Did WW1 begin because of a few mistakes??

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]The train arrived at Sarajevo station at 9:40 in the morning. Six automobiles were waiting. By mistake, three local police officers got into the first car, displacing the security detail that should have been protecting the Archduke. It was the first of many small accidents that would add up to catastrophe.

[00:00:15]The motorcade proceeded along the Appel Quay towards City Hall. Franz Ferdinand and Sophie rode in an open convertible.

[00:00:22]Seven young assassins had positioned themselves along the route. They were members of a group called Young Bosnia, and they had been armed and trained by a Serbian terrorist organization known as the [music] Black Hand. The Black Hand was run by the head of Serbian military intelligence, Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević. [music] These were not random fanatics. They were part of a state-sponsored operation, though the Serbian government would later deny any knowledge.

[00:00:43]At approximately 10:15, one of the conspirators, Nedeljko Čabrinović, threw a bomb at the Archduke's car. The driver saw it coming and accelerated. The bomb bounced off the folded roof and exploded under the following vehicle, wounding several officers and bystanders.

[00:00:58]The procession should have been called off immediately. Any rational security protocol would have evacuated the Archduke and his wife to safety. But Franz Ferdinand was brave to the point of recklessness.

[00:01:08]>> [music] >> He insisted on continuing to City Hall for the official reception.

[00:01:11]At the town hall, the mayor began his prepared welcoming speech as if nothing had happened.

[00:01:17]Franz Ferdinand interrupted him with barely controlled fury. "So, this is how you welcome your guests? With bombs?"

[00:01:23]But he composed himself, the formalities were completed, and the couple prepared to leave.