Who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914?

Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Princip, a Bosnian Serb student and member of Young Bosnia, also fatally shot Franz Ferdinand’s wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.

Princip was one of several conspirators positioned along the motorcade route. Earlier that morning, Nedeljko Čabrinović had thrown a grenade at the Archduke’s car, but the attack failed. Later, after the motorcade took a wrong turn and stopped near Princip, he fired two shots with a pistol at close range.

The assassination triggered the July Crisis. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia, issued an ultimatum, and declared war after the diplomatic dispute escalated. Alliance commitments then drew Germany, Russia, France, and Britain into the conflict, turning a regional crisis into World War I.

A common mix-up is identifying Čabrinović as the assassin: he attempted the earlier bombing, but Princip carried out the fatal shooting. “Gavrilo Princep” is also a misspelling; the accepted surname is Princip.