A Bungled Bombing, A Wrong Turn, and A Stalled Car

Though imperfect, the assassination plans of Serbia’s secret society managed to set Europe on a path to war

One hundred and six years ago, the world was thrust towards a global conflict of the likes that had never been seen - a war to end all wars. Undoubtedly, many are familiar with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. That fateful moment on June 28, 1914 when two bullets that struck the Archduke of Austria and Duchess of Hohenberg turned the world upside down. What you may not know is that the shots fired by Gavrilo Princip were not the first attempts to assassinate Ferdinand in Sarajevo that day.

Modeled after the Italian Carbonari, the Black Hand had come together as a secret society to unify southern Slavs against an encroaching Austro-Hungarian presence in Bosnia. Dedicated to creating a ‘Greater Serbia,’ the group opted for terrorist action and local revolutionary movements, such as Young Bosnia, as their tactics of choice. 

Franz Ferdinand, a known advocate of increased federalism was also believed to support the organization of Slavic lands within the Austro-Hungarian empire into a third crown. This frightened those in and supportive of the Black Hand, as surely this would squelch any Serbian irredentist aspirations. For his position, the Archduke was selected as a target.

Six assassins arrived in Sarajevo with plans to murder Franz Ferdinand. The date itself contained significance to the group and provided the inspiration to move forward with their plot. June 28 is the date of the feast of St. Vitus. Known as the Vidovdan in Serbia, it commemorates the Battle of Kosovo and successful assassination of an Ottoman Sultan by a Serb in 1389. It is a timeless story and glorifies the heroic ideals of the Kosovo Myth – a Serbian nation-building legend that constitutes a portion of modern Serbian national identity and politics today. 

The morning of June 28, 1914, the assassins were strategically positioned along Ferdinand and Sophie’s motorcade route. Security arrangements had been sparse as fears of offending the local citizenry left protection to the local Sarajevo police – only a portion of the police force were on active duty as the Archduke’s visit occurred on a Sunday.

At 10 a.m., as the motorcade passed the first assassin, Muhamed Mehmedbasic, the pressure became too much. Mehmedbasic had been working as a carpenter when he joined the Black Hand. His strong steady hands trembled as he stood on the Austro-Hungarian Bank. A police officer, he claimed, had stood near him. Fearing that if he reached for his grenade, the policeman would interfere and could jeopardize the plot, he failed to take any action. Ferdinand’s motorcade passed freely. But the Black Hand had prepared contingencies. All along the Apple Quay, they had positioned themselves to ensure their deed was carried out. 

Next in line for the motorcade was Vaso Cubrilovic. The youngest of the conspirators, Cubrilovic was just seventeen years old. Perhaps it was his youth or perhaps the significance of the moment, likely the combination of both; he too watched passively as Franz Ferdinand passed by. 

Ten minutes later, as the motorcade crawled along the Milijacka River, the third assassin, Nedeljko Cabrinovic waited armed with a bomb. The graphic worker with a hard upbringing had grown to hate class exploiters. The years of anger and frustration likely boiled up in him as he hurled his explosive at Franz Ferdinand’s car. It struck the car’s folded convertible top, bounced off, and fell into the street. The bomb, unbeknownst to Cabronovic, had an extended time detonator. It would explode under the trailing car wounding a group of people. 

Cabrinovic panicked, swallowed a cyanide capsule and threw himself into the Milijacka River in an attempt to end his life and avoid capture. Unfortunately, the cyanide was expired. As a result, Cabrinovic became violently ill. As for the Milijacka River, the summer months had been hot and dry leaving the river at a meager four to five inches in depth. Unable to drown himself, he would be taken into custody.

Three men positioned to assassinate the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and all three had failed. However, it was if fate was not to let Ferdinand escape. After delivering his speech at their reception, a speech in which the Archduke noted that the people of Sarajevo had “an expression of joy at the failure of the attempt at assassination,” Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie would come face to face with Gavrilo Princip. 

A change in plans to see the victims of the earlier bombing at a Sarajevo hospital, a breakdown in communication regarding the new motorcade new route, and the stalling of the Archduke’s car just feet away from Princip would culminate with two shots, one to Ferdinand and the other to Sophie. By 11 a.m. they would both be dead and the world on a direct path to conflict.

The assassins would all be captured. The adults, considered then over the age of twenty, would be tried for high treason and hanged. Those considered minors, including Princip, Cabrinovic, Cubrilovic, and Mehmedbasic would receive the maximum sentence of twenty years in prison. Cabrinovic and Princip would die within a few years of the assassination from tuberculosis while imprisoned.

Two failures to act, a misplaced bomb, miscommunication to motorcade drivers, a wrong turn and a stalled car. Imperfections that somehow perfectly aligned on that Sunday in June 1914 resulting in the death of the man who was regarded as the most powerful and effective proponent for peace. The man who many historians believe would have likely managed the breakdown in diplomacy and communications that in his absence were mishandled and would ignite the First World War, sewing instability throughout Europe for decades to come.  

Recommended Read: The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World by Greg King and Sue Woolmans