Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal
History Hit
4.7 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 23 April 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On a summer day in Sarajevo in 1914, a young man fired two rounds of his pistol in the middle of the street, killing a Royal couple... He didn't know it then, but his actions would cause a chain reaction, resulting in the First World War. But who were Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the Duchess Sofie? What kind of relationship did they have? And how did a single, chaotic day unravel into one of history’s most devastating turning points?
Anthony is joined for the final time this month by the marvellous Gareth Russell to retell this tragedy. Gareth's book is “The Emperors: How Europe's Rulers Were Destroyed by the First World War”.
Edited by Hannah Feodorov. Produced by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer is Freddy Chick.
For tickets to see Anthony and Maddy talking about her new book, Hoax, click here: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/whats-on/event/hoax/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everyone, it's me, Maddie. I am back. Well, not quite. I will be back on the pod very soon. But in the meantime, if you've missed your fix of Anthony and me together, you can now catch us live on stage at Conway Hall in London on the 7th of May. There we'll be discussing my brand new book, |
| 0:22.4 | Hoax, Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment, out that very same day. We'll be discovering |
| 0:28.7 | how fake news is nothing new, chatting about what it's like to spend time in the darker side |
| 0:34.6 | of the Georgian world, and meeting the three extraordinary, bizarre and |
| 0:39.3 | often frightening characters at the heart of the book. Cops of hoax will be available on the |
| 0:44.9 | night, which I'll be signing after the show and hopefully chatting to as many of you as possible. |
| 0:49.6 | So get your tickets now. The link is in the show notes. You can go to the Conway Hall website |
| 0:53.7 | or follow the link in my Instagram bio. |
| 0:56.5 | I'm so excited about this book and I just can't wait to share it with you all. Do come along. It is going to be the most fantastic evening. See you there. |
| 1:18.2 | We're in Sarajevo in Bosnia on the morning of the 28th of June 1914. |
| 1:22.8 | The air feels taught as if the city itself is holding its breath. |
| 1:28.5 | Less than a decade earlier, Bosnia was absorbed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, |
| 1:33.0 | and resentment simmers, barely concealed beneath the surface. |
| 1:37.2 | Crowds gather as Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie arrive to inspect the imperial troops. |
| 1:40.3 | Their motorcade glides through streets and is watched by disaffected young men with a cause. |
| 1:46.3 | Nothing to lose and concealed weapons. |
| 1:50.8 | These conspirators wait for their moment, the perfect chance to strike a blow right at the heart of imperial power. |
| 1:59.8 | In the end, all it took was a wrong turn, a moment's hesitation, |
| 2:04.4 | and two single shots from a pistol. |
| 2:07.7 | And before we know it, history teeters on the edge. |
| 2:13.3 | Welcome to After Dark. |
| 2:15.3 | This is the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. |
... |
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