Archduke Franz Ferdinand Essay

One Man Vs. the Fate of the World

Many historians will claim that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand made no difference in the creation and onset of the destructive and detrimental path that was World War 1, yet there exists a small, but noteworthy belief that the affair was actually quite significant. In fact, it is believed that his assassination was the main reason the War even began in the first place.While riding with his wife through the European city of Sarajevo, the motorist took a wrong turn while on their way to visit the City Hall. Realising his mistake, the motorist began to try and reverse the car, but as a result, the car stalled. Unbeknownst to the group, a member of the Terrorist organization “The Black Hand” - Gravilo

Princip - had seen the malfunction, and set the gears of history in motion as he capitalized on this fateful event. (Cooper 2) Once again, many would argue the idea that the Archduke of Austria being the only real significant contribution to the war (and to be fair, it seems reasonable) yet many fail to realize that had this man not been assassinated, the world we live in now would be lacking in a global conflict altogether. Unfortunately, the events of the past are permanent, and the War did begin, but it is safe to say that the Great War would have been almost completely unfathomable had this event not occurred. This is all credited to Archduke Ferdinand’s incredibly strong ties to his nation, the resulting alliances being enacted, and the domino effect which resulted.
To begin, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was royalty, a valuable asset to the country of Austria-Hungary (Winder 5-6).

Tensions between the country and Serbia were already incredibly high due to previous conflicts (Mombauer 2), but for one of their citizens to assassinate the prized jewel of the country, especially in a time of incredible apprehension, was to enact a declaration of war, and that is exactly what transpired next. The country of Austria-Hungary took this opportunity of deceit to declare war on the neighboring country of Serbia. Despite the fact that it took 5 entire days to approve of the declaration (History.com Staff), the deed was done, and the first of many future conflicts came to light. These events would have never taken place if the Archduke had not been assassinated, nevertheless the outbreak of the first ever World War. This directly contradicts the notion that the Archduke’s death had a miniscule, if not any impact on the formation of the first World War. For the Archduke not to have been assassinated would lead to the lack of significant conflict, which would mean the need for any sort of declaration of conflict to prove useless. By this logic, his death would be needed to ignite the first fires of the Great War. It is made clear that the Archduke is the only cause of the Great War, as nothing could be quite as significant under these very special

circumstances.
As previously stated, alliances were formed in order to increase power between two or more countries when faced with conflict. Austria-Hungary allied with Germany, while Serbia joined along with that of Russia (Mulligan 1). After this, the Germans enacted war upon the Russians, with France and Belgium following suit. Declaration of war after declaration of war, the countries began grouping up, making sure their “team” was ready for the conflict. Allies are acknowledged, betrayed, forgotten, and yet this is only the prologue of the Great War that is to come. Had the Archduke still been living, there would be no need for Austria to declare war, which undeniably lead to the “partnering up” of the various European countries. This once again counters the claim regarding the aforementioned assassination and as to how it had little to no impact on World War 1. This is acknowledged when the entire situation is brought into perspective. Every subsequent event regarding his death is interconnected very tightly, and for the beginning of the chain to chain to be removed, that would be leading to a lack of a chain in general. This entire sequence of events is a large cause and effect, relying on a single chance of fate , in this case his assassination, to determine the outcome (the events leading to World War 1).
The alliances created triggered an event known as the “Domino Effect” in which the initial conflicting countries allied, and declared war with each other, introducing many other countries into the mix until finally all nations on the globe were included(Mombauer 1). Allies would stand up to defend other allies, and in effect they declared war, which made the other conflicting countries find an ally, to which they declared war. The acknowledgments of conflict wouldn’t cease until every country was to be involved in some way. The Archduke of Austria was indirectly responsible for this, yet had Gravilo Princip never fired the fateful shot into his car, this event, as well as the War in it’s entirety would have been completely avoided.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the catalyst of the first ever conflict between all countries globally. He is the only catalyst for the Great War, regardless of previous tensions/ political conflicts the countries had in the past. Austria-Hungary wouldn’t have attacked Serbia without cause, and they promptly used the assassination as an excuse. Without the declaration of war, there would not have been the formation of alliances, and in turn, the domino effect. Essentially, had it not been for that fateful day, June 28, 1914, World War 1 and its precursor events would never had even occurred. It's simply not feasible. His presence was the difference between peace or conflict on the globe.