Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Franz Ferdinand was born 18 December 1863, eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig, younger brother to Emperor Franz Joseph I. He wasn't meant for the throne until Crown Prince Rudolf died in 1889 and his own father died in 1896, making him heir presumptive to Austria-Hungary. His courtship of Sophie Chotek, a lady-in-waiting, scandalized the imperial household - their marriage in 1900 was permitted only after he renounced any claim his children might have to the crown. By 1913 he held serious military sway as inspector general of the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces. On 28 June 1914, nineteen-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia, shot Franz Ferdinand and Sophie dead in Sarajevo. The assassination triggered the July Crisis, Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia, and four weeks later the interlocking alliances that opened the First World War.