OH darn I missed copying and pasting the very first word in the paragraph. The “It”. Sorry folks. Lol
His death was an excuse for war, not the cause. If it was not this, it would have been something else.
Those that led the world into WWI had no concept of what was at stake and they (and their nations) paid a great price for their arrogance.
Germany was so prepared for war with France they would have instigated something .....
What if Spartacus had had a Piper Cub?
Like nearly everyone else on this thread I think the nations of
Europe were all so prepared for war by 1914 that any number of
incidents would have served as a trip wire.
Where did I put my time machine?
It would have still happened. Troops were already massed by idiot rulers for a little fun adventure. Something else would have lit the fuse.
I've had bad cars before, but not that bad.
“that Princip took his chance and shot the Archduke dead.”
Really? Probably not.
Thick heavy coat, rather anemic round, his wife shot in the arm, reports of their improvement - followed by the death of both.
Somebody needed and excuse and made SURE they had one.
If he had lived, the Orthodox Serbs would still feel the heat from the German-Austrian empire. They would have plead to Orthodox Mother Russia for protection, Russia would have mobilized and Germany would have declared war on Russia.
The war would still have been on.
My theory is that, if the Archduke had LIVED, they would have found something else to make war over. It’s human nature, and the political map of the world (The aging empires, interbreeding of the royals, the rise of communism, etc)was just itchin’ to blow up over something.
JMO...
Highly recommend the BBC series “Fall of Eagles” if you have 13 plus hours to watch each episode. Covers the destruction of the 3 Eagles, Germany, Austro-Hungary and Tsarist Russia— and includes the fact that the Germans financed Lenin to destroy the Tsarist government. The Bolshevik revolution was financed by Germany (and...uh certain well known US and German bankers with certain... uh, interests— without being particularly bigoted to the core group of revolutionists and the failure of the useful idiot Socialists).
To think that the current Russian govt. seeks to restore the old Stalinist borders and the old CCCP provinces is really quite frightening and should be to the Balkans, Lithuania, Poland and any former “province”. And what is the “flexibility” promised by obamaumao to Medvedev, Putin’s butt boy? Whose butt boy is obamaumao (for that matter whose is he NOT one to? sic).
"I say then, whats going on back here? Rather a bully bit of nonsense there Duke, what what?"
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Lives!: A World without World War I
It's available on Amazon, and Amazon Kindle for $12. I read it, but think the writer romantizes the idea that everything would have been perfect with no assassination... But at 258 pages, it covered most everything.
Another great read is In Other Trenches: Alternate Outcomes of the First World War, only available on Kindle but only $4.00.
Finally, there is a discussion forum on alternative history with some really exceptional posters (although some tend to be liberal) here.
One lesson learned from the assassination was to never ride in an open convertible.
Oh, wait...
War would probably have been delayed. The archduke was apparently very opposed to provoking a war and had he survived, would have used his influence to prevent it. Certainly when he would have succeeded the throne in 1916 he would have done his best to keep Austria out of it. However, Germany was positively spoiling for a fight. They knew France wanted Alsace Lorraine back, and they knew it was only a matter of time before a rapidly industrialising Russia caught up with and then surpassed Germany. Moltke and the Kaiser wanted this war to happen sooner rather than later whilst they perceived that Germany still had the advantage.
On June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were murdered by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo. The assassination set off a chain of events that led to the outbreak of the First World War in Europe and affirmed famed German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck’s prediction that the next great war would start because of some “foolish thing in the Balkans.”
The chessboard diplomacy that followed in the next month before hostilities broke out is brilliantly chronicled by military historian Gordon Martel in his book, The Month That Changed the World: July 1914. Focusing on the decisions of heads of state and ambassadors, as well as military men of the European countries involved, Martel posits that war was not inevitable as many historians have claimed.