The Law of Unintended Consequences: The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a series of events involving political motivations, a failed first attempt, and a fatal wrong turn that placed him in the path of assassin Gavrilo Princip. The background tensions that led to the event are rooted in events like the Congress of Berlin (1878), which created the political instability in the Balkans that the assassins exploited. The final, fatal moment was the result of a wrong turn taken by the driver, which was a direct result of a previous, failed assassination attempt and a decision to try a new route.

This chain of events proved so decisive in triggering the Great War.

We warmly welcome our speaker Ross Beadle, BA (Hons) History, and MA in First World War Studies. He was first inspired to study the Great War when as an eleven year old, he sat and watched all 26 episodes of the BBC’s 1964 documentary "The Great War"

All are welcome to attend this event and everyone is guaranteed a warm welcome with the doors opening at 6.30pm ready for a 7pm start.

The Branch looks forward to seeing as many of you who are able to attend for what should be an extremely interesting and informative talk.