A new perspective

110 years later: When the world lay in ruins

Heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Duchess Sophie, at the hands of the Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip.(Bild: akg-images / picturedesk.com)

The First World War broke out 110 years ago. Two historians take a special look at it in their book. Franz Ferdinand, who died in a cruel manner, plays a major role in the book. 

Emperor Franz Joseph's heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand, was a hard-nosed realist. "If he had not died in the assassination attempt in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, he would probably have done everything in his power to prevent a war against Serbia," the authors Ingrid Schramm and Andrea Glatzer from the district of Neusiedl are convinced.