Archduke Franz Ferdinand Research Paper

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One of the world’s most devastating and history-changing wars was caused by the assassination of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He was next in line for the throne to govern over the Austria-Hungary empire in the beginning of the 20th century, and he was rising at a very dangerous and tense time. In the early 1900s, Austria-Hungary was in a stressful conflict with the country of Serbia. The Serbians wanted the land of Bosnia, in which the Austria-Hungarian empire had annexed into their country, and Serbia wanted to unite all of the Serb ethnic groups to form a country known as “Greater Serbia,” (Bodden 19). They wanted to send a message to Austria-Hungary, and they wanted to show that they meant business. So, the Serbian government…show more content…
However, the Archduke had little reason why he had to be the target for an assassination. As said before, Ferdinand did not want to go to war with the Serbians, and he wanted to negotiate agreements once he had taken the throne (Preston). The Archduke did not do any specific action to anger the country of Serbia, and he was willing to talk out issues with the Serbian government. It was the country of Austria-Hungary that angered the Serbians, and it was the people in power at the time that did the actions to make Serbia upset. Although Ferdinand was rising to the throne, he was going to put out change for both Serbia and the empire, and he was going to sort out the problems to make everything alright. Also, Serbia wanted to unite the ethnic groups that originated in their country and combine their lands to make a bigger country known as “Greater Serbia,” and they wanted to show that change had to happen. The Serbians’ push for war needed something to make a change, and although he was next in line for the throne, Ferdinand had little reason to be the target because of his willingness to negotiate and solve the problems between Austria-Hungary and Serbia (Preston). This point helps to make the Archduke’s assassination unjustified, for there is not enough proof to aid the reasoning that the assassination was…show more content…
Some would say that since he was a part of the ruling government of the country that angered Serbia, he is also held responsible for the previous actions that the country took. However, he did not have a full say in what actions were to be taken by the government (Tharoor). He was rising to the throne, and at that point he is able to make his own decisions for the government. Although he might have had some influence, he is not primarily responsible for the previous actions Austria-Hungary had taken. Another counterargument is that the country of Serbia wanted change fast, and they found that one of the only ways to get the change was to go to war and violence. So, in effect, they targeted a person of interest to “takeout” to start this conflict to get change. Even though this could be true, they chose to assassinate the Archduke, who was going to try and find a solution. Also, even the government of Serbia warned Austria-Hungary and the government about what might happen since they were the ones supporting the attack (Preston). They did not want the Archduke dead either, but they warned Austria-Hungary about what might occur, and the empire chose not to use the information given. These reasons that might show that the assassination was justified,
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