100 years ago today Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. That was the event that quickly spiraled out of control and kicked off the First World War. The war that marked the intersection between 19th century ideas of military honor and glory with 20th century destructive technological advancements.
In the past, an infantry charge into a defense equipped with early rifles and muskets was doable thanks to the short range, inaccurate, slow to reload weapons. By 1914 those crappy defenses were replaced with machine guns. The result was mass slaughter on a scale never before imagined. Throw in poison gas, tanks, submarines, and airplanes and it’s pretty easy to see how the tactics were left in the dust.
I had never heard this, but apparently Archduke Ferdinand’s murder was a bit of a farce. He came into the city on a published itinerary, and seven assassins were waiting for him. One threw a grenade which went off behind the Archduke’s car. His driver STOPPED THE CAR to help the wounded. Meanwhile the would be killers, Princip included, failed to continue the attack and Ferdinand made it safely to his destination. Later, he and his wife tried to go to the hospital to visit people hurt in the attack. Their driver took a wrong turn and stopped to back up. It just so happened by total coincidence that Mr Gavrilo Princip randomly happened to be standing right where the car stopped. He still had his gun with him and he used it, murdering Ferdinand and his wife.
That stupidity lead to millions upon millions of deaths in one of the worst cases of human butchery we as a species have ever experienced.
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