The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Murder That Changed the World by Greg King and Sue Woolmans
This is a departure from my usual reading. Usually I read fluffy mystery novels, best categorized as "Cozy Mysteries." But this year marks the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and, 6 weeks later, the start of World War I, so when my housemate found this book at the bookstore, we decided it was perfect timing to read it. I'm sure that's why the bookstore had it displayed so prominently, but we were both planning to read a World War I history anyway.
In all honesty, I am not unfamiliar with the royals in the pre-World War I Empires. I have read several historical biographies of Tsar Nicholas II, as well as biographies of Queen Victoria's daughters and granddaughters. I was familiar with the major players. But I had known of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, only peripherally in those books. I had never read anything specifically about him or the Austro-Hungarian Empire prior to the War. Sure, I knew of the assassination from school textbooks and answering essay questions. And when we were in college together, my housemate took a history class titled "Europe Since 1914" which the professor wanted to subtitle "From Sarajevo to Sarajevo." (For reference, we were in college in the early- and mid-1990's, when Yugoslavia was self-destructing.)
But in all that time, and through all those histories, I had never really read anything specifically about Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It was time to rectify that. And this book was perfect for it.
I am picky about my historical biographies, in that I prefer to read ones I know are well-researched and based predominantly in verifiable fact. Don't get me wrong, historical fiction has its place, but not in biographies. I had read both Greg King's The Fate of the Romanovs and The Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp, Power, and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II previously, so I knew him to be a reputable biographer and one who researched his books well, so I was happy to begin the book.
It is nearly impossible for me to review this book without discussing the book, so I will have to mention some things that may be considered spoilers to people who have not read the book. If you are concerned about spoilers, please do not read this review any further, but know that I can definitely recommend this book if you are interested in the subject.
First, the book is about Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Countess Sophie, more than about the assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Naturally the assassination is discussed, but the main focus of the book is the life of the Archduke, not so much his death, or a discussion of the after-effects of his murder.
Second, and this is important, because it is the crux of the author's theory of the assassination, the marriage of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Countess Sophie was a morganatic one, meaning that the couple were of unequal social rank. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie was the daughter of a Bohemian aristocrat. She was not royal, and as a result of an oath the Archduke took on June 28, 1901, should he ascend to the throne, his wife Sophie would not become Queen/Empress and his children were specifically excluded from inheriting either the throne or anything from the Hapsburg line.
The central theory of the book is that the morganatic marriage set the stage for the assassination. Not that there was such public and popular dislike or disapproval of the marriage, but because Sophie was not and never would be a royal, she was not entitled to the same protection as the Archduke, even if traveling with him. Emperor Franz Josef's Lord Chamberlain, Prince Montenuovo not only made sure that Sophie never forgot she was not a Hapsburg, he ensured and insisted on the different treatment whenever and wherever the Archduke and Countess appeared together. While the authors acknowledge the role of Gavrilo Princip as assassin, there is definitely a theory that the enforced differential treatment, to the point of not allowing royal guards along the route because Sophie was in the car, and she was not entitled to such a guard, was a major factor in allowing the assassination to be successful.
It was a very interesting portrait of the couple, and the treatment of the Countess. It was definitely a theory that is never presented in high school history classes. And I certainly learned things reading the book. In fact, I learned that Archduke Franz Ferdinand's sons were captured by the Nazi Regime after the Anschluss and sent to hard labor at Dachau Concentration Camp. They were released only on intervention by members of other European Royal Families. That was a completely unexpected repercussion of the assassination of their parents.
It was a heavy book, both in subject matter and actual weight of the book. And reading it was sometimes slow going, not only because of the subject matter, but because I wrestled with the Austrian, Bohemian, Serbian, and Croatian names. I liked that the authors kept the names as close to the actual names as possible, but I did struggle with them. It is definitely worth reading if you are at all interested in the life of the Archduke. There is really very little discussion of World War I. My edition was subtitled Sarajevo 1914 and the Murder That Changed the World, but other editions have the much more accurate subtitle Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance That Changed the World. Either way, the Archduke never realized what an impact his life and death would have.
One Bear's Opinion: Five Cups of Viennese Coffee and a slice of sachertorte for after
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
