Franz Ferdinand.
Girl, look at that mustache.
I know, right? He's been dead 98 years. And all you know about him is that he started World War I. (Bonus points if you realize that he didn't start anything since he was, you know, dead.)
But his life was more that that. He was a generally disliked man in the Austro-Hungarian scheme. Mostly because 1) He wasn't supposed to be next in line for the throne and 2) He married for love. It has also been said that he had an icy personality, but I didn't meet the man, I just read about him.
Isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard? Centuries of inbreeding and affairs, and when Franzy goes off and marries a girl he loves, everyone hates him. She was actually from a noble family...they just weren't noble enough. She was pretty as well! This isn't some sort of thing where everyone didn't like her and kinda whispered behind her back. No, this was the sort of thing where she was denied her title (like Camilla Parker-Bowles) and wasn't allowed to be in public with her husband at a lot of events.
It is also very important to realize that the Archduke was one of the few people in power in Austria-Hungary who wasn't itching for a war in 1914. The other leaders were foaming at the mouth for conflict. So his death setting off the First World War has another level of irony and sadness to it.
The whole reason that the two of them were in Sarajevo (besides needing to do some official stuff) is that the weird administration of the country meant that Sophie and Franz could be together in public. Isn't that sweet? And it was their anniversary as well! (Although it was also the anniversary of a great Sebian defeat...should've checked "This Day in History" before hopping on the train.)
Then the two of them got shot and died while on their way to visit a man who was injured in an earlier assassination attempt on Franz Ferdinand. Europe's Last Summer says that Franz's last words were something along the lines of "Sophie dear! Don't die! Someone must care for the children!"But after they died, the angry Austrians weren't finished humiliating them! There was a plan to bury only Sophie in the special tomb that she and her husband had had build because they knew they couldn't be buried together in the royal tomb and stick Franz in the royal tomb anyhow! Luckily, someone intercepted the bodies and they at least got their wishes in that regard. But those sweet children weren't allowed to go to the memorial service, and they were barely allowed to send flowers. Foreign leaders (who normally would've been all over this funeral) weren't invited; the Kaiser only got to come because the two were personal friends.
Anyway, I didn't know the details of this melancholy affair until 3 days ago. I always had a vague idea of what happened (thanks, John Green) due to this excerpt from An Abundance of Katherines:
"[Ferdinand] married this girl named Sophie in 1900, and everyone thought she was just totally low-rent. But, you know, in the guy's defense, he really loved her."
So I've been telling everyone I know about it. I'm sure this account is oversimplified and not actually true, but if there's anything that history can teach us, it's that what you believe is what matters. That's what shapes your worldview. That's why you have to be discerning and think critically. But isn't it wonderful that we live in a world where, 98 years after a man and his wife were assassinated, people still care? Because I honestly care about this story. I wonder what happened to his kids and need to read up on them. So many histories are remembered through the ages because they were bloody and many people died, but far less are remembered because they represent the best in us, but without those stories, we might forget how good the good can be.
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