1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:04,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,480 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener Discretion advised 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:22,239 Speaker 1: Oscar Potoreac's reign as the Austro Hungarian Governor General of 4 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: Bosnia did not get off to a good start. Oscar 5 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: was a career military officer with graying, close cropped hair 6 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: and a thick mustache, and he was appointed governor general 7 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven. He had arrived in Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital city, 8 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: and been shocked to find it a hotbed of Serb 9 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: nationalism and anti Habsburg sentiment. In response, Oscar enacted a 10 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: plan of oppression. He suspended the parliament and censored the press, 11 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: and called in additional troops. Surprisingly, none of that did 12 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: much to endear the people of Sarajevo to their Habsburg rulers. 13 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: Despite the tension, in September nine thirteen, Oscar Potriarch invited 14 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: the heir to the Austro Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, 15 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: to visit the following year. You might think that such 16 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,559 Speaker 1: a visit in such a context would call for heightened security, 17 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,960 Speaker 1: but the planning for the Archduke's visit was surprisingly laxadaisical, 18 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: even as Heinsett would reveal negligent. Potioac had refused to 19 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: allow additional soldiers into the city, and much of the 20 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: security fell to the sixty police officers from the city's 21 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: forces scheduled to be on duty that day, the twenty 22 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: eighth of June nineteen fourteen. The chief of police was horrified. 23 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: He tried to tell Potiorec that more security was needed. 24 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:01,919 Speaker 1: Potiorex scoffed, telling the chief of police, you see phantoms everywhere. 25 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: He dismissed the chief's advice that the Archduke's route be 26 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: kept private, and instead Potiorek allowed it to be published 27 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: ahead of the visit. He ignored warnings from Bosnian politicians 28 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: and from Austrian politicians, from military intelligence and members of 29 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: his own staff, all about the potential dangers of the visit, 30 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: and yet despite seeming to have done nothing at all 31 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: in terms of security arrangements, Potoreac insisted that he had 32 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:37,519 Speaker 1: it all under control. Soon enough, it would become crystalline 33 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: clear that he did not. The Archduke of Austria Hungary 34 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: would visit Sarajevo on June twenty eighth, nineteen fourteen, and 35 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: the event would begin with a bombing and end in 36 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: bloodshed within a month. That day would spark the deadliest 37 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: conflict that the world had ever seen. I'm Danishchwartz and 38 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: this is noble blood. Just a year into her marriage 39 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: to Archduke Carl Ludwig, Princess Maria Annunciata of the Two 40 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: Sicilies was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Her delicate condition was made 41 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: worse by bearing four children in quick succession. Afraid of 42 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: infecting her children with her disease, she refused to touch them, 43 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: to kiss them, or to spend a long periods of 44 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: time with them. One of those four children was the 45 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: future Archduke Franz Ferdinand. His mother died when he was 46 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: seven years old in eight seventy one. She was a 47 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: ghost of a woman that Franz Ferdinand had barely known. Nonetheless, 48 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: the young prince mourned her, which only compounded his reputation 49 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: as a silent shy, a sad child. Strangers and family 50 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: alike commented on how withdrawn he was, even from his 51 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:13,279 Speaker 1: own siblings. France's personality seemed particularly to pale in comparison 52 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: to the personality of his younger brother Otto, a charismatic, 53 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: boisterous boy who filled the family home with his presence. 54 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: Franz preferred solitary pursuits, reading, long walks in the woods, 55 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: playing with his pet rabbits. Most of all, he loved hunting, 56 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: a lifelong passion. He made his first kill at age nine. 57 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: He was a lonely boy who seemed unable to connect 58 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: with those around him, who loved his pets, and paradoxically 59 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: took pleasure in hunting animals on his family's vast estates. 60 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: On the afternoon of January nine, Franz Ferdinand received the 61 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: telegram that would change his life. His cousin Rudolph, five 62 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: years his senior, had shot himself and his teenage mistress 63 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: Mary bet Sarah at his mere Ling hunting lodge. It's 64 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,840 Speaker 1: a tragedy now known as the Maryland Incident, and we've 65 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: spoken about it a few times on this podcast since 66 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:23,239 Speaker 1: it was a major event that shifted the global royal 67 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: houses of Europe. The death upbended the Habsburg line of succession, 68 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: shifting Carl Ludwig, Emperor fran Joseph's brother into the position 69 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: of air presumptive. Franz Joseph was nearly sixty at the time, 70 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: and his brother Carl Ludwig was fifty six, making it 71 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: very possible now that Carl Ludwig's eldest son, Franz Ferdinand 72 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: would be the next on the throne. At age twenty five, 73 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: the young Archduke was thrust reluctantly into a role that 74 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: he had not prepared for, that of air to the 75 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: Austrian throne. With one fatal gunshot, Franz Ferdinand had inherited 76 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: responsibility for what James Joyce once called the most physically 77 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: corrupt royal house in Europe. Viennese noble society of the 78 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: late nineteenth century was notoriously snobbish. Admission to court events 79 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: was predicated on the rule of sixteen quarterings, which meant 80 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: that only those with an unbroken descent from eight paternal 81 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: and eight maternal noble ancestors were allowed to socialize at 82 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: the palace. Those privileged few who did meet this requirement 83 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: were welcomed into a life of nearly unparalleled luxury, a 84 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: glittering world of wealth notable in part for its shallowness. 85 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: The main topics of conversation, noted one contemporary newspaper were 86 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:57,600 Speaker 1: the quote births, marriages and deaths of their acquaintances and friends, 87 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,559 Speaker 1: and the sayings and doings of the impure real court. 88 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 1: As the nobles waltz oblivious to the world around them. 89 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: The Habsburg Empire was beginning to crumble, torn apart by 90 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: the ethnic, nationalist, and political conflicts that were snaking through 91 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: nearly every empire of the age, but the aristocratic elite 92 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: weren't concerned with any of that, preferring instead to gossip 93 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: about their shy new air presumptive. In contrast to Rudolph, who, 94 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: though mentally ill and erratic, had still been notoriously charming, 95 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: the new heir, Franz Ferdinand, was awkward and unprepossessing. He 96 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: had pale skin, prominent ears, and heavy lidded eyes that 97 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: made him seem perpetually sleepy. A dangerous battle with tuberculosis 98 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: in the mid eight nineties left him emaciated and weakened. 99 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: In eighteen nine, his father died of typhoid, a further 100 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: blow to France Ferdinand that pushed the delicate boy to 101 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: the brink of death for a time. There was talk 102 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: of replacing him in the line of succession with his 103 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: charismatic younger brother Otto known as Otto the Handsome. These 104 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: rumors were certainly not dispelled by the emperor's well known 105 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: dislike for his nephew, Franz Ferdinand. Emperor Franz Joseph projected 106 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: the disdain that he still held for his deceased son 107 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: onto his nephew, harboring an abiding contempt that would only 108 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:36,559 Speaker 1: fester and grow through the years. By eighteen seven, however, 109 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand had recovered from his bout with tuberculosis and 110 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: he began to make royal appearances more regularly. But the 111 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: years of doubt and rejection that had come from the 112 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:52,319 Speaker 1: noble establishment had embittered him, and things would only get 113 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: worse when in eighteen Franz Ferdinand committed the worst sin 114 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: for someone with noble lad he declared his love for 115 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: someone entirely unsuitable. Sophie Hotech, known to her family as Sophil, 116 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,559 Speaker 1: was the fifth of eight children born to a Bohemian 117 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: noble family. Her mother, Countess Wilhelmina kinskyvon Vinet, was a 118 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: member of one of Bohemia's most prominent families, passionate supporters 119 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: of the arts who had once served as patrons to Beethoven. 120 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: Her father Count Behooslav Hotek came from a distinguished line 121 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: of ambassadors. At the time of Sophie's birth in eighteen 122 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: sixty eight, Count Behoslav was serving in the Austrian embassy 123 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: in Stutgart, and Sophie's childhood would be spent traveling across 124 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,440 Speaker 1: Europe as her father transferred from posting to posting. Though 125 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: both of her parents came from privileged backgrounds, they had 126 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: little money of their own, and Sophie's childhood was a 127 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: financially precarious one. She and her siblings frequently rode public 128 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: trams to save money, but though she lacked the luxuries 129 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: that Franz Ferdinand had had growing up, Sophie's family was 130 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: warmer and more informal than his. She often spoke of 131 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: political affairs with her father. She received a good education, 132 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: spoke German, English, French, and some check and rode, painted 133 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: and played tennis with skill. But as Sophie grew older, 134 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: even those qualifications didn't guarantee her a comfortable life, and 135 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: by twenty still unmarried, Sophie faced the two options for 136 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: an impoverished noblewoman in the nineteenth century. First enter a 137 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: nunnery or second become a lady in waiting. Sophie chose 138 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: the latter, and in eighteen eight she joined the household 139 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:56,119 Speaker 1: of Archduchess Isabella of Croy. Isabella was the quintessential status 140 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: obsessed noble woman. She had a quick temper, poorly disc 141 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: guised contempt for her ladies in waiting, and enormous ambition 142 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: for her daughters. For her eldest daughter, the Archduchess Maria Christina, 143 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: Isabella had her sight set on the Habsburg's most eligible bachelor, 144 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand. Throughout the eight nineties, Isabella frequently invited the 145 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: Archduke to join their family for hunting trips and house parties. 146 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: Along the way, the lonely Archduke did form a connection 147 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 1: not with the Archduchess's daughter, Maria Christina, but with her 148 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:38,440 Speaker 1: young lady in waiting, Sophie. Quick to laugh, knowledgeable, and 149 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: an easy conversationalist, Sophie provided Franz Ferdinand with the kind 150 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: of warm, non judgmental companionship that he had so rarely 151 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,960 Speaker 1: found in his life. Here was a woman who could 152 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: serve as an antidote to the anarchic formalities of the 153 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: Hapsburg court, who could offer Franz Ferdinand the happiness that 154 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:04,359 Speaker 1: had proved so elusive to him. For Sophie, Franz Ferdinand 155 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: offered a future one of stability and comfort. Their relationship, 156 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: though transcended the transactional, By all accounts, they loved each 157 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: other deeply. They shared similar values, both were devout Catholics, 158 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: and they had similar dreams for the future. By the 159 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: mid eighteen nineties, the two were exchanging letters frequently. Franz 160 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: Ferdinand addressed his letters to his darling Soap. Their affections 161 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: did not go entirely unnoticed by those around them. In fact, 162 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 1: Isabella actually thought that she saw an advantage in the 163 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:45,439 Speaker 1: Archduke's apparent infatuation with her lady in waiting. She used 164 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: mentions of Countess Hotech to make her party invitations more 165 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:55,199 Speaker 1: enticing to Franz Ferdinand, but no one realized how serious 166 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: his intentions were or how far he would go to 167 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: keep his darling so in his life. In April eighteen 168 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: ninety nine, as the story goes, the Archduke departed Isabella's 169 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: home after a visit, accidentally leaving a few belongings behind. 170 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: A servant brought the belongings, including a pocket watch, to 171 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: Isabella believing that she might discover a miniature of her 172 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: daughter in the watch, Isabella was shocked to find a 173 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: portrait of Sophie instead. A furious Isabella berated Sophie and 174 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:37,079 Speaker 1: dismissed her from the household. Humiliated, Sophie fled to her 175 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: sister's home in Dresden. Isabella, still reeling, decided to get 176 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: her revenge on Franz Ferdinand and Sophie by telling the 177 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: Emperor that his heir had betrayed her daughter by carrying 178 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,119 Speaker 1: on an affair with a lowly servant in her household. 179 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: Emperor Franz Joseph, loathed to spend any more time than 180 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: absolutely necessary ry with his least favorite nephew, reluctantly agreed 181 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: to look into the matter. Calling Franz Ferdinand to the palace, 182 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: the Emperor asked for his side of the story. It 183 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: was simple. Franz Ferdinand explained he had no connection to 184 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: Maria Christina and he was in love with Sophie. In fact, 185 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: he said he planned to marry Sophie. Horrified, Emperor friends 186 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: Joseph encouraged his nephew to rethink his decision. By the 187 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: laws of the eighteen fifteen Act of German Confederation and 188 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: the Habsburg family statutes, Sophie's family were not equals of 189 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: the Imperial family, which made Sophie ineligible to marry Franz Ferdinand, 190 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: but Franz Ferdinand refused to change his mind. Thus began 191 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: a year long battle fought in private and in public, 192 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: over the future of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Countess Sophie Hotech. 193 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: All of Europe seemed weighed in, with reports on this 194 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 1: scandalous match appearing in newspapers across the continent. In the 195 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: fall of the Emperor threatened to take away Franz Ferdinand's titles, 196 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: but still Franz was not swayed. The controversy split Franz 197 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: Ferdinand's immediate family apart. His beloved stepmother and half sister 198 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: supported him, while his brothers and his eldest sister urged 199 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: him to give up. Even playboy Otto told Franz Ferdinand 200 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: that quote duty for our kind goes beyond happiness, A 201 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: tad hypocritical considering that Otto was living openly with his 202 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: mistress at the time, but after all, he wasn't the heir. 203 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand was undeterred, telling one friend this fire has 204 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: been blazing in me for five years. It will never 205 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: burn out. But uncle was just as stubborn as nephew. 206 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,560 Speaker 1: Emperor friends Joseph would not be swayed, even when Pope 207 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: Leo of the twelfth himself wrote in support of the marriage, 208 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: reminding Emperor Franz Joseph that the continual talk of the 209 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: marriage was bad press for the Catholic dynasty. What moved 210 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: Franz Joseph in the end was a set of two 211 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: threats from Franz Ferdinand. The first threat was that if 212 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: his uncle would not give him permission to marry now, 213 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: he would simply wait until his uncle died and he 214 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: became emperor, and he would marry then and make Sophie 215 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: his equal as empress, an unthinkable outcome for the ultra 216 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: traditional friend Joseph. The second threat was that if he 217 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: was denied, Franz Ferdinand was willing to commit some nebulous 218 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: act that would bring even greater shame on the Empire 219 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: than the Maryland incident. With the specter of further disgrace 220 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: on the family name hanging over them, Franz Joseph finally 221 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: agreed to the marriage in June of nineteen hundred. However, 222 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: the Emperor made it very clear that the couple had 223 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:06,360 Speaker 1: to make certain concessions. Most importantly, he demanded that Franz 224 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: Ferdinand acknowledge that Sophie was not his equal in rank, 225 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: making their marriage a morgan attic one. A Morganatic marriage 226 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: is just a term for a marriage between two people 227 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: of unequal rank, but the practice was regarded with special 228 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: disdain in the status obsessed royal households of the Habsburg 229 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: and German empires. The most important consequence of a morganatic 230 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 1: marriage in most cases was that any children that the 231 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: couple might have must renounce or give up their right 232 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:42,880 Speaker 1: to inherit the titles of the higher ranking parent. Realizing 233 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: that this was the best offer he was likely to get, 234 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand reluctantly agreed. On June, he arrived at Hofburg 235 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,399 Speaker 1: Palace and entered the Privy Council chamber, where he was 236 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,640 Speaker 1: joined by a small group of Habsburg officials. The Emperor 237 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,440 Speaker 1: to speak. Inspired by the wish to give my nephew 238 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 1: new proof of my special love, he began, and, apparently 239 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: not a trace of irony, I have consented to his 240 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: marriage with Countess Sophie Hotech. The countess descends, it is 241 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: true from noble lineage, but her family is not one 242 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: of those that, according to the customs of our house 243 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: we regard as our equals. As only women from equal 244 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: houses can be regarded as equal in birth, this marriage 245 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: must be regarded in the light of a morganatic marriage, 246 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: and the children of which, with God's blessing, will spring 247 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: forward from it, cannot be given the rights of the 248 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: members of the Imperial House. Franz Ferdinand stepped to the 249 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: front of the room, removed his right glove, and placed 250 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 1: his bare hand on the document containing the Oath of Renunciation. 251 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: Speaking quietly, he swore to obey the oath, swore that 252 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: his children would never rule, and swore that Countess Sophie Hotech, 253 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:08,360 Speaker 1: his darling soph was never and could never be his equal. 254 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:14,639 Speaker 1: With this sacrifice complete, the wedding could proceed. Past imperial 255 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,920 Speaker 1: weddings had been grand affairs, with days of festivities celebrated 256 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,359 Speaker 1: by enormous crowds, but this would not be the case 257 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: for Franz Ferdinand and Sophie. Instead of marrying in the 258 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: Augustine Kirche in Vienna as crowned Prince, Rudolph and Emperor 259 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:35,120 Speaker 1: Franz Joseph had The couple was married in the remote 260 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: home of Franz Ferdinand's stepmother. The Emperor had refused to attend, 261 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: instead making a principled stand on the issue of marital 262 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: propriety by spending the weekend in a spa town with 263 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:53,640 Speaker 1: his mistress. The Lord High Chamberlain, Alfred de Montenuovo had 264 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: long been one of the staunchest opponents of the wedding, 265 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 1: and he was determined that the couple enjoy none of 266 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: the giddey celebration that should accompany a day of love. 267 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:10,639 Speaker 1: With the Emperor's consent, Montenuovo engineered a particularly devious plan. 268 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: He had the court to create a formal twelve days 269 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: of mourning for Princess Josephine Hohenzollern, who had died on June. 270 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: Never mind that she was a distant relative of the 271 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,360 Speaker 1: Habsburgs and she was little known at court. A formal 272 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: period of mourning meant that members of the royal family 273 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: were forbidden to attend festive celebrations, and so the decree 274 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,720 Speaker 1: meant that no family members could go to Franz Ferdinand's wedding, 275 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: which conveniently fell on the last day of the morning period. 276 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: Only Maria Teresa, France, Fernand's stepmother, and his two half 277 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: sisters risked the Emperor's wrath by attending the wedding. Despite 278 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: all of this, despite the rain that drizzled down from 279 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: the gray skies over Reichstad, both France, Ferinand and Sophie 280 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:08,680 Speaker 1: declared their wedding day the most beautiful day of our lives. 281 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: They were married in a simple ceremony, with Maria Teresa's 282 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: confessor presiding. As they exchanged vows, the confessor blessed the 283 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 1: couple's rings, praying for them to be quote witnesses for 284 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 1: all time to your untroubled marital happiness. And though the 285 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: love that France, Fernand and Sophie felt for one another 286 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:34,640 Speaker 1: would not falter, their marriage would not be untroubled. Instead 287 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: of ending the gossip and whispers over Sophie's lower status, 288 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: the marriage simply seemed to exacerbate them. Sophie, it was 289 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:46,439 Speaker 1: to endure more than a decade of snubs, insults, and 290 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: exclusion by European royal society. She could not sit by 291 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 1: her husband at court events, walked by his side as 292 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: they entered rooms, or even appear with him on some 293 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,640 Speaker 1: public occasions. On her first ficial appearance at court, at 294 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: a ball for the Shah of Persia, Monte Nuovo had 295 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: designed another humiliation for her. After the rest of the 296 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: imperial family had proceeded into the ballroom through a wide 297 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: set of double doors, Sophie, at the end of the line, 298 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,159 Speaker 1: prepared to enter, but before she could step through the doors, 299 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: one door was loudly slammed closed, leaving only a single, 300 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: narrow space for her to walk through. The wide skirts 301 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 1: of her ballgown being so wide, Sophie was forced to 302 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: turn sideways and slide through. The message was obvious Sophie 303 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: wasn't welcome here and she didn't fit. Furious over the 304 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: continued mistreatment of his wife, Franz Ferdinand increasingly withdrew from court, 305 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 1: especially once the couple welcomed their first child, Sophie in July. 306 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: On the family called the baby little Sophie or Pinky 307 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:03,160 Speaker 1: Orful that his daughter would endure the same treatment as 308 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,640 Speaker 1: his wife, Franz Ferdinand decided that they would spend more 309 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,960 Speaker 1: time at their country estate. He and Sophie were determined 310 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,879 Speaker 1: to enjoy life with the family. They were creating, and 311 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 1: they joyfully welcomed his son Max in September nine two 312 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: and Ernst in May nineteen o four. Describing their time 313 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,199 Speaker 1: away from court, Franz Ferdinand wrote quote, I sit with 314 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,120 Speaker 1: my children all day and admire them because I love 315 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: them so much. Soph not and the children roll around 316 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: and throw everything from the tables, and it is also 317 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 1: incredibly delightful and cozy. But the retreat that Franz Ferdinand 318 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: hoped would help take the heat off of Sophie instead 319 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: only incensed Viennese society, who saw it as an aloof 320 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: declaration of superiority by the somewhat tactless Archduke Franz Ferdinand, 321 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: it was true, could be simultaneously cold and hot tempered, 322 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: demanding much from those around him. Many who did not 323 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 1: know him found him forbidding and imperious, but at his 324 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: family's country estate he thrived, fulfilling his favorite role of 325 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: devoted father and husband. It was only at court, forced 326 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,920 Speaker 1: to play the role of air, that he struggled, chafing 327 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: against the structures of society, becoming terse and awkward, and 328 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: alienating other nobles. The couple was not entirely friendless. One 329 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,640 Speaker 1: particular ally of the couple was the German Kaiser Wilhelm 330 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: the Second. Wilhelm understood the pains of being an outsider. 331 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,720 Speaker 1: His left arm had been badly damaged during his traumatic birth, 332 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: leaving its six inches shorter than the right arm, a 333 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 1: disability he was highly self conscious of and forced to 334 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 1: compensate for for his entire life. Historians have theorized that 335 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: this understanding of exclusion was why Wilhelm was one of 336 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,480 Speaker 1: the first monarchs to publicly show any kindness to Sophie. 337 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: Though Franz Ferdinand often complained about the Kaiser's eccentricities and ego, 338 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:13,919 Speaker 1: Wilhelms acceptance of Sophie did create a lifelong connection between 339 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 1: the two men. As the years progressed, there were signs 340 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: of a slight thawing toward the couple by the European elite. 341 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 1: They conducted successful visits to other royal families, including those 342 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: of Great Britain and Romania, whose monarchs were impressed by 343 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:33,880 Speaker 1: Sophie's grace and strength in the face of ongoing hostility 344 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: from the Habsburgs, and even the Habsburgs had begun to 345 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:42,400 Speaker 1: admire the quiet dignity of the archducal couple, though detractors 346 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: still maligned Sophie as a social climber and friends Ferdinand 347 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:52,040 Speaker 1: as a holier than thou snob. Despite these challenges, though 348 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: the love the couple had for one another remained. Shortly 349 00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: before they left for Bosnia in June, Sophie had remarked, 350 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 1: it will be fourteen years since I married His Imperial 351 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 1: and Royal Highness, the Archduke. I wish I could relive 352 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: every single day again. They had endured cruelties from every corner, 353 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: faced in dignities, and weathered malicious insults. Having suffered so 354 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,399 Speaker 1: long and fought so hard for their love, Sophie and 355 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand finally felt as though dawn had begun to 356 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: break on their future. They could not have known then 357 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,679 Speaker 1: they were only days away from the greatest tragedy of 358 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: them all. Franz Ferdinand did not want to go to Sarajevo. 359 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,360 Speaker 1: He had barely wanted to go to Bosnia at all. 360 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: Back in the Archduke had fervently opposed Austria Hungary's annexation 361 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: of Bosnia, believing that the move would draw them ever 362 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 1: nearer to a war with Russia. Russia had backed the 363 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: Serbian government's right to the lands. Although Franz Ferdinand had 364 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,159 Speaker 1: has sometimes been portrayed as a war monger eager to 365 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:07,919 Speaker 1: establish Austro Hungarian supremacy in Europe, he was more often 366 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: than not pragmatic and a conservative man who had a 367 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: shrewd understanding of the tenuous position of countries on the continent. 368 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirteen, he wrote to the Emperor about his 369 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:25,440 Speaker 1: concerns over the situation in the Balkans, predicting with unnerving 370 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,879 Speaker 1: accuracy the potential effects of war between Russia and Austria. 371 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:35,320 Speaker 1: It would quote encourage revolution in both countries and thereby 372 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: cause both Emperor and Czar to push each other from 373 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:45,400 Speaker 1: their thrones. For these reasons, I consider war to be lunacy. Unfortunately, 374 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 1: this sentiment was not shared by the Emperor's hawkish General 375 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,159 Speaker 1: of the Infantry, who had spent the years leading up 376 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: to nineteen fourteen trying desperately to promote what he called 377 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:04,240 Speaker 1: a quote preventative war against Serbia. This fundamental disagreement between 378 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand and his uncle's general may have been part 379 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 1: of why Franz Ferdinand accepted the Bosnian Governor General's invitation 380 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:17,720 Speaker 1: to observe military maneuvers outside sara Jevo in June nineteen fourteen. 381 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,439 Speaker 1: The summer prior, the Emperor had promoted Franz Ferdinand to 382 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: the position of Inspector General of the Empire's armed forces, 383 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 1: and the Arn't Duke hoped that this title would give 384 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,439 Speaker 1: him more sway in the conflict. Perhaps he thought that 385 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 1: his presence in Bosnia would present a more peaceful face 386 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: of the Habsburgs. Nonetheless, it's harder to understand why he 387 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: accepted the invitation to visit Sarajevo, given the tension in 388 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: the city. Four years earlier, Oscar Poetoreac's predecessor as Austrian 389 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: governor General, had barely survived an assassination attempt, the first 390 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: in a chain of five other attempted assassinations against Austro 391 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: Hungarian figures. Some historians have argued that the Archduke agreed 392 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 1: to visit in order to satisfy his need for adelation, 393 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: but this seems a little unlikely given how disdainful he 394 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 1: was of appeals to public sympathy for his private life. 395 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: Others have claimed he went to Sarajevo for Sophie so 396 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 1: that they could spend more time together in an official capacity, 397 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 1: and so more Habsburg citizens could behold his charming wife. 398 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: The British historian A. J. P. Taylor, discussing friends Ferdinand's motives, wrote, thus, 399 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: for love did the Archduke go to his death? A 400 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: pretty turn of phrase, to be sure, but most likely 401 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: an inaccurate one, or at least an incomplete one. For 402 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,040 Speaker 1: one thing, the royal couple had spent the past several 403 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: years conducting a series of highly successful imperial visit to 404 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: Berlin and Great Britain. They didn't need the affirmation of 405 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: a dangerous visit to Sarajevo to confirm what observers all 406 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: over were already beginning to understand that Sophie was an intelligent, 407 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 1: grounded woman who was well suited to her role. For 408 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: another thing, though Franz Ferdinand was well aware of the 409 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: peril of the visit and he didn't want to subject 410 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 1: his wife to the risks, it was actually Sophie herself 411 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: who insisted that she joined him, telling a priest that quote, 412 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 1: if there is danger, my place is so much more 413 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 1: by my husband's side. Maybe the real answer as to 414 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,920 Speaker 1: I Franz Ferdinand wanted to go to Sarajevo is that 415 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: he didn't. For the rest of the summer, Franz Ferdinand 416 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: tried to get out of the trip, citing his own 417 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: ill health and the ill health of the Emperor, among 418 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: other things. But on June seven, in a meeting with 419 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: the Emperor, his fate was sealed. When he asked his 420 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 1: uncle if he could decline Potiorec's invitation. The Emperor replied, 421 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: do as you wish. This may sound ambiguous, but in 422 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: the fraud oblique language of the apps Berg's it was 423 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: basically a command. It was an unsettle reminder of Franz 424 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: Ferdinand's highest responsibility, not to himself but to the dynasty. 425 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: If it would reflect well on the Habsburgs to make 426 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: a political appearance in Sarajevo, Franz Ferdinand would do it, 427 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,640 Speaker 1: even if it meant risking his life. The players were 428 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: in place, blood would come next. That's the start of 429 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 1: the story of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This 430 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: is a two part episode, obviously because there is so 431 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: much to talk about, and we'll have a part two 432 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: next week to discuss the famous assassination itself. But in 433 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: the meantime, keep listening after a brief sponsor break to 434 00:31:52,720 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 1: hear just a little bit more. Schlaus Kona Pitched, a 435 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: thirteenth century castle overlooking a lake in the present day 436 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: Czech Republic, was the beloved childhood home of Franz Ferdinand 437 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: and Sophie's children, Max, Sophie and Ernst. Franz Ferdinand had 438 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: bought the property in eight seven, and he spent more 439 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: than five years transforming it into an idyllic retreat perched 440 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:27,720 Speaker 1: atop a hillside. The white walled, red roofed structure features 441 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: a storybook turret, and it has lush rose gardens and 442 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: all of the most modern amenities that had been available 443 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:39,160 Speaker 1: in the late nineteenth century, including electricity, running hot water, 444 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:43,440 Speaker 1: even an elevator. Little Sophie would later remember that the 445 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 1: house was quote the place of our first memories, the cocoon, 446 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,680 Speaker 1: where all our day to day business took place. After 447 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 1: their parents' deaths, the children faced ostracization and uncertainty. They 448 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: weren't quite Hapsburgs, but they weren't not, and they struggled 449 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 1: to find their footing while also navigating the shocking murder 450 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 1: of their beloved parents. Fortunately, Sophie's sister Maria and her husband, 451 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 1: Prince Yaroslav an Thune und Unstein, stepped in as adopted parents. 452 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 1: The trio provided the children with love and affection, which 453 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 1: was also supplied by their grandmother Maria Teresa and their 454 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: aunt Henriette, among others. The children spent the warriors mainly 455 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,239 Speaker 1: at Konopiste, where they were sheltered from the worst of 456 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: the fighting. But in nineteen eighteen, as the First World 457 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 1: War came to a close, even the fairytale escape of 458 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:46,200 Speaker 1: Konopist slipped from their hands. In October, the new nation 459 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 1: of Czechoslovakia declared independence from Austria, and as a sign 460 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:55,640 Speaker 1: of rejection of the old ways, they expropriated all Habsburg 461 00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:01,120 Speaker 1: properties in the country. Konopiste was seized. All of family mementos, 462 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,440 Speaker 1: the photographs, the letters and diaries which kept Sophie and 463 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: Franz Ferdinand alive for their children were now property of 464 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: the state. Over the next eighty years, Konopis would take 465 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:16,680 Speaker 1: several forms. During World War Two, it was taken over 466 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,320 Speaker 1: by Hitler's s s as a part of the Soviet Union. 467 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 1: It held offices of the Czech Ministry of Agriculture and 468 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:27,719 Speaker 1: the children's toys, still sitting where they had left them 469 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:32,480 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighteen, were distributed to local kindergarteners. But in 470 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: two thousand, Princess Sophie von Hohenberg, fran Ferdinand's great granddaughter, 471 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:41,840 Speaker 1: filed a lawsuit to reclaim the castle, based on a 472 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 1: loophole that even Alfred de Montenuovo would have to acknowledge. 473 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,400 Speaker 1: The humor in her suit had argued that the seizure 474 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: of Konopis was unlawful because it had done so under 475 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,719 Speaker 1: a law which allowed for the seizure of Habsburg properties 476 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,880 Speaker 1: and her family, as her great grandfather had been forced 477 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: to declare in his oath of renunciation, we're not Hapsburgs. 478 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: In two thousand nine, Princess Sophie lost her lawsuit, and 479 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: Kono Beast remains in the hands of the Czech government, 480 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,239 Speaker 1: who have opened it to the public. Today, visitors can 481 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 1: tour the grounds of the castle. They can look inside 482 00:35:20,239 --> 00:35:23,920 Speaker 1: a number of interior rooms and view a collection of 483 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:29,439 Speaker 1: memorabilia related to the assassination, including the very bullet that's 484 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,200 Speaker 1: alleged to have killed the Archduke. But more on that 485 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:44,439 Speaker 1: next week. Noble Blood is a production of I Heart 486 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:48,080 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood 487 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 1: is hosted by me Danish Wartz. Additional writing and researching 488 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:56,560 Speaker 1: done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, Courtney Sender, 489 00:35:56,560 --> 00:36:00,080 Speaker 1: and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by re m 490 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:05,480 Speaker 1: El Kali, with supervising producer Josh Thame and executive producers 491 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:09,879 Speaker 1: Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts 492 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: from I Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 493 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.