Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria, later known as Ferdinand Burg (Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Johann Maria; Vienna, 27 December 1868 – Munich, 12 March 1915) He was the third son of Archduke Charles Louis of Austria and Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination at Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 launched World War I, was his elder brother. He was a major-general in the Austrian Army. Like his brother, in 1909 he concluded an unequal marriage with Bertha Czuber (1879–1979), daughter of Emanuel Czuber. Unlike his brother, he did so without
Historical characters in the Southern Victory Series bomb on June 28, 1914. In real history, the Archduke and his wife were assassinated on the same date, but by gunshot after failed attempts to throw bombs into their car. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary issued a number of ultimata against Serbia, which was supported by Russia. Austria-Hungary was in turn supported by Germany and the United States. Russia invoked its alliances with the United Kingdom, France, and the Confederate States, and the Great War began. Franz Ferdinand's death inspired Arthur McGregor's last failed attempt to assassinate General George Armstrong Custer in 1922. Duchess Sophie and her husband Archduke Franz