History - Archduke Assasination
Storyboard Text
- Sunday 28 June 1914 was a bright and sunny day in Sarajevo in Bosnia, where crowds were lining the streets waiting for the procession (line) of cars as part of the royal visit of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.
- Standing in the crowd were six assassins from the Black Hand Group. They hated Franz Ferdinand. They all had bombs and pistols in their pockets and tubes of poison which they had promised to swallow if they were caught. The assassins were standing at different points on the riverside road which the cars would follow on their way to the Town Hall. At 10:15, the cars passed the first of the assassins, who lost their nerve and did nothing.
- As the cars passed a bridge, the next assassin threw his bomb, drank his poison and jumped into the river. The Archduke saw the bomb coming and threw it out his car. It hit the car behind and injured several people.
- But the poison that the assassin swallowed, was so old that it failed to work and the river only came up to his ankles. This would-be assassin was arrested. Gavrilo Princip saw the failure of the mission, and walked to a local café.
- I should take another route in stead of going straight forward, just in case!
- The Archduke was then driven to the hospital to visit the bomb victims. Fearing more terrorists, a new route was to be taken to avoid any more assassination attempts.
- when the archduke left the hospital, his driver, confused by the new route, turned down a one-way street. He then tried to reverse the car but stalled next to the café where Gavrilo Princip was still cursing his bad luck. Gavrilo Princip could hardly believe his luck, he drew his gun and fired two rounds at point blank. The first bullet killed the countess instantaneously. ‘Sophie, don’t die,’ cried the archduke, ‘stay alive for the children.’ The second bullet caught him in the throat.
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