Not only was the Black Hand behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, but they had murdered the last Obrenović king, as well. Dragutin Dimitrijevic, also known as Apis, who was the head of the Black Hand in Serbia. Russia had been fighting Austro-Hungarian influence in a proxy war for nearly 100 years by supporting the Karađorđević royal family in Serbia over the more Austrian-leaning Obrenović family, support that led to the bloody murder of the last Obrenović king and his wife, murdered by the same organization that would be behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. This alliance would be firmly pitted against Austria-Hungary. They were assembling a Slav alliance that would involve Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece. Russia had long considered itself the protector of the Slav people, often referring to other Slavs and Slav nations as “brother”. Quite a lot of the reasoning behind eliminating Serbia was settled firmly at the door of the Russian Empire. The letter stated that the only way to save Austria-Hungary was to “ …eliminate Serbia as a state.” Austria-Hungary had long seen the Pan-Slav movement active in Serbia as agitation aimed to destabilize Austria-Hungary’s influence in the Balkans and possibly rip apart the Empire itself. This memo was included in a package Austria sent to Germany to justify attacking Serbia. Two weeks before the assassination of the Archduke, the Austrian Foreign Minister circulated a memo that called for the complete destruction of Serbia. But was it really? Above the fold, but newspapers didn’t fully predict how events would overtake the world from a tiny country in the Balkans. History states that it was this assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne and his wife was the trigger that started a war that would soon engulf the entire Western World and their colonies in the most bloody conflict the world had ever seen. So when Franz Ferdinand and Sofie were murdered by gunshot wounds in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, Franz Josef was more relieved than fraught with the loss of a loved family member. Not pictured: Emperor Franz Josef, who probably felt it wasn’t seemly the public see how happy he was to be rid of his heir. The funeral procession of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofie. They were dismissive and rude, and seemed to enjoy bullying the couple into humiliations and forced-conforming to regulations that were often overblown and made-up. Franz Josef and his court had taken every available opportunity to treat the Archduke’s wife Sofie as low-level trash. Royal gossip in Europe was well aware that the Archduke had been disliked by the Emperor. Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary didn’t even attend the funeral of his nephew and heir. On 4 July 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofie were buried at their estate of Artstetten.
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