The lead-up to Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination on June 28, 1914, involved rising nationalist tensions in the Balkans, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. The assassination plot was orchestrated by a group of Serbian nationalists known as the Black Hand, who sought to promote Slavic nationalism. On the day of the assassination, Ferdinand's visit to Sarajevo was met with both celebration and outrage, and after an initial failed attempt on his life, he was ultimately shot by Gavrilo Princip when his car took a wrong turn near the assassin’s location. This event set off a chain reaction of alliances and hostilities that ultimately led to the outbreak of World War I.
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