Appendix V – The Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Any list of the causes of the First World War invariably includes the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. While researching my trilogy of novels – Shattered Crowns – following the lives of the royalties from 1913 to the Treaty of Versailles, however, it became increasingly apparent that, rather than being an unfortunate event which sparked the war, the Archduke’s murder was probably deliberately staged in order to provoke the conflict, and ultimately to destroy the three most powerful autocracies in Europe: Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Apart from the effect of his assassination, Archduke Franz Ferdinand appears largely as a footnote in history but, looking more deeply into his life, several interesting facts come to light. While his short temper and morganatic marriage to a lady-in-waiting are often cited as reasons why he appeared so unpopular in Vienna, it is clear that his forward-looking views were the real reason why he was hated and feared by the most powerful ministers. At the time, Austria-Hungary comprised many different ethnic groups, several of which resented being ruled from Vienna. Unlike many of his contemporaries in the Austrian Court, Franz Ferdinand was well-travelled and had taken the opportunity to study alternative forms of government. It was his intention, on becoming Emperor, to give greater autonomy to each of the different groups and, while maintaining the royal traditions, to create a sort of Federal Austria-Hungary similar to that of the United States, but with an emperor rather than a president. He was also eager to maintain peace in Europe by forming stronger ties with Russia and, only a week before his murder, he was paid an informal visit by Kaiser Wilhelm who agreed to this plan, which was totally at odds with the views of many senior ministers – and bankers and industrialists – who were desperately seeking an excuse to invade Serbia, which would almost inevitably lead to war with Russia.
It was also widely known that Franz Ferdinand had already drawn up lists of ministers who would replace the present incumbents and he had stated that he would refuse to be crowned King of Hungary until a fair system of suffrage was implemented.
Naturally, the possibility of his becoming Emperor gave rise to a good deal of anxiety among the ministers and that anxiety was surely heightened in the winter of 1913-1914 when his aged Great Uncle Emperor Franz Josef suffered a serious and potentially fatal bout of bronchitis. It was during this time that the Archduke received an invitation to review the troops in Sarajevo, Bosnia (a territory annexed by Austria in 1908) the following June, and to add an extra incentive, the invitation was extended to his wife who, until then, had been frequently humiliated and snubbed due to her lowly origins. This was the Archduke’s first opportunity to attend an official public engagement with his beloved Sophie and by coincidence or design it was set to take place on their 14th wedding anniversary. The date – June 28th – also coincided with a Serbian National Holiday so the arrival of the heir to the Austrian throne would almost certainly arouse antipathy among the Serbs. In the days leading up to the visit, Franz Ferdinand stated many times that he suspected that he was about to be murdered, probably by Freemasons. Nonetheless, he and Sophie travelled to Sarajevo and received a warm welcome from the crowds until an unsuccessful assassination attempt disrupted the planned visit. Franz Ferdinand and Sophie decided to visit the wounded in hospital before leaving the city, but, strangely considering the tension in the city and the possibility of further attacks, they were again driven in an open-car with no armed escort or military presence, allowing Gavrilo Princip to step out from the edge of the road and fire point-blank at his victims.
The crime was said to be the work of the ‘Black Hand’ – a Serbian terrorist group. I have yet to discover any other successful terrorist activities carried out by this group. Moreover, it was said to comprise senior military and political figures. Why then would they employ a tubercular boy, who had never fired a pistol before, for so important a task? History is filled with ‘patsies’ and I strongly suspect that Gavrilo Princip was one of them. With the death of the Archduke, however, a much larger plan could be set in motion.
The discontent, which Franz Ferdinand’s and the Kaiser’s plans would have prevented, was exacerbated by the horrors of the war. Within a few years, the three major autocracies were destroyed and access to the Russian oilfields, the ‘grain basket’ of the Ukraine, the thriving German chemical industry and the economies of Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary was available to foreign industrialists and bankers.
Recommended Reading:
Alexander Mikhailovich, Always A Grand Duke (Farrar & Reinhart 1933)
Alice, Countess of Athlone For my Grandchildren (Evans 1979)
Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
Aronson, Theo Crowns in Conflict (Salem House 1986)
Aronson, Theo The King In Love (Guild in association with John Murray 1988)
Bennett Daphne Queen Victoria’s Children (Victor Gollancz 1980)
Buxhoeveden, Baroness Sophie The Life & Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna (Longmans 1928)
Croft, Christina Most Beautiful Princess (Hilliard & Croft 2008)
Croft, Christina Shattered Crowns: The Scapegoats (CreateSpace 2011)
Croft, Christina Shattered Crowns: The Sacrifice (CreateSpace 2012)
Croft, Christina Shattered Crowns: The Betrayal (CreateSpace 2012)
Dehn, Lili The Real Tsaritsa (1922)
Duff, David Victoria Travels (Frederick Muller 1970)
Fulford, Roger (Editor) Beloved Mama (Evans 1981)
Fulford, Roger (Editor) Your Dear Letter (Evans 1971)
Longford, Elizabeth Victoria R.I. Pan 1966
Longford, Elizabeth Louisa, Lady in Waiting (Jonathan Cape 1979)
Maria Pavlovna, Grand Duchess Things I Remember (Cassell 1930)
Marie, Queen of Roumania The Story of My Life (Cassell 1935)
Marie Louise, Princess – My Memories of Six Reigns (Evans Brothers 1956)
Mallet, Victor Life With Queen Victoria – Marie Mallet’s letters from court 1887-1901 (John Murray 1968)
Massie, Robert K. Nicholas & Alexandra (Victor Gollancz 1968)
Matson, John Dear Osborne (Hamish Hamilton 1981)
Maylunas, Andrei & Mironenko, Sergei A Lifelong Passion (Doubleday 1997)
Nelson, Michael Queen Victoria & the Discovery of the Riviera (Tauris Parke 2001)
Packard, Jerrold Victoria’s Daughters (Sutton 1998)
Pakula, Hannah An Uncommon Woman Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1985
Paléologue, Maurice An Ambassadors Memoirs (Hutchinson 1923)
Ponsonby, Frederick (editor) - The Letters of the Empress Frederick (Macmillan 1928)
Ponsonby, Sir Frederick Recollections of Three Reigns (Eyre & Spottiswood 1961)
Pope Hennessy, James Queen Mary (George Allen & Unwin 1959)
Pope Hennessy (Editor) Queen Victoria at Windsor & Balmoral (Allen & Unwin 1959)
Ramm Agatha Beloved & Darling Child (Sutton 1990)
Reid Michaela Ask Sir James (Hodder & Stoughton 1987)
Rohl, John C.G., Warren, Martin, & Hunt, David Purple Secret (Bantam 1998)
St. John-Neville, Barry Life at the Court of Queen Victoria (Salem House 1985)
Topham Alice A Distant Thunder (New Chapter Press 1992)
Tyler-Whittle, Michael Sydney The Last Kaiser: A biography of Wilhelm II, German Emperor & King of Prussia (Times Books 1977)
Vyrubova, Anna Memories of the Russian Court (Macmillan 1923)
* * *
[·] To lessen the confusion, within the family they were generally known by nicknames (e.g. Ducky, Ena, and Patsy), or diminutives (Thora, Toria, Vicky).
[·] See Appendix II
[·] Alice’s husband, Louis was styled His Grand Ducal Highness but raised to a ‘Royal Highness’ in England by Queen Victoria at the time of his marriage. The title was effective in Britain but not in Hesse.
[·] See Chapter 8
[¨] See Chapter 28
[·] At the time, the Prince Consort was reported to have died of typhoid. Please see Appendix I for an alternative view.
[·] Such was her popularity and beauty that it became fashionable for upper class women to imitate ‘the Alexandra limp.’
[·] Later, Lenchen’s younger sister, Louise, did in fact marry a subject – the Marquis of Lorne – and though she had Queen Victoria’s full support, the marriage was the subject of much controversy at the time.
[·] By rights, following the death of Prince Albert and his elder brother, the Duchy of Coburg would have passed to Bertie, the Prince of Wales, but since he was heir to the British throne, his parents deemed it more sensible to let Affie inherit the title. The family moved to Palais Edinburgh in Coburg in 1889.
[·] see Chapter 9
[·] See Appendix III
[·] Recent research has suggested that the letters were, in fact, sent as blackmail by an abandoned mistresses.
[¨] See chapter 18
[·] See chapter 28
[·] The wife and children of a morganatic marriage are not allowed to inherit the husband’s rank or titles.
[·] see chapter 16
[·] Mackenzie was in fact Scottish.
[¨]See chapter 18
[·] see chapter 15
[·] see chapter 17
[¨] see chapter 21
[·] A reference to the youngest and most beloved child of the Biblical Jacob.
[·] The scandal involved a police raid of a male brothel on Cleveland Street, allegedly patronised by many aristocrats. The government was accused of covering up the scandal to protect the wealthy and influential clients.
[·] see chapter 18
[·] see chapter 21
[·] see chapter 21
[¨] see chapter 21
[·] Three during Queen Victoria’s life time, the fourth after her death.
[·] The procession comprised sixteen carriages in all. The Queen’s granddaughters travelled as follows: eighth carriage: Princess Alice of Albany with Princess Victoria Eugenie (Ena) of Battenberg; ninth carriage: Princess Victoria Patricia (Patsy) of Connaught, Princess Victoria (Thora) of Schleswig-Holstein; tenth carriage: Princess Beatrice (Baby Bee) of Coburg, Princess Margaret (Daisy) of Connaught, Princess Aribert of Anhalt (Marie Louise); eleventh carriage: The Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Meiningen (Charlotte), Princess Frederick Charles of Hesse (Mossy), Princess Adolph of Schaumburg-Lippe (Moretta), The Hereditary Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (Sandra), Princess Louis of Battenberg (Victoria of Hesse); twelfth carriage: Princess Charles of Denmark (Maud); thirteenth carriage: Princess Victoria of Wales (Toria), The Princess Henry of Prussia (Irène); fourteenth carriage: Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, Grand Duchess Serge of Russia (Ella), The Grand Duchess of Hesse (Ducky).
[¨] see chapter 30
[·] Queen Victoria herself was an avid reader, though her taste in books did not always live up to the more intellectual Vicky’s expectations. See Appendix IV
[¨] see chapter 26
[·] see chapter 28
[·] In 1945, after years of ill-health, Feo committed suicide by putting her head into a gas oven.
[·] See Appendix I
[·] Princess Alice of Battenberg had married Andrew, the brother of the Crown Prince in 1906. She was the mother of the present Duke of Edinburgh.
[·] The usual explanation for Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s murder appears somewhat suspect. Please see Appendix V
[¨] There is evidence to suggest that many of the regiments were actually bribed by foreign agents to mutiny. (See Shattered Crowns: The Betrayal by Christina Croft)
[·] Emperor Franz Joseph had died in 1916 and was succeeded by his great-nephew, Karl.
* * *
[1]
References
Pope Hennessy, James Queen Mary (George Allen & Unwin 1959) © Estate of James Pope-Hennessy. Reprinted by permission
[2] Marie Louise, Princess My Memories of Six Reigns (Evans Brothers 1956)
[3] Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[4] ibid
[5] ibid
[6] ibid
[7] ibid
[8] ibid
[9] ibid
[10] ibid
[11] Buxhoeveden, Baroness Sophie The Life & Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna (Longmans 1928)
[12] ibid
[13] Paléologue, Maurice An Ambassadors Memoirs (Hutchinson 1923)
[14] Fulford, Roger (editor) Your Dear Letter: Private Correspondence of Queen Victoria and the Crown Princess of Prussia, 1865-71 (Evans Bros. 1971)
[15] Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[16] Ponsonby, Frederick (editor) - The Letters of the Empress Frederick (Macmillan 1928)
[17] ibid
[18] Marie Louise, Princess My Memories of Six Reigns (Evans Brothers 1956)
[19] Ponsonby, Frederick (editor) - The Letters of the Empress Frederick (Macmillan 1928)
[20] Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[21] ibid
[22] ibid
[23] ibid
[24] ibid
[25] Fulford, Roger (editor) Your Dear Letter: Private Correspondence of Queen Victoria and the Crown Princess of Prussia, 1865-71 (Evans Bros. 1971)
[26]Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[27] Buxhoeveden, Baroness Sophie The Life & Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna (Longmans 1928)
[28] Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[29] Marie of Roumania At Grandmama’s Court (McCall’s Magazine 1926) Reprinted by courtesy of www.tkinter.org
[30] Marie Louise, Princess My Memories of Six Reigns (Evans Brothers 1956)
[31] Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[32] Fulford, Roger (editor) Your Dear Letter: Private Correspondence of Queen Victoria and the Crown Princess of Prussia, 1865-71 (Evans Bros. 1971)
[33] Marie of Roumania The Story of My Life (Saturday Evening Post 1933) – ) Reprinted by courtesy of www.tkinter.org
[34] Bennett Daphne Queen Victoria’s Children (Victor Gollancz 1980)
[35] Marie Louise, Princess My Memories of Six Reigns (Evans Brothers 1956)
[36] Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[37] Reid Michaela Ask Sir James (Hodder & Stoughton 1987) ©Michaela Reid. Reprinted by permission.
[38] Marie Louise, Princess My Memories of Six Reigns (Evans Brothers 1956)
[39] ibid
[40] ibid
[41] ibid
[42] Fulford, Roger (editor) Your Dear Letter: Private Correspondence of Queen Victoria and the Crown Princess of Prussia, 1865-71 (Evans Bros. 1971)
[43] Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[44] Marie of Roumania The Story of My Life (Saturday Evening Post 1933) – ) Reprinted by courtesy of www.tkinter.org
[45] Ladies Treasury 2 March 1884
[46] Marie of Roumania The Story of My Life (Saturday Evening Post 1933) – ) Reprinted by courtesy of www.tkinter.org
[47] Pope Hennessy, James Queen Mary (George Allen & Unwin 1959) © Estate of James Pope-Hennessy. Reprinted by permission.
[48]Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[49] ibid
[50] Wilhelm II, Kaiser My Early Life (George H. Doran & Company 1926)
[51] Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[52] ibid
[53] ibid
[54] ibid
[55] Fulford, Roger (editor) Beloved Mama (Evans 1981)
[56] Pons
onby, Frederick (editor) - The Letters of the Empress Frederick (Macmillan 1928)
[57] Wilhelm II, Kaiser My Early Life (George H. Doran & Company 1926)
[58] Buxhoeveden, Baroness Sophie The Life & Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna (Longmans 1928)
[59] Fulford, Roger (editor) Dearest Child: Letters between Queen Victoria & the Princess Royal 1858-1961 (Evans Brothers 1964)
[60] Fulford, Roger (editor) Your Dear Letter: Private Correspondence of Queen Victoria and the Crown Princess of Prussia, 1865-71 (Evans Bros. 1971)
[61] Tennyson, Alfred Dedicatory Poem to the Princess Alice (1879)
[62] Ponsonby, Sir Frederick Recollections of Three Reigns (Eyre & Spottiswood 1961)
[63] Nelson, Michael Queen Victoria & the Discovery of the Riviera (Tauris Parke 2001).
[64] McGonagall, William The Death of Prince Leopold (1884)
[65] Carroll, Lewis. ALS 12 June 1889 (unpublished). Reprinted by permission http://www.roydavids.com/details.asp?item=338.
[66] Wakeling, Edward, ed. Lewis Carroll's Diaries: The Private Journals of Chales Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), Volume 8 (London: The Lewis Carroll Society, 2004): 596. Reprinted by permission.
[67] The Letters of the Empress Frederick
[68] Fulford, Roger (editor) Beloved Mama (Evans 1981)
[69] Marie of Roumania The Story of My Life (Saturday Evening Post 1934) Reprinted by courtesy of www.tkinter.org
[70] ibid
[71] Ponsonby, Frederick (editor) The Letters of the Empress Frederick (Macmillan 1928)
[72] Pakula, Hannah An Uncommon Woman (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1985)
[73] Rohl, John C.G., Warren, Martin, & Hunt, David Purple Secret (Bantam 1998)
[74]Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Biographical Sketch and Letters (John Murray 1884)
[75] Fulford, Roger (editor) Beloved Mama (Evans 1981)
[76] Buxhoeveden, Baroness Sophie The Life & Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna (Longmans 1928)
[77] Reid, Michaela Ask Sir James (Hodder & Stoughton 1987) ©Michaela Reid. Reprinted by permission
[78] Tennyson, Alfred On the Jubilee of Queen Victoria (1889)
Queen Victoria's Granddaughters 1860-1918 Page 32