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
Archduke Leopold Ludwig of Austria Archduke Leopold Ludwig of Austria Archduke Leopold Ludwig of Austria (German: Leopold Ludwig Maria Franz Julius Estorgius Gerhard Erzherzog von Ósterreich) (b. Milan 6 June 1823 – d. Hórnstein 24 May 1898) was an Austrian general and admiral. He was the eldest son of Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria (1783–1853) and Princess Elisabeth of Savoy (1800–1856) and a grandson of Emperor Leopold II. Leopold Ludwig was born in 1823 in Milan, where his father served as Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia from 1818 to 1848. A younger brother, Archduke Rainer Ferdinand (1827–1913), served as Austrian Minister President from 1859 to 1861. Leopold