Shot heard round the world The phrase "shot heard round the world" (alternatively "shots heard round the world" or "shot heard around the world") has also become associated with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, an event considered to be one of the immediate causes of World War I. Serbian Gavrilo Princip fired two shots, the first hitting Franz Ferdinand's wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, and the second hitting the Archduke himself. The death of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, propelled Austria-Hungary and the rest of Europe into World War I. The phrase "Shot heard
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