Today you're in luck, we have a two for one extravaganza! Two major events that took place during the 20th century happened on the same day, but obviously in different years. The first date we'll be looking at today, is June 28th, 1914. On this day 103 years ago, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie Chotek were assassinated, plunging the world into what is now known as World War I.
Though many know the name of Franz Ferdinand and that it was his death that kicked off World War I, not many know who Franz Ferdinand was. Why was he so important? A little background on Ferdinand, he was born on December 18th, 1863, his father, who would later become first in line to the throne of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, was Karl Ludwig. On July 1st, 1900, Ferdinand married Sophie Chotek, because of her low social standing, the Archduke's titles could not be passed to their children and they could not be an heir to the throne. Perhaps the most important day in Ferdinand's life, other than his assassination took place in 1889, when his cousin, the Crown Prince, committed suicide. This thrusted his father, Karl Ludwig to become first in line to the throne. With Ludwig's death of typhoid in 1896, Ferdinand became first in line to the throne of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.
On June 28th, 1914, the Archduke was in Sarajevo, Serbia for the purpose of reviewing the state of the military. Around 10AM, while driving through the city, an assassin associated with the Black Hand, which was a serb nationalist group, attempted to assassinate the Archduke by throwing a grenade at his car, he missed. About an hour later, another assassin named Gavrilo Princip, also associated with the Black Hand, approached the vehicle the Archduke and his wife were in, and fired a number of shots from just a few feet away, effectively killing them both. Though unknown at the time, the consequences of this assassination would be felt across the world.
With the Archduke dead, Austria-Hungary demanded assistance from the Serbian Government in investigating and prosecuting those responsible, however the Serbian government was slow to act, bordering on being uncooperative. With support of Germany, the AH Empire sent an ultimatum to Serbia, if they did not submit, diplomatic ties would be cut. Serbia with the support of Russia, which had the support of France, rejected the ultimatum. With the rejection of the ultimatum, the AH Empire, Germany, Serbia, Russia and France began to mobilize. On August 1st, Germany declared war on Russia, and on the 2nd, Germany and the Ottoman Empire entered into a secret alliance. On the 3rd, due to France not committing to remaining neutral, Germany declared war on France. Germany was hoping to use Belgium as a launching point into France, however Belgium was not offering Germany safe passage. On the 4th of August, Britain requested Germany to guarantee Belgium's neutrality, when Germany didn't respond, Britain declared war on Germany. On the 6th of August, the AH Empire declared war on Russia. Which had started with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the sides for World War 1 had been drawn, the violence and bloodshed that would follow, had never been seen in the history of the world.
The second event that we’ll be looking at took, which took place on June 28th in the year of 1919, is the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which officially marked the end of World War I. Though the fighting technically ended when the Central Powers signed armistice on November 11th, 1918, it took six months for a treaty to be written up and agreed upon.
Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States, who was drawn into World War I due the Americans killed on the Lusitania, the interception of the Zimmermann telegram, introduced a plan for peace early in 1918, which was called the Fourteen Points. The main purpose was to rebuild the European Economy, promote free trade, encourage self determination both in Europe and in European colonies around the world, to ensure the penalties on Germany would not be too harsh, and ensure world wide peace could be maintained through a newly formed organization called the League of Nations. Though most of the Allied powers joined the League of Nations, when it came to the Central Powers, Britain and France sought revenge. Germany forfeited all of its colonies, and its borders were reduced. The Austria-Hungarian Empire was split, and new nations were formed out of land they had to cede to the League of Nations. Though the Ottoman Empire was essentially erased, while most of the European Powers that had laid claim to parts of Anatolia were distracted with rebuilding their nations, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was able to retake Anatolia and form what is now known as modern day Turkey.
From left to right, Lloyd George of England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson
Similar to the Korean War that I touched on yesterday, World War I isn’t a very popular war to study or discuss, but in this case, its mostly because its viewed as a waste. Historians still argue over whether or not the war was 1. necessary, and 2. accomplished anything of value. The answer to both of those questions is a resounding no. The Treaty of Versailles did nothing to address what caused the war in the first place, as the harshness of the treaty led to significant blowback, and the rise of radicalism in Germany, which would be addressed with war in 20 years. During World War I, seventeen million people lost their lives, and for what? Nothing at all.
PS You're probably wondering why I have a picture of boxing fight to open the article? Well, on June 28th, 1997, in a fight with Evander Holyfield, in what might be the most polarizing moment in the history of boxing, Mike Tyson took a bite out of his opponents ear. Tyson was immediately disqualified, though he fought after that, his career never reached the level it had prior to that fight.