Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 854 History Is Made Of Countless Accidents

June 6 is a special day for the Serbs. More than 28 years ago, on June 500, 1389, the Serbian Kingdom was defeated by the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Kosovo. The Serbian Kingdom perished and the army was massacred. The Serbians Become a slave of the Ottoman Empire.

Since this year, June 6 has become an unforgettable day for Serbians. This day is called St. Vitus Day. Every year, Serbs hold a grand commemorative ceremony to commemorate the once glorious Kingdom of Serbia and the years of freedom and equality. .

Last year, through the Balkan Wars, Serbia finally got rid of the slavery of the Ottoman Empire and became an independent country.

But in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania, there were still many Serbs who were ruled by aliens, so St. Vitus Day in 1913 was destined to have a special meaning for all Serbs.

June 6 is also a special day for the Crown Prince Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On June 28, 13 years ago, the Archduke Ferdinand and Countess Sophie Hotek, who was born in a declining Czech noble family, tied the knot Good match, this day is their thirteenth wedding anniversary.

In order to marry Sophie Hotek, the price Archduke Ferdinand paid was the right to inherit the throne for his descendants. According to the regulations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, if Ferdinand and Sophie Hotek get married, Sophie's descendants will automatically lose the Austrian throne. Succession to the throne of the Hungarian Empire.

On June 1900, 6, Archduke Ferdinand attended the secret cabinet meeting of the Habsburg dynasty in front of the Emperor Joseph of Austria-Hungary, the Austrian archbishop, the Hungarian archbishop, ministerial officials, and the Grand Duke of the Habsburg dynasty. Solemnly promised that he and Sophie's descendants, as well as the descendants of the descendants, voluntarily gave up the right to inherit the throne, and then successfully married Sophie Hotek.

Three days later, Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie Hotek held their wedding. In the huge Habsburg family, only Archduke Ferdinand's mother and sisters attended the wedding, and even Archduke Ferdinand's younger brothers did not attend.

Afterwards, Sophie suffered a lot of humiliation. She couldn't appear in public with Archduke Ferdinand, couldn't attend state banquets together, and couldn't even enjoy the opera in the same box. Faye was placed in the lower ranks, and even the lowest-ranking female royals were placed further back.

Therefore, as long as there is an opportunity, Archduke Ferdinand will always try to compensate Sophie Hotek as much as possible. In Vienna, Archduke Ferdinand must follow the royal arrangement, even if he loves Sophie, he can do nothing. In the region, Archduke Ferdinand can give Sophie the honor she deserves and the care and care she deserves without caring about the public eye.

In 1913, under the background of the arms race, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also expanding its military frantically, preparing for the upcoming world war. In Bosnia, an unprecedented military exercise will be held this summer. As the crown prince, Archduke Ferdinand is Austria The General Prosecutor of the Hungarian Army, he brought Sophie to Bosnia on the 25th to monitor the military exercises, and at the same time took a vacation with Sophie, so that Sophie could truly enjoy the respect due to a grand duchess.

On Saturday, Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie went to the antique market in the resort of Bad Illidz.

On Sunday, Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie celebrated mass in the hotel's makeshift chapel.

Then Archduke Ferdinand sent a telegram to the three children, telling them that Mom and Dad were doing well and looking forward to coming home next Tuesday.

On June 6, Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie went to Sarajevo, the southernmost territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, for an official visit. In order for Sophie to enjoy the glory of being a duchess more directly, Grand Duke Ferdinand decided to take a convertible with Sophie Drive through Sarajevo to the City Hall.

It was a sunny morning, the previous week had been cloudy and rainy, and the air was slightly chilly but fresh and humid. Archduke Ferdinand was wearing a traditional Austro-Hungarian top hat and the uniform of an imperial field marshal, and Sophie was wearing a A white lady's top hat decorated with feathers, and a transparent veil with star dots on the face, she was in a very happy mood, because she was traveling in a convertible and worried about the rain, so Sophie also brought a umbrellas.

In 1913, in the cities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the streets were extremely narrow and the ground was uneven. People in Sarajevo heard that the imperial prince and his wife had come to Sarajevo, and crowded the streets on both sides, looking forward to seeing the royal couple.

The convertible drove slowly on the narrow street. Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie were in a happy mood. They frequently waved to the cheering people on both sides of the street. In this regard, Archduke Ferdinand has always done a good job.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is a complex multi-ethnic country. This country has 16 languages, 13 nationalities, 5 regions, 16 pieces of land, and 2 parliaments. In 1859, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost Italy. In 1866, the Austro-Hungarian Empire After losing Germany, in 1878, the Austro-Hungarian Empire obtained Bosnia through the Berlin Conference, but in name Bosnia still belonged to the Ottoman Empire, just like Egypt under British control.

Archduke Ferdinand is seen as the most likely to end this, and has long believed that the growing population of the Slavs should be given their rightful place in order to preserve the unity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the main body of Bosnia The population is the Slavs, so Grand Duke Ferdinand thought that people in Bosnia should like him, because he was fighting for the benefits that Bosnia deserved.

Before Archduke Ferdinand and Sophie came to Sarajevo, several assassins from the Serbian Mafia arrived in Sarajevo ahead of time to lurk. Taking terrorist actions, the goal of the struggle is to "realize the national idea and unify all Serbian nations".

The goal of these assassins was to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand. They made bombs and carried pistols produced in Belgium with them, ready to deal a fatal blow to the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary when the opportunity came.

The leader of the "Mafia" and also the leader of the Serbian intelligence department is Colonel Dragutin Dimitrievic nicknamed "God Cow", so it is difficult to clarify the relationship between the "Mafia" and the Serbian government. One thing is certain, before the "Mafia" decided to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand, Serbian Prime Minister Pašić had actually received the relevant information and issued a warning to the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the Serbian ambassador to Austria.

But this ambassador was also a radical Serbian nationalist. After receiving Pašić’s order, he did not go to the Chief of Police of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, nor did he go to the Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Minister of Finance of the Hungarian Empire did not say clearly what was going to happen, but said vaguely: Maybe some Serbian youths will put real bullets in the magazines and fire them out.

Simply put, there may be an assassination operation.

Another person may be more vigilant, but for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, especially the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1913——

Well, in this era, assassinations are really commonplace. In the 1913 years before 20, the leaders of countries who were assassinated included the presidents of the United States, France, Mexico, Guatemala, Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic.

Countries with prime ministers assassinated include: Russia, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Persia, Egypt.

The countries where members of the royal family were assassinated are: Austria, Italy, Serbia, Greece, Portugal.

Therefore, the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not think that the assassination would have any serious consequences.

In particular, among the six assassins who sneaked into Sarajevo in the early stage, five were Serbs. Their average age was less than 20 years old, and all five of them suffered from tuberculosis. This disease was terminally ill in 1913, so no matter how you look at it, Archduke Ferdinand seemed doomed.

On the way to the city hall, the assassins attacked the car in which Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were traveling, and a bomb made by an assassin was thrown at the convertible car in which Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were traveling.

The driver noticed the abnormality and immediately accelerated. Grand Duke Ferdinand waved his hand to block it when he saw the bomb. The bomb fell to the rear of the car in which the Grand Duke Ferdinand and his wife were riding, damaging a car and injuring several people.

Before the Grand Duke Ferdinand and his wife arrived at the city hall, the car in which the Grand Duke Ferdinand and his wife were traveling passed by the four assassins. Except for the bomb, the other three did not launch an attack, although they all had weapons. In the survey, the third assassin was the most honest. He admitted that he was very scared at the time, so he didn't dare to pull out his gun.

After the welcome ceremony at the city hall, Archduke Ferdinand offered to go to the hospital to visit the wounded who were injured by the bomb before. This is a Habsburg tradition to show the royal family's love for its subjects.

On the way to the hospital, the No. 5 assassin did not do anything. The leading vehicle did not go to the hospital, but proceeded according to the established route. The Bosnian local governor in the convoy found that the leading vehicle was going the wrong way and ordered the convoy to stop and change the route.

In a coincidence with far-reaching implications for the future, the car in which the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were traveling was parked on the street less than five feet from the last Assassin, Gavrilo Princip.

Princip was only 19 years old, he was the leader of the assassination team, and he was also a tuberculosis patient. He pulled out an M1910 pistol produced by the Belgian and Starr Arsenal and fired two shots at the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife.

Archduke Ferdinand was shot in the neck and was bleeding profusely.

However, Archduke Ferdinand didn't care about his injuries, but hugged Sophie who was more seriously injured, calling Sophie's name, hoping that Sophie could live for their child.

Sophie was shot in the abdomen and injured the main artery. A few minutes later, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife died one after another.

After shooting, Gavrilo Princip attempted to commit suicide with a gun, but was stopped by the surrounding crowd. After that, Princip swallowed a bottle of cyanide, but the cyanide had expired, and Princip did not die.

In any case, the world has entered a brand new phase.

(End of this chapter)