Posted on 06/22/2004 10:07:58 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
BERLIN -- The Browning pistol that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and sparked the crisis leading to World War I has been discovered gathering dust in a Jesuit community house in Austria.
The weapon is going on display in the Vienna Museum of Military History in time for the 90th anniversary of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian empire and his wife, Sophie. Gavrilo Princip, a student from Belgrade, fired seven shots as they were driven through Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.
The shooting led to World War I, which by one estimate resulted in 8.5 million deaths.
For decades the murder weapon, serial number 19074, was in the possession of a community of Jesuits in Styria, southern Austria. They inherited it from a close friend of the archduke and his wife.
A Jesuit priest, Anton Puntigam, gave the couple the last rites and later made public his intention of opening a museum in memory of the archduke. But the chaos of the war foiled his plans.
On the priest's death in 1926, the objects were offered to the archduke's family, which declined to take them. They remained out of sight until recent publicity about the 90th anniversary.
Daily Telegraph
Aside from the Bolshevik Revolution, I don't know much about the era. I am sure there are plenty 'o books about the "Great World War", but I couldn't name any, sorry.
I've been luckless in my effort to find a confirmation of the quotation which I have attributed to the Kaiser. 99% of references are to a techno pop singer MOBY. The Goering attribution is common but predated by Hanns Jost a Nazi playwrite. Some attribute the remark to Lenin or Mussolini. I read the Kaisers version many ,many years ago but have no idea where. That it actually sounds like something he would have said and would be chronologically earlier than the other attributions, makes me feel like I may be correct.
It's probably like trying to find which Greek comedy had some servant say: "Walk this way." and the guest reply: "I'll try."
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