Last year we celebrated the 100 year anniversary of the end of the Great War, World War One…..
As a history buff I am always interested in this war because it was the birth place of the world we live in today.
The War began when Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in Serbia in 1914…and as I like to do….a “what if”……
What if the person that started the war had not died in Serbia in 1914……
World War One was a tragedy with particularly Austrian roots, sparked by the assassination of the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914. But could the war have been avoided if he had not been killed? And would the Austro-Hungarian Empire have survived?
Those are the questions that have been posed at a conference at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, which has been training diplomats since 1754.
For at least one person at the conference, the “what if?” question was personal. Maria Camilla Habsburg Lothringen, a descendant of Austria’s former royal family, says the scenario is “quite intriguing” and would have changed her family’s fate.
“We would maybe have a different position here in Austria. Maybe we would have more possessions and more responsibility in our functions.”
However she says the thought of royal responsibilities and the lack of personal freedom makes her a little “uptight”. And the war, she says, is clearly about far more than just the fate of her own family.
“World War One was such a dramatic occasion. To look back at the past and ask what went wrong and learn out of that is a very important thing.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-eu-29991018
Think if the war had been avoided….think of all the millions that would have lived to old age……think about the world we may have had to live in today.
Any thoughts to share?
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Usually when I ask “what if” it is about something in my own life. I try not to ask it. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Merry Festivus, Happy Hanukkah or Bah Humbug!
Thanx….and I hope you have a good season as well….chuq
Austria was falling apart. Germany wanted to expand. Britain wanted to stop their expansion. France wanted revenge. Interesting question. With no attempt on his life the war if it cane would have unfolded differently. That is about all we can say.,
I enjoy these for it forces a different look at history…..chuq
The war had to happen. Industrialists and expansionists were looking for any excuse to get it started. Ih he hadn’t been assassinated, any other excuse would have been enough. War for profit and colonies, pure and simple.
Best wishes, Pete.
But not when it actually happened….there would have been more prep,,,,,I think….chuq
If Ferdinand had lived – they would have found something else to fight about.
Exactly….but possibly be better prepared….chuq
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand did not cause WWI, but it did ignite it. If that incident had not happened, the war would’ve been triggered by something else. Europe at that time was dominated by rival royal families and alliances, its populations gripped by fervent nationalism, and swollen military institutions which were itching for war. That culture was recklessly taken to such an extreme that a human catastrophe was inevitable. The only good thing to come from it was the postwar rejection of aristocracy.
Kinda sounds like many countries today with the exception of monarchies…..chuq
I think it would’ve been the same show, different channel. War still would’ve occurred, one way or another. The military was so married to all these plans they’d made all these years, and the hatreds were so deep that if it wasn’t this, it would’ve been something else. If he’d survived, as he wasn’t ruler yet, I’m sure the Emperor would’ve demanded war on his behalf anyway.
The better question would be, what if Princip had failed totally, and only the first (botched) assassination attempt that day happened? The one where the bomb was thrown and the second car got hit with the blast instead of FF’s. That’s the question I’d love to try and figure out.