Painting of the moment of assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. A man in a military uniform collapses in the back of an automobile while a woman reacts with horror next to him.

On the Brink

March 15 - Nov. 9, 2014 in Memory Hall Memory Hall

“For many years hatred against the Monarchy has been sown in Servia. The crop has sprung up and the harvest is murder."

— Ritter von Storck, Austria-Hungary Secretary of Legation in Belgrade, on June 29, 1914

 

A hungry teenage assassin and a wrong turn. The two bullets fired on June 28, 1914 outside of a delicatessen in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, placed the world “on the brink” and led to a sequence of events that changed the world forever.

Secret societies and nationalist organizations strove for an independent Slavic nation free from foreign domination, unknowingly represented on that fateful day by the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

On the Brink: A Month That Changed the World examines the underground organizations, diplomatic communications and international newspaper reporting of the assassination and its political aftershock. The exhibition presents the assassination in a manner never seen before. 

The assassination was pretext for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to declare aggressive action, with the intention of a short-lived conflict, in its long-standing feud with Serbia. A war declared between an empire and its neighbor on July 28, 1914 eventually resulted in combatant nations from five continents involved in the world's first global conflict by the end of August, 1914.

The exhibition incorporates a journalistic and documentary approach and portrays the story of the assassination and aftermath through a series of newspaper articles, photographs and quotes from diplomatic sources. The comprehensive exhibition is represented with items from:

  • Austria-Hungary
  • France
  • Germany
  • Great Britain
  • Italy
  • Russia
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia
  • United States

This special exhibition was created with support from the Austrian National Archives, Serbian National Archives, Library of Congress, Kansas City Public Library and The British Library.

Open from March 15 - through Nov. 9 in Memory Hall, On the Brink: A Month That Changed the World is included with Museum admission and free for members.  

"War certain and probably localized Balkans. Germany morally supports Austria but Italy neutral, Montenegro and Roumania will aid Servia, France not participate but Russian attitude unknown. Vienna anxious and hoping for short conflict."

— Frederic Courtland Penfield, U.S. Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, in a cable to the U.S. Secretary of State on July 27, 1914

 

On the Brink logo
Proclamation issued by Austria-Hungary Emperor Franz Joseph on July 4, 1914 to his subjects addressing the assassination, in German.
Proclamation issued by Austria-Hungary Emperor Franz Joseph on July 4, 1914 to his subjects addressing the assassination, in Slovenian.
A Serbian nationalist newspaper reporting the assassination.
The Times (London) reporting the assassination on June 29, 1914.
Berliner Tageblatt of Germany with a headline "Murder of the Austrian Heir to the Throne and His Wife/The Two Assassinations in Sarajevo" on June 29, 1914
Austrian newspaper Neue Freie Presse with a headline "Archduke Franz Ferdinand the Heir to the Throne and His Wife Murdered" on June 29, 1914
French newspaper Le Figaro with a headline "Double Crimes/The Archduke and His Wife Assassinated in Bosnia/A Bomb and Two Revolver Shots" on June 29, 1914
Serbian newspaper Zvono with a headline "After the Archduke's Death" on June 29, 1914 (western calendar)
Kansas City Times reporting the assassination on June 29, 1914
Berliner Tageblatt of Germany with a headline "The Austrian-Serbian War/Diplomatic Relationship Broken" on July 26, 1914
The Times (London) examines the conflict on July 28, 1914
Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung announcing the declaration of war against Serbia in an extra edition on July 28, 1914
French newspaper Le Figaro with headlines "Austrian-Serbian Conflict," "Austrian Action," "Peace or War?/Austrian Military Action Announced Today" on July 28, 1914
Kansas City Times reporting the declaration of war on July 29, 1914