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| Latin Bridge |
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| Plaque marking the spot from which the shot was fired |
Monday, 30 June 2014
28 June
As reported quite widely, 28 June 2014 (Saturday) marked the centenary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo by Gavriol Princip. I am no historian, but while this may have been one of the events in the lead up to World War 1, it was by no means the only factor involved, as discussed here and also here.
For Serbs, the day is also of significance, as it is Vidovdan. (St Vitus Day) .
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I would apply a discount to the sources of both the ABC (a foreign correspondent) and the Age (a journalist who writes on travel).
ReplyDeleteIt is a matter of record that on 5 July 1914 the Austrian ambassador came to the Kaiser with a confidential letter from Emperor Franz Josef stating that the assassination had been traced to a plot organized by the Serbian Government, and Serbia must be "eliminated". One might place a similar degree of reliance on that accusation as the intelligence relied on by President Bush the British Prime Minister to wage war on Iraq 90 years later. Not much has changed for those who fail to learn from history.
I recommend, for a short real narrative of how the war actually started- or rather was not stopped- , the final chapter of George Nicholas And Wilhelm, by Miranda Carter (2009), a book not motivated by desire to make yet another buck out of 1914.