Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip (July 25, 1894 (or 1895) - April 28, 1918) was a Bosnian Serb nationalist whose assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Countess Sophie in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, prompted the Austrian action against Serbia that led to World War I.
Born in Obljaj, Bosansko Grahovo, Bosnia, Princip was a member of the Serb group "Young Bosnia" (Mlada Bosna), which advocated Bosnia's unification with Serbia. The group was equipped with pistols and bombs supplied by the Black Hand, a secret society with links to some Serbian officers, and government officials although the government of Serbia had no knowledge of the plan. Austria set up a memorandum with unacceptable demands which were aiming at a refusal from Serbia. Much to Europe's surprise, Serbia accepted the conditions however Austria found its casus belli in Serbia's response which it judged insincere. Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.
Gavrilo and his six co-conspirators were inexperienced with weapons, and it was only due to a freakish set of coincidences that they were successful. The first member of the group attempted a shooting from an upstairs window, but the range on his gun was insufficient. The second member threw a bomb (or a stick of dynamite, according to some reports) at the car, but missed. The explosion destroyed the following car, killing its driver and wounding the passengers. The assassin tried to escape, but was beaten to death by the crowd. The next four never got a chance due to the heavy crowds, and it was beginning to look like the assassination would fail. However, Franz Ferdinand decided to visit the victims of the explosion in the hospital. Princip had gone to a nearby shop for a sandwich, apparently giving up, when he spotted Ferdinand's car as it drove past. After dashing up to the car, Princip shot Sophie in the stomach, and a second shot hit Ferdinand in the neck. They were driven to the governor's residence where they died from their wounds.
Princip being arrested after the shooting
Princip tried to kill himself first by ingesting cyanide, and then with his gun, but he vomitted the poison, and the gun was wrestled from his hand before he had a chance to fire another shot. Having been too young at the time of the assassination to face the death penalty, Princip received the maximum sentence of twenty years in prison, where he was held in harsh conditions worsened by the war. He died of tuberculosis of the bone on April 28, 1918.
The gun used by Princip was a Browning M 1910 semi-automatic pistol in 7.65x17mm (.32 ACP) caliber.