Post by Steve on Jun 29, 2014 3:59:48 GMT
OOC: Hi folks! This here, is what we althistorians call a Double-Blind What If, in which an event that happened in another universe, is presented as if the OP and other participants were speaking from that viewpoint, or "in character", as it were. "Out of Character", or OOC for short, posts are spoken from the viewpoint of the real world.
IC: Gavrilo Princip, the world-famous Bosnian nationalist turned peacenik, who had been part of a Serbian nationalist terror group called the "Black Hand", took part in a plot that was intended to take the life of the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophia, in Sarajevo. However, though, Princip, for some reason, lost his nerve, and couldn't carry out the plot, leading to his ostracization and, eventually, him leaving the group altogether in 1916.
Tensions had been building in Europe for some time and were at their peak in the summer of 1914, and it was only the revelation of the failed plot in Bosnia that managed to bring several of the European powers to the table to try to defuse the situation at least to a degree. What I'm interested in asking is, What if the Black Hand had succeeded in killing the Archduke? Could it indeed have sparked the Global War 18 years early? And what would have become of Gavrilo Princip? IOTL, he eventually rejected nationalism altogether and became a peace activist in the mold of Mohandas Gandhi and Sen Katayama.
I realize it's been covered a few times before, namely by Norman Turtledove & Christina Taylor in 1989's "1914", amongst others, but this is, no doubt, a fascinating potential PoD.
So, any thoughts?
OOC: Well, it is the centennial anniversary of this monumental event, so I figured it'd be interesting to think about the possibilities, the "What Ifs", etc.; in fact, I'm considering even possibly doing a TLIAD along these lines.
IC: Gavrilo Princip, the world-famous Bosnian nationalist turned peacenik, who had been part of a Serbian nationalist terror group called the "Black Hand", took part in a plot that was intended to take the life of the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Sophia, in Sarajevo. However, though, Princip, for some reason, lost his nerve, and couldn't carry out the plot, leading to his ostracization and, eventually, him leaving the group altogether in 1916.
Tensions had been building in Europe for some time and were at their peak in the summer of 1914, and it was only the revelation of the failed plot in Bosnia that managed to bring several of the European powers to the table to try to defuse the situation at least to a degree. What I'm interested in asking is, What if the Black Hand had succeeded in killing the Archduke? Could it indeed have sparked the Global War 18 years early? And what would have become of Gavrilo Princip? IOTL, he eventually rejected nationalism altogether and became a peace activist in the mold of Mohandas Gandhi and Sen Katayama.
I realize it's been covered a few times before, namely by Norman Turtledove & Christina Taylor in 1989's "1914", amongst others, but this is, no doubt, a fascinating potential PoD.
So, any thoughts?
OOC: Well, it is the centennial anniversary of this monumental event, so I figured it'd be interesting to think about the possibilities, the "What Ifs", etc.; in fact, I'm considering even possibly doing a TLIAD along these lines.