The Archduke Himself
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was born in 1863 in Graz, Austria. He was actually third in line for the Austro-Hungarian Throne, but when the Emperor's son, Crown Prince Rudolf, died in 1899 and Archduke Charles Louis died in 1896, he became the heir. He married Sophie Chotek von Chotkova in 1900, but the the Emperor Franz Joseph did not approve, and only allowed the wedding if none of Ferdinand's kids could join the line of succession for the throne. In 1914, he accepted General Oskar Potiorek's invitation to visit the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This would prove to be a fatal move...
This would prove to be a fatal move...