WI: Archduke Franz Ferdinand gets lucky

Well, only a little bit lucky. Let's say that the bomb-thrower has better timing and the Archduke's car is blown up. He is seriously injured, losing a leg and seeming in danger of death for some time; his wife survives, whilst the other two occupants of the car are killed.

How does this effect the outbreak (or not) of WW1?
 
Likely to still be a Casus belli for war!

Austria-Hungary was looking for an excuse to attack Serbia, an attempted assasination, particularly with a seriously wounded Archduke, may even be better.
 
Likely to still be a Casus belli for war!

Austria-Hungary was looking for an excuse to attack Serbia, an attempted assasination, particularly with a seriously wounded Archduke, may even be better.
It depend on FF himself actually. The one in the Austrian government who was not keen on war was him. Would this terrorist attack change his mind? FF hated Slavs, but considered a Slavic Crown within the Empire inevitable because of how many Slavs there were in the Empire. But he was dceptic towards expanding the Empire, since no need for even more Slavs.
 
It depend on FF himself actually. The one in the Austrian government who was not keen on war was him. Would this terrorist attack change his mind? FF hated Slavs, but considered a Slavic Crown within the Empire inevitable because of how many Slavs there were in the Empire. But he was dceptic towards expanding the Empire, since no need for even more Slavs.

The OP seems to imply that FF is incapacitated, possibly comatosed?, during the critical period of July 1914.
(At the very least he is going to be hospitalised with his injuries for months) and out of the decision making process.
 
Very likely no difference but small chance that events do not escalate as fast. However the powder keg is still there so unless someone works out what might have happened and soothers things down, the war is just delayed. Needs say FF to see the brush with death as a need to crusade for a reordering of the empire and european peace. This might may A-H look stabler and make russian think twice about starting a fight.
 
The OP seems to imply that FF is incapacitated, possibly comatosed?, during the critical period of July 1914.
(At the very least he is going to be hospitalised with his injuries for months) and out of the decision making process.
I'm thinking hospitalised for several months, out of the decision loop but his return is a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' after a week or so and the danger has passed.

I think this is an interesting scenario because whilst the casus belli is still there, it's slightly weaker since the Archduke hasn't actually died which might slow things down slightly. We're still waving a match around the powderkeg, though.
 
The OP seems to imply that FF is incapacitated, possibly comatosed?, during the critical period of July 1914.
(At the very least he is going to be hospitalised with his injuries for months) and out of the decision making process.
Then Hötzendorf will convince the rest of the government to go to war as OTL.
 
As it was, FF got very unlucky. The assassination was only successful because his car took a wrong (or unscheduled) turning. If there had been no deviation from the planned route then no assassination would have occurred. In early summer 1914 by a Serb nationalist anyhow -obviously no guarantee he wouldn't be assassinated by an anarchist in Vienna in 1916 or by a Polish nationalist in Krakow in 1919.
 
As it was, FF got very unlucky. The assassination was only successful because his car took a wrong (or unscheduled) turning. If there had been no deviation from the planned route then no assassination would have occurred. In early summer 1914 by a Serb nationalist anyhow -obviously no guarantee he wouldn't be assassinated by an anarchist in Vienna in 1916 or by a Polish nationalist in Krakow in 1919.

Assassins do have a nasty habit of being potentially anywhere and at any time -- who would've expected a Socialist robber in Thessaloniki in 1913, or a Communist in the book depository in 1963? -- but of course the nature of the assassination can change matters dramatically. After all, by 1919 our Polish nationalist may well be assassinating the Kaiser-King, not the Archduke and heir...
 
It depends on whether Franz Ferdinand is back on his feet in time.

If not, the Austro-Hungarian government will start the war anyway. If yes, the archduke will likely prevent it. Franz Ferdinand was (usually) an advocate for peace in these discussions; he wanted to take over the monarchy and enact changes before engaging in a war against Italy, Serbia or anyone else.

In this case, WWI is delayed, but not neccessarily averted. There are still many ways it can start. For one, it could start off with the implosion of Austria-Hungary due to Franz Ferdinand's attempts at absolutism and other eccentric ideas. And even if it does not implode, it's going to be even more of an unstable mess than before; even more vulnerable and just as liable to take risks and make dangerous moves.
 
Much more likely he ends up assassinated by Hungarian nationalists. While FF had not much sympathy for Southern Slavs (Bohemians were a different matter, because of his wife), he positively hated Hungarians and their constant whittling out of imperial authority: even the emperor when in Hungary could not be addressed as such but only as king of Hungary, and the yearly budget (which had to be approved by both the Cisleithanian and the Transleithanian parliaments) always ended up in long and heated negotiations). In 1905 FF had the General staff draft a Plan U, which dealt with an occupation of Hungary (and when this was leaked a few years later there was a major scandal and Conrad was sidelined for a time). If everything goes on schedule and FF gets the crown in 1916, the negotiations for the renewal of the Ausgleich will be on fire :p in particular if FF goes on with the idea of granting more power to the southern Slavs).
 
Much more likely he ends up assassinated by Hungarian nationalists. While FF had not much sympathy for Southern Slavs (Bohemians were a different matter, because of his wife), he positively hated Hungarians and their constant whittling out of imperial authority: even the emperor when in Hungary could not be addressed as such but only as king of Hungary, and the yearly budget (which had to be approved by both the Cisleithanian and the Transleithanian parliaments) always ended up in long and heated negotiations). In 1905 FF had the General staff draft a Plan U, which dealt with an occupation of Hungary (and when this was leaked a few years later there was a major scandal and Conrad was sidelined for a time). If everything goes on schedule and FF gets the crown in 1916, the negotiations for the renewal of the Ausgleich will be on fire :p in particular if FF goes on with the idea of granting more power to the southern Slavs).
Yes, but think how long budget disputes would take if there was a third Slavic parliament. The negotiations would never end. And Imperial authority would fizzle out even more.

That was FF's dilemma. He hated how much Imperial Power in Austria- Hungary was diminishing, and still he saw no choice but to diminish Imperial Power even more.
 
Well, only a little bit lucky. Let's say that the bomb-thrower has better timing and the Archduke's car is blown up. He is seriously injured, losing a leg and seeming in danger of death for some time; his wife survives, whilst the other two occupants of the car are killed.
Are you suggesting that one of the first two guys get lucky?
The first conspirator on the route to see the royal car was Muhamed Mehmedbašić. Standing by the Austro-Hungarian Bank, Mehmedbašić lost his nerve and allowed the car to pass without taking action. Mehmedbašić later said that a policeman was standing behind him and feared he would be arrested before he had a chance to throw his bomb.[19] At 10:15, when the six-car procession passed the central police station, nineteen-year-old student Nedeljko Čabrinović hurled a hand grenade at the Archduke's car. The driver accelerated when he saw the object flying towards him, but the bomb had a 10-second delay and exploded under the wheel of the fourth car. Two of the occupants, Eric von Merizzi and Count Alexander von Boos-Waldeck, were seriously wounded. About a dozen spectators were also hit by bomb shrapnel.[23]
Because, of course, the OTL assassination involved a gun.
Princip stepped forward, drew his pistol, an FN Model 1910,[25]
 
By early 1914, according to Brook-Shepard's Archduke of Sarajevo, Franz Ferdinand had moved away from trialism (setting up a third kingdom) and was back to discussing some form of centralization, reducing Hungary's overall power and moving the authority across the entire Empire back to Vienna. How well that would have worked in practice is still up for debate.
 
Yes, but think how long budget disputes would take if there was a third Slavic parliament. The negotiations would never end. And Imperial authority would fizzle out even more.

That was FF's dilemma. He hated how much Imperial Power in Austria- Hungary was diminishing, and still he saw no choice but to diminish Imperial Power even more.

Which is the reason why the "easy" solution (a third crown for the southern Slavs) wouldn't work, even if the Imperial Government could - and did - work by decree whenever there was a logjam.
Maybe there was no real solution, the KuK's sickness was too advanced, but it was obvious that the Ausgleich was going to make things worse and worse.
IMHO FF was going to try to implement something patterned on the German model, with multiple local parliaments but with the power (in particular the power of the purse and the control of the army) firmly in the hands of the central government in Vienna. At which point, Hungary would raise in revolt.
 
Which is the reason why the "easy" solution (a third crown for the southern Slavs) wouldn't work, even if the Imperial Government could - and did - work by decree whenever there was a logjam.
Maybe there was no real solution, the KuK's sickness was too advanced, but it was obvious that the Ausgleich was going to make things worse and worse.
IMHO FF was going to try to implement something patterned on the German model, with multiple local parliaments but with the power (in particular the power of the purse and the control of the army) firmly in the hands of the central government in Vienna. At which point, Hungary would raise in revolt.
FF's dream scenario would be no parliament, but he was realist enough to know that'd never work. So he backed the Slavic Crown since he saw no other way for the Empire to survive. He was not like the other in government who honestly believed all they needed was a glorious war and a glorious victory to create a patriotic frenzy, and they could close down both Vienna and Budapest and restore Absolutism.
 
Are you suggesting that one of the first two guys get lucky?

Because, of course, the OTL assassination involved a gun.

My own first thought when I read this scenario: Mehmedbašić gets just a little bit of luck when he throws his bomb. OTL, Franz Ferdinand was able to deflect the object, either by knocking it away (more likely) or by catching it and throwing it away, so that it exploded in the street behind his car with the only significant injury occurring to one of General Potoriek's aides, who got his face and hand cut up by fragments. Duchess Sophie, FF's wife, got scratched in the back of the neck by one of those fragments. TTL, we can assume that the Archduke was just that tiny bit slower and didn't manage to get the bomb far enough away from his car before it exploded.

Try this scenario. Say Mehmedbašić's bomb lands in the street on his side (he was sitting on the left-hand side of the rear seat) and detonates, and he loses his left leg which got mangled by the shattered door/car body. General Potoriek, who was sitting opposite the archducal couple, gets hit by the force of the blast as well and is killed, as well as the other aide sitting next to the chauffeur (can't remember his name at the moment). Sophie, being shielded by her husband and Potoriek, is not badly hurt though she's struck by several fragments and her white dress is pretty thoroughly splattered with the blood of her husband and the Governor. The Archduke is taken to the Konak - Potoriek's official residence in Sarajevo - and is saved by the quick intervention of army surgeons, though he lies close to death for several days and is unable to resume his duties as Thronfolger (heir to the throne) and Army Inspector-General for some weeks thereafter.

I'm not sure that Franz Ferdinand would be driven into a "let's go to war" frenzy unless his adored wife had gotten killed, and fortunately, according to the OP's scenario, that doesn't happen. We do know that he had been pretty reluctant to go to Bosnia in the first place, in large part because he expected exactly such attacks as took place, and that one of the main motives for his agreeing to go was that he wanted to give Sophie a special treat for their wedding anniversary, taking her on a trip where she could get equal honors alongside him as spouse of one of the top-ranking generals in the Imperial and Royal Army instead of being forced to take a grossly subordinate role as ranking behind all the archduchesses at the Hofburg (this could get outstandingly petty sometimes; she wasn't allowed to attend state dinners with her husband, for example, but a place was still set for her and left empty!) He'd be more likely to comment on the attempted assassination with his usual darkly sardonic humor once he recovered (as he actually did, OTL, a few minutes before he and Sophie were killed; he actually told the people gathered around him at Sarajevo Town Hall that he'd be willing to bet that Mehmedbašić ended up being given a medal and appointed to the Austrian Privy Council!) The point, as a number of people have mentioned, is that he'd be unable to influence government decisions for the first critical weeks or so; by the time he was able to make his influence felt again, it'd probably be too late - war with Serbia might be a fait accompli by then. Once he regained consciousness, he'd probably do what he could through allies such as his protégé and heir Archduke Karl, but it's uncertain whether that would be enough.
 
I'm not sure that Franz Ferdinand would be driven into a "let's go to war" frenzy unless his adored wife had gotten killed, and fortunately, according to the OP's scenario, that doesn't happen...

Agreed. If his beloved Sophie was killed, he'd be going to the front to rip apart Serbians personally, if he felt it was the Serbs who'd done it. Say what you will about the Archduke, no contemporary of his even remotely questioned his absolute devoted love for his wife.

We do know that he had been pretty reluctant to go to Bosnia in the first place, in large part because he expected exactly such attacks as took place, and that one of the main motives for his agreeing to go was that he wanted to give Sophie a special treat for their wedding anniversary, taking her on a trip where she could get equal honors alongside him as spouse of one of the top-ranking generals in the Imperial and Royal Army instead of being forced to take a grossly subordinate role as ranking behind all the archduchesses at the Hofburg (this could get outstandingly petty sometimes; she wasn't allowed to attend state dinners with her husband, for example, but a place was still set for her and left empty!) He'd be more likely to comment on the attempted assassination with his usual darkly sardonic humor once he recovered (as he actually did, OTL, a few minutes before he and Sophie were killed; he actually told the people gathered around him at Sarajevo Town Hall that he'd be willing to bet that Mehmedbašić ended up being given a medal and appointed to the Austrian Privy Council!) The point, as a number of people have mentioned, is that he'd be unable to influence government decisions for the first critical weeks or so; by the time he was able to make his influence felt again, it'd probably be too late - war with Serbia might be a fait accompli by then. Once he regained consciousness, he'd probably do what he could through allies such as his protégé and heir Archduke Karl, but it's uncertain whether that would be enough.

Now that makes me wonder if Franz Ferdinand might be more willing to (a) sack Conrad for his incapacities and (b) encourage the peace feelers, should war still end up breaking out.
 
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