The
main players remain the same, but the supporting actors made things
interesting.
Major
Voja Tankosic, was a top ranking member of a secret faction within the Serbian
army called the Black Hand. He was the one who supplied the weapons used in the
assassination. The question is, did Gavrilo Princip, an untrained college
student, really develop the assassination plan, or did Major Tankosic engage
him to carry out his own plan.
Of
course there is political intrigue as to the Major’s motive for getting
involved. One consideration is that he wanted the event to be blamed on Nicola Pasic,
the Prime Minister of Serbia, a man he considered a weak leader.
The
plot thickens when one of Princip’s friends by the name of Ciganovic, was the
one who arranged the meeting between Major Voja Tankosic and Princip. However,
he was also a police informant, which would offer the Prime Minister, Nicola
Pasic, to be kept informed of Princip’s progress.
If
word got out that the Prime Minister was kept abreast of the assassination plot
and did nothing to stop it, he would receive international criticism. Austria
would think that the Serbian government was behind the assassination because
they remained silent. However, if Pasic had stopped Princip, and word got out, then
he would be considered a traitor and hung. The only other option was fall back
on the politician’s oldest disclaimer; deny all knowledge of any information
regarding the plot. His only hope for saving himself would if Princip failed to
carry out the assassination.
Some
historians have mentioned Pasic may have sent a cable to his minister in Vienna
requesting him to warn the Austrian Government. The cable would state that the
Serbian Government uncovered information of a possible attempt on the
Archduke’s life and perhaps the Austrian government should reschedule the
Archduke’s trip.
Substantiation
that a cable was sent is based upon the Serbian Minister’s official request for
an interview with the Austrian Foreign Minister. But, since they despised
one-another, the Minister instead sought a meeting with the Austrian Finance
Minister. During their meeting, the
Serbian Minister decided not to deliver the exact cable information, instead he
watered it down to convey the possibility of a disenchanted Serb might try to
attack the Archduke.
It
did not matter which version of the cable the Minister delivered. Since the
Finance Minister was not in charge of security for the Archduke, the
information would be transmitted to General Potiorek. But the General did not
include the Finance Minister in on the initial planning of Ferdinand’s trip,
and therefore he would not pass on the information. He thought if anything did
happen, the general would be blamed.
The
petty bickering was not limited to the Austrian officials. There were riffs
between the Serbian Prime Minister and the leader of the Black Hand. Both men
tried to prevent the plan from going forward. Apis – leader of the Black Hand,
sent one of his trusted cohorts to Bosnia to meet with the man in charge of
Princip’s group. The currier informed him that the plan had been called off and
in turn he was to order Princip to stand down – which Princip ignored.
To
intensify the mystery of who was behind the plot, the Serbian Prime Minister,
Pasic, had received an anonymous letter a few days before the assassination.
The letter stated that the Austrian government may have Ferdinand killed during
the military maneuvers so his death could be blamed on Serbia, which would offer
an excuse for Austria to attack Serbia without condemnation from other
countries.
So
why was Franz Ferdinand killed?
One
reason was he was at the right place at the right time for a group of Serbian
nationalist to send a firm message to Austria by killing their heir apparent.
Or,
the assassination may have been designed by Ferdinand’s uncle, Emperor Fritz
Joseph, to prevent Ferdinand from succeeding him.
Who
killed the Archduke?
The
answer is obvious, it was Princip. But was he a pawn in a political game of
chess? After all, could an untrained Serbian college student be capable of
planning such a complicated plot? It is clear that there were several
supporting actors whose own agendas contributed to the end result. However, did
any of those involved think that the Archduke’s death would start a world war?’
Next:
Opportunity knocks
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