July 4, 2023 - Germany
Dresden - Military History Museum
A drawing of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was one of the key events that led to World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range while being driven through Sarajevo, the provincial capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, formally annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908.
The political objective of the assassination was to free Bosnia and Herzegovina of Austria-Hungarian rule and establish a common South Slav ("Yugoslav") state.
Despite an organized network and an assassination team of which Princip was a member, the attempt failed miserably. It was only by sheer bad luck that the Archduke's motorcade stopped unexpectly in front of a food shop where Princip happened to be standing. Princip stepped up to the footboard of the car, and shot Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range.
The assassination precipitated the July Crisis which led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. Russia and France were allied with Servia and declared war against Austria-Hungry. Germany was allied with Austria-Hungary so they came into the war. Fearing the possibility of Germany overrunning France, Britain entered the war on August 4th.
And so began World War I which was a world catastrophe. Not only were an estimated 9 million soldiers killed and 23 million wounded, plus up to 8 million civilian killed but WWI also led to the communist takeover of Russia. Then of course there is World War II which was basically a continuation of World War I.
Kaiser Wilhelm II who was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918.
Despite strengthening Germany's position as a great power by building a powerful navy and promoting scientific innovation, Wilhelm's tactless public statements and erratic foreign policy greatly antagonized the international community. In 1914, his diplomatic brinksmanship culminated in Germany's guarantee of military support to Austria-Hungary during the July Crisis which plunged all of Europe into World War I. A lax wartime leader, Wilhelm left virtually all decision-making regarding strategy and organisation of the war effort to the German Army's General Staff. By August 1916, this broad delegation of power gave rise to a de facto military dictatorship that dominated the country's policies for the rest of the conflict. Losing the support of his country's military and many of his subjects, Wilhelm was forced to abdicate during the German Revolution of 1918–1919 which converted Germany into an unstable democratic state known as the Weimar Republic. Wilhelm subsequently fled to exile in the Netherlands, where he remained during its occupation by Nazi Germany in 1940 before dying there in 1941.
A silver beaker given in honor of Max Immelmann's first aerial victory. Immelman was a German fighter pilot pioneer. He was the first aviator to receive the Pour le Mérite, colloquially known as the "Blue Max" in his honour, being awarded it at the same time as Oswald Boelcke. His name has become attached to a common flying tactic, the Immelmann turn, and remains a byword in aviation. He is credited with 15 aerial victories flying in Fokker Eindecker fighters. The Eindecker gave the German Army's Air Service a degree of air superiority from July 1915 until early 1916. This period, during which Allied aviators regarded their poorly armed aircraft as "Fokker Fodder", became known as the "Fokker Scourge".
Second Lieutenant G. R. McCubbin shot Immelmann down in a F.E.2b fighter/reconnaissance aircraft on 18 June 1916. Immelmann was 25.
