Gavrilo Princip, Sarajevo and World War I Essay -- Bosnia History Poli

Gavrilo Princip, Sarajevo and World War I In present-day Sarajevo alongside the Miljacka River there used to be commemorative footprints in the concrete sidewalk. Spanning across the Miljacka River was the Princip Bridge, named after the man who took not only the life of an Archduke, but also the lives of many more during World War I. Bismarck had predicted that, â€Å"Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans† would cause the war. He was partially correct. The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip did not cause World War I; instead it served as one of the contributing factors to the start of the war. This is why in Sarajevo, after 1990, there are no traces of the assassination. Street names have been changed, and Gavrilo Princip is now considered a criminal terrorist by Bosnia. Today it is known that â€Å"The assassination is a very sensitive topic† and that is is â€Å"hard to find people willing to talk candidly about Gavrilo Princip.† There were many reasons for the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Many of these reasons had to do with the relationship between the countries of Austria and Serbia. After the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 Austria was given the right to govern the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time, Bosnia consisted of Croats who are Roman Catholic, the ethnic Serbs who were Serb-Orthodox, and the Muslims who were left from when the Turks ruled populated the province of Bosnia. Unfortunately there was no one set ethnic group for Bosnians. Many of the Bosnians wanted to have their province shared in conjunction with Serbia, which was only across the river. Serbia agreed with the Bosnians on this matter and were very eager to see this happen... ...orld War.com. Memoir of Count Franz von Harrach, 28 June 1914, http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/harrachmemoir.htm. 24 April 2003. Geiss, Imanuel, ed. July 1914 The Outbreak of the First World War Selected Documents. New York: Norton and Co., 1967. Habsburg, Otto von. â€Å"I Know This Will End Badly.† Newsweek v133 i10 (March 8, 1999): 34 (1). Hergesell, Alexandra. â€Å"Echoes of World War I.† Europe (October 2001): 44. Jelavich, Barbara. The Habsburg Empire in European Affairs, 1814-1918. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969. Lafore, Laurence. The Long Fuse. Philadelphia: Lippincott Co., 1965. Seton-Watson, R.W.. Sarajevo. London: Hutchinson and Co., 1969. Snyder, Louis L. Historic Documents of World War I. Princeton NJ: D. Van Nostrand Co. Inc., 1958 â€Å"When Sarajevo Triggered a War.† Time, vol. 123 (January 30, 1984): 33 (1).