| Gavrilo Princip | |
| |
| Historical Figure | |
| Nationality: | Bosnian Serb subject of the Ottoman Empire (1894-1908) and Austria-Hungary (1908-1918) |
| Year of Birth: | 1894 |
| Year of Death: | 1918 |
| Cause of Death: | Tuberculosis |
| Religion: | None, atheist |
| Occupation: | Terrorist |
| Parents: | Petar Princip, Marija Mićić |
| Fictional Appearances: | |
Gavrilo Princip (Serbian: Гаврило Принцип, 25 July 1894 - 28 April 1918) was an ethnic Serb and a Yugoslav nationalist. Princip was born in Herzegovina, whose rule was transferred in 1908 from the Ottoman Empire to Austria-Hungary. On 28 June 1914, he assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg in Sarajevo. This act began a political chain reaction that sparked World War I. As World War II arose directly from World War I, Princip is arguably one of the most important people of the 20th century.
Princip, who believed that the war would have started regardless of his actions, died of tuberculosis in April 1918, before the end of the war. He has traditionally been lionized in Yugoslavia and its rump state Serbia, but regarded as a murderous terrorist in other countries, including former Yugoslav nations Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Literary comment[]
The Sarajevo murders occurred in all Harry Turtledove timelines with points of divergence after 1914. They are germane only to a few.
Gavrilo Princip in "The Fight Goes On"[]
| "The Fight Goes On" Time-Travel | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
On 28 June 1914, Karl had lunch at Moritz Schiller's delicatessen and general store on the Appel Quay in Sarajevo while waiting for Gavrilo Princip to arrive. He finished eating and almost bumped into Princip on his way out. He then deliberately bumped into him to substitute a duplicate Browning automatic pistol loaded with blanks for Princip's. Karl apologized for his clumsiness and offered to buy Princip a coffee or a slivovitz in compensation. Princip declined taking the offer for the deed saying he was there to meet someone. Karl was disappointed because he had wanted to chat with Princip but returned to the deli for coffee while Princip went to the street corner to wait for Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Karl left the deli when Ferdinand's automobile approached. He cried out in horror when gouts of blood spurted from Ferdinand's chest and Sophie's neck. Somehow, Princip fired live rounds. It turned out that Dragutin, his unexpected roommate, had substituted a duplicate pistol with live ammunition before Karl did the same with Princip.[1]
Gavrilo Princip in The War That Came Early[]
| The War That Came Early POD: July 20, 1936; Relevant POD: September 29, 1938 | |
| Appearance(s): | Hitler's War |
| Type of Appearance: | Posthumous reference |
Gavrilo Princip's actions were eerily echoed on 30 September 1938 when Czech nationalist Jaroslav Stribny assassinated Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler seized on this assassination as a casus belli to invade Czechoslovakia, which in turn touched off the Second World War. Hitler took great delight in noting both assassins were Slavs.[2]
Gavrilo Princip in "Last Flight of the Swan of the East"[]
| Shared Universe Story | |
| "Last Flight of the Swan of the East" POD: 1878 | |
| Type of Appearance: | Oblique contemporary references |
In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie were murdered in Sarajevo. In response, Austria-Hungary issued a number of ultimata against Serbia, which was supported by Russia. Austria-Hungary was in turn supported by the Empires of Germany and Japan. Russia invoked its alliance with France, who was in turn supported by the United States, and the Great War began.[3]
Karl von Müller, commander of the SMS Emden, learned of the assassination when radio operator Rolf Schatzeder described the action as the work of a "Serbian maniac".[4]
Literary comment[]
While the "maniac" is unnamed, Harry Turtledove's account of the assassination matches the OTL version in every detail, so implicitly Princip is still the assassin.
In 2024, the Leviathans Core Rulebook retconned some details of the assassination, including changing the date to April 1914 and the location to Serbia proper, rendering Turtledove's work inconsistent with the rest of the Leviathans canon (such as it is). For more information, see the Leviathans wiki.
See also[]
- An unnamed Serb bomber who begins the Great War in Southern Victory.
- An unnamed Vlach Werewolf who begins the War of the Kingdoms in Every Inch a King.
- Nedeljko Čabrinović, a historical accomplice of Princip.
References[]
- ↑ Asimov's Science Fiction, May/June 2025, pgs. 65-67.
- ↑ Hitler's War, pg. 16., HC
- ↑ Leviathans: Armored Skies, pgs. 292-299, loc. 4174-4290, ebook.
- ↑ Ibid.
| |||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
