FRANZ FERDINAND
(Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria)
An assassin had tried to kill the archduke and failed. In response to the complaints the mayor changed the archduke’s route the following day when he was successfully assassinated provoking World War I.
The Romanovs were the family of the Russian Czars while the Hapsburgs were the family names of the Emperors of Austria. The Austrian Army Chief of Staff hated the Russians and was constantly urging war against Czarist Russia. The archduke, the heir to the Austrian throne, was constantly arguing against attacking Russia. When Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, it triggered WWI. He was no longer able to have a voice against war, and Austria and Russia were soon at war. At the end of WWI, the Austrian Empire—an ally of Germany was broken up and the Russian Revolution ended the Romanov dynasty. The Archduke was absolutely right.
The assassination started a chain of events leading to World War I.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.
