CRC marked the 112th anniversary of the Sarajevo assassination and the start of the First World War

HKRV
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On June 28, the Croatian Royal Council held an Open Day to mark the anniversary of the Sarajevo assassination and World War I. Among the visitors was a descendant of Franz Ferdinand. Along with commemorative items and books related to World War I, this somewhat forgotten chapter in Croatian history was commemorated.

Due to the extreme heat this year, instead of the commemoration at the Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb, a special meeting was held in a small hall in Tkalčićeva Street. In addition to members of the Croatian Royal Council, guests included Prince Karl Hohenberg, descendant of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sofia, as well as prim. dr. sc. Darko Richter, a descendant of the family of Croatian Field Marshal Svetozar Boroević von Bojna.

The guests were guided through the exhibits by historian Count Ante B. Mikulić, who presented the life and reform efforts of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the trialist movement in Croatia, the reasons and implementation of the Assassination, but also the role of Croats during the Great War of 1914 - 1918. The event was hosted by Borna Kuri, while on behalf of the House of Nobility of the CRC, Dominik pl. Bulat Vručinić. With pleasant conversations and patriotic marches and songs, we remembered all Croats in the First World War.

The Sarajevo Assassination and Franz Ferdinand

The Sarajevo assassination took place on 28 June 1914, when the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophie, were killed in a planned assassination attempt by the assassin Gavrilo Princip. The assassination was carried out by the Yugoslav terrorist organization Young Bosnia, led by the Serbian nationalist secret organization Black Hand, organized by Colonel and commander of the intelligence branch of the Serbian army, Dragutin Dimitrijević Apis. As the Serbian Odbrana (nationalist organisation) states in its revolutionary statute, the main enemy of the Greater Serbian idea that permeated the Yugoslav movement is Croatian trialism and its main advocate, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Trijalistički prijedlozi u doba Franje Ferdinanda

He was chosen as the target, although he was personally against the war with Serbia, because in his reform circle, also known as the Belvedere circle, he advocated equality in the KuK monarchy for Slavic peoples, especially as an initial basis the idea of Croatian trialism in which Croatia-Slavonia, Dalmatia with Bay of Cattaro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Istria and Slovenia would form a single state-forming body under the Zvonimir (Croatian) crown. In his personal life, he was a devout Christian, considering Catholic morality to be the basis not only of society but also of a healthy foundation for state policy. Having married the Czech noblewoman Countess Sofija Chotek, he had four children. Due to the non-royal origin of Countess Sofija Chotek's family, the then Emperor and King Franz Joseph granted the special title of Duke and Prince of Hohenberg to the children and descendants of Franz Ferdinand, which they still bear today. How dedicated he was to his family life is evidenced by the fact that his last words at the moment of agony and struggle for his dying wife were:

"Sophie, Sophie! Don't die! Live for our children!"

The significance of the Sarajevo assassination itself for the Croats, who considered Franz Ferdinand their closest friend and representative, is evidenced by the memoirs of the blessed Ivan Merz, who wrote in his diary:

"Horror! I am interrupting the next work of the diary. Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne in Bosnia - in Bosnia - murdered! His wife too. Where are you, the dream of the Croats!? Fate is pressing. Ideals have been destroyed, the poor young man stands and grieves. He was killed by the "friends" of the Slavs, the Serbs. His wife is also dead. Barbarians!"

"Murder and extreme meanness?... This vile plot is a symbol of the Serbian temper? The people are one in their essence good. Or is it not? Does heredity not apply to them as well? The future will decide that. Is this plot a sign of the aspiration for freedom? Not at all. Freedom is an ideal that is achieved by honest means. If Ferdinand had been a tyrant, an enemy of the Slavs, one would not be surprised, but he was a soul. The Czechs and Croats loved him more than anyone, and now their hopes have been dashed. Those who say they are one with the Croats - the Serbs - have destroyed everything. What do they deserve? History will already condemn them. This excessive egoism, Nietzschean nature, without Faith, will all bear the fruit it deserves. The era of the French Revolution will come in Bosnia. Egoistic people will rebel against the people under the pretext of liberation. There will be mutual slaughter. Animals..."

"But the greatest irony of all is the Croatian flags that the Serbs hung at the training ground and in front of the train station. Killing a Croatian friend, and hanging Croatian flags as a sign of friendship! Irony! Where is honesty and love left? Out of this turmoil will the truth emerge intact. Where is Christ, whom the enemies crucified and who gives the Light of Truth? Out of the turmoil will He lead His followers. History is a struggle for the Truth."

World War I and the Croats

The beginning of the First World War can be considered the assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, which set in motion the mechanisms that led to the first world conflict of the industrial age. The bullet in Sarajevo was the first bullet fired in the First World War, and soon after a month of the ultimatum on July 28, 1914, the war began, in which two camps of the Central Powers, consisting of the KuK monarchy (Austria, Hungary and Croatia), Germany, Turkey, Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic Duchy, Finland, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Yemen, the Republic of South Africa, etc., found themselves against the Entente powers, consisting of the United Kingdom, France, Serbia, Russia, Montenegro, Italy, Japan, the USA, Belgium, Romania, Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, etc. Although the initial participants in the war exclusively camped for those on the side of the terrorist Serbia and those against, soon the reasons for the war itself faded into the background as each major power aimed to achieve its own strategic goals.

Croatia was divided during the Great War of 1914-1918. The Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia (Croatia - Slavonia) was the only state within the Monarchy with state institutions and an army alongside Hungary and Austria, forming as a separate Kingdom with Hungary a constituent part of the Lands of the Holy Crown. Dalmatia and Istria belonged to the Austrian part of the Monarchy, while Bosnia and Herzegovina was a condominium of Austria and Hungary - Croatia. Croats participated on three domestic fronts: the first Serbian or Balkan front primarily towards Serbia and Montenegro, the Eastern front towards Russia with Galicia as the main focus of the first part of the war, and the Italian front with Italy on the Soča (Piave). During that period, Croats achieved great victories and successes in Galicia, they participated in stopping Russia, and later in the offensives that would lead to Russia's defeat and armistice. Montenegro was the first enemy country to capitulate in early 1916 during the offensive led by General Stjepan Baron Sarkotić. Soon, Serbia was also defeated, which was completely occupied in the same year 1916 and thus was thrown out of the war, and its army was forced to withdraw from Serbia and the government and the king were exiled through Albania to Corfu and Greece. Although not in large numbers, Croats also participated on the Romanian front, which would lead to a great victory and the capitulation of Romania in early 1917. Perhaps the largest volume of Croatian military presence was on the Italian front, where Field Marshal Svetozar Baron Boroević, also the first Croatian field marshal in history, led the great 12 battles of the Soča (Piave) River, which resulted in a great victory over the Italians and their allies in late 1917. In addition to domestic battlefields, Croats participated in smaller units on other world battlefields from the West to the Middle East, and the role of Croatian artillerymen in Jerusalem and the Holy Land in the battles related to Suez and Sinai is particularly noted.

Although the KuK monarchy was militarily in good shape in 1918, having achieved most of its goals set at the beginning of the war. Internal turmoil led to the collapse of the KuK monarchy from within during October and November 1918. Croatia emerged from the war on 29 October 1918, declaring independence and opting for the State of SHS and the path of Yugoslavia, albeit a path determined by individual Yugoslav politicians outside the plebiscite and the decision of the Parliament. The military achievements of the Croats during the war were not in vain, the victory over Serbia and Montenegro enabled secret plans similar to the London one to be rejected by the Entente allies as early as 1917. Victories in the battles on the Soča River also stopped the post-war Italian encroachments on Croatian and Slovenian lands. Croats had great losses in the War, with more then 190.000 killed or died. In addition to wartime suffering, war crimes committed by Serbia against Croats must also be mentioned, the most horrific of which is the Odessa Massacre (also known as the Odessa Atrocities) in 1916 - 1917, which according to testimonies numbered over 10,000 killed (Interpolation), classifying that crime as genocide committed out of Greater Serbian hatred of Croats for primarily ethnic and religious reasons.

During the war, the culture of the Croats themselves included many patriotic songs that are still active today, especially in Croatia-Slavonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the Domobran march is popular. This patriotic fervor was also shown through humanitarian actions such as Dadoh zlato za željezo (gold for iron), the creation of "iron knights" where money would be donated for war needs by buying a nail and taking care of the war invalids orphans and widows. It should be noted that in the areas of Croatia-Slavonia, Dalmatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, all units wore the Croatian tricolor as their official insignia and military flag, as evidenced, for example, by the testimony of Bosnian and Herzegovinian units on the Soča (Piave) battlefield, charging at the enemy under the Croatian tricolor.

After the two Yugoslavias and the tragedy of World War II, the role of the Croats in WW1 was almost forgotten. Therefore, today we pay tribute to all the fallen Croats and all the victims of the Great War, from the first bullet in Sarajevo in 1914 to the last in 1918.

Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, to them eternal glory and praise!

Croatian Royal Council