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The funny magazine The Onion put out a book years ago entitled "Our Dumb Century" that has very funny articles about historical events.
One of the better articles: an interview (in 1913) with Archduke Ferdinand who simply brags about how important he is, even proclaiiming that "I am so important that, should I die, the nations of the world will rise up and slaughter each other in vengence and grief' (or such, I must paraphrase from memory).
In November 1918 there was a follow-up story in which it turns out the Archduke was alive and well, having merely been trapped in his basement for several years ("I am sorry that my absence has been so misunderstood and caused such grief").
This book also had the famous article (which got the Onion noticed in the first place) about JFK having been actually shot by 247 people on that day in Dallas (taking into account all the various theories).
Most important event? Hardly, in fact, it may not even belong in the top 100. Very overblown and overated for nearly a century. This killing was not the cause of the First World War, it was just used as an excuse, many other causes and situations were already in place. Ferdy could have lived a long and prosperous life, and still the Great War would have happened, with perhaps only the starting date changing.
Folks have touched on a lot of good points, especially the fabric of history side where one event leads to another in perpetuity. I do think that the assassination of Ferdinand was an important "trigger" event in 20th Century, but was as BlackShoe pointed out, merely the excuse to allow the war to happen.
The primary catalyst of WW1 would still have been the Balkans, regardless of whether or not Ferdinand died. Two weak and dieing empires controlled the region; Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans. The people there were pushing for independence and auotonomy and looking for any help they could find. Russia viewed the area as a natural ally and sphere of influence given the Orthodox and large ethnic Slav population. The war would have happened regardless, most likely when Serbian and Austro-Hungarian relations fell apart as they were in severe decline from 1909 on. From there the alliance system would have kicked in and there you are.
One of the more interesting footnotes for me is how vehemently Kaiser Wilhelm objected to the Austrians launching the war even after the assissination of Ferdinand. He made several direct appeals to Emporer Joseph to reconsider, but Joseph was swayed by hardliners and the war commenced. Even at the time, I think the powers that be viewed the war as something that could be avoided, while at the same time making extensive preperations for it. No one expected the Austrians to react the way they did.
Europe had been an armed camp for decades,like Fat Clemenza says in "The Godfather",they needed to get the bad blood out sometime.If it wasn't Ferdinand (who,ironically,was a bit of a reformer),it would have been a border dispute,a ship sinking,someone spilling wine at a state dinner,etc.The most important event of this century past was the development of the atomic bomb and its use.
The funny magazine The Onion put out a book years ago entitled "Our Dumb Century" that has very funny articles about historical events.
One of the better articles: an interview (in 1913) with Archduke Ferdinand who simply brags about how important he is, even proclaiiming that "I am so important that, should I die, the nations of the world will rise up and slaughter each other in vengence and grief' (or such, I must paraphrase from memory).
In November 1918 there was a follow-up story in which it turns out the Archduke was alive and well, having merely been trapped in his basement for several years ("I am sorry that my absence has been so misunderstood and caused such grief").
This book also had the famous article (which got the Onion noticed in the first place) about JFK having been actually shot by 247 people on that day in Dallas (taking into account all the various theories).
I liked the Onion's front page during the disputed 2000 election.
Here was one of their headlines [see rest of article and photo at link.]
Serbia Deploys Peacekeeping Forces To U.S.
November 15, 2000
BELGRADE–Serbian president Vojislav Kostunica deployed more than 30,000 peacekeeping troops to the U.S. Monday, pledging full support to the troubled North American nation as it struggles to establish democracy.
One of the more interesting footnotes for me is how vehemently Kaiser Wilhelm objected to the Austrians launching the war even after the assassination of Ferdinand. He made several direct appeals to Emperor Joseph to reconsider, but Joseph was swayed by hardliners and the war commenced. Even at the time, I think the powers that be viewed the war as something that could be avoided, while at the same time making extensive preperations for it. No one expected the Austrians to react the way they did.
I’m not certain as to the source for the above statements given they do not track with what actually is known to have happened. For over a year before the assassination of Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm had been privately stating his strong agreement with his military staff that a war with both France and Russia was a necessity. All that was needed was a pretext to launch it. The assassination of the Archduke, with whom Wilhelm was very close, gave Germany just that. In fact, both Helmut von Moltke, the Chief of the General Staff, and War Minister Erich von Falkenhayn urged the Kaiser to take advantage of this “golden opportunity” because such a chance might never arise again.
On July 3, 1914 the Kaiser communicated to his ambassador in Vienna that he should tell the Austrians that Germany was in full support of military action against Serbia. The Kaiser stated “Now or never. The Serbs must be disposed of, and that right soon!” On July 5th, the Kaiser met with the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, Count Ladislaus de Szogyeny. During this meeting, Count Szogyeny told the Kaiser that Austria was determined to move against Serbia, to which the Kaiser responded it should be done quickly so to “eliminate Serbia as a power factor in the Balkans”. This was followed on July 6th by a telegram sent to Emperor Franz Joseph and his ministers assuring the Austrians that Germany backed Austria’s plans to go after the Serbs. The telegram is now commonly referred to as the “blank check” because it amounted to Germany both giving Austria free reign to do as she pleased toward Serbia and pledging to defend Austria militarily should that become necessary.
Beginning on July 6th, the Kaiser departed Germany for a yachting holiday in Norway. From that date until July 23rd he sent repeated messages to his ministers to apply pressure on Austria to move quickly and invade Serbia. In addition, he was personally involved in efforts to recruit Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece into an alliance that would assist Germany in the likely war against Russia. As he put it “The task now is to muster every gun that is prepared to fight for Austria against the Slavs”. On July 25th, two days after Austria sent the war ultimatum to Serbia, the Kaiser ordered the High Seas Fleet to begin an immediate bombardment of Russian naval bases in the Baltic. The commander of the fleet, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, was able to convince the Kaiser to postpone this action until the Austrians actually moved on Serbia. As he sailed home to Germany on the evening of the 26th, the Kaiser declared “Austria must become preponderant in the Balkans…and at Russia’s expense; otherwise there will be no peace”. When informed that France, Britain, and Russia had all offered to help mediate the growing crisis, the Kaiser rejected them out of hand. Upon receiving word the Russian Foreign Minister had stated Russia would declare war on Austria if she invaded Serbia, his response was “Well then, let’s do it!”
The only time the Kaiser actually hesitated about going to war was during a brief period from July 28th through July 30th. After having convinced himself that Britain would stay neutral should hostilities commence between Germany, France and Russia, the Kaiser received word which seriously called that into question. The British government informed Germany’s ambassador in London that since Serbia’s response to the Austrian ultimatum was so positive, negotiations between Germany, Austria, and Serbia should begin immediately. If this did not happen, then Britain would be less than sympathetic to Austria, and by extension, Germany, taking up arms against Serbia. The Kaiser immediately issued a proposal by which Austria would only occupy Belgrade, basically holding it in custody until the Serbs complied with all Austrian demands. However, the proposal came to nothing, largely because Austria by then was completely committed to war and the Kaiser did little to dissuade them. A personal communication from his cousin King George V seemed to reassure the Kaiser that Britain would stay neutral. But then follow up communications from the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, contradicted the King. Grey made it clear Britain would feel obligated to intervene should Germany go to war against France. On July 30th, the Kaiser mad a half hearted attempt to resurrect his Belgrade proposal but once again it went nowhere because events had progressed too far to be stopped.
When news reached Berlin on July 31st that Russia had mobilized her armed forces, any lingering doubts the Kaiser may have had evaporated. The Kaiser sent a personal telegram to Franz Joseph in which he asked Austria to forego war against Serbia and instead concentrate all efforts against Russia. He also sent messages to the governments of Italy, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey calling on them to also take up arms against Russia. Germany mobilized on August 1st, and for a moment a series of telegrams received on that day from the German ambassador in London seemed to hold the promise that Britain might yet remain out of the fray. But when they were revealed to be the result of a miscommunication between British officials and the German embassy, the Kaiser pressed on. He firmly believed victory against both France and Russia could be achieved so swiftly that Britain would arrive on the scene too late to prevent it. And so the First World War began.
The statements made by the Kaiser along with the actions undertaken by his government in the month following Franz Ferdinand’s assassination hardly paint a portrait of a man trying to reign in Austria in hopes of preventing a full blown war. Instead, they make it clear the Kaiser was actively seeking conflict to, as he put it “settle accounts with France” and “liberate the Balkans from Russia for all time”. The Kaiser got exactly what he wanted. Unfortunately, it didn’t end the way he expected it to.
Most important event? Hardly, in fact, it may not even belong in the top 100. Very overblown and overated for nearly a century. This killing was not the cause of the First World War, it was just used as an excuse, many other causes and situations were already in place. Ferdy could have lived a long and prosperous life, and still the Great War would have happened, with perhaps only the starting date changing.
Exactly WW1 was primarily about stopping the germans gaining control of middle eastern oil. I don't know if you've seen this:
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