July Crisis reason for armed conflict, the dispute between Serbia and Austria-Hungary over the murdered heir, had already become a sidenote to a general European war. Austria-Hungary had annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. Sarajevo was the provincial capital. Oskar Potiorek was the military commander and governor of the province. Emperor Franz Joseph ordered Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, to attend military exercises due to be held in Bosnia. After the exercises, on 28 June 1914, Ferdinand toured Sarajevo with his wife, Sophie. Six armed irredentists, five Serbs and one Bosnian Muslim, coordinated by Danilo Ilić, lay in
Veljko Čubrilović Veljko Čubrilović Veljko Čubrilović (Serbian Cyrillic: Вељко Чубриловић; 6 June 1886 – 3 February 1915) was a Bosnian Serb who was involved in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. He was born in Gradiška, Bosnia and Herzegovina and became a schoolteacher in Priboj Majevički. In 1914, as a member of the Black Hand secret society, he agreed to help Gavrilo Princip, Nedeljko Čabrinović, and Trifko Grabež assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand. His brother, Vaso Čubrilović, was also involved in the plot. On Sunday, 28 June 1914, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie von Chotkova were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. Princip and