edward wasn't supposed to be king. He was 18 years old, six-foot-four, and had just watched his father's severed head get mounted on the gates of York with a pa…
France's outnumbered army crushed the Neapolitans and Spanish at Seminara in 1495, and the humiliation hit Gonzalo de Córdoba hard. He'd commanded that losing s…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.