Friday, June 27, 2014

A Teenager Changes the World

One hundred years ago tomorrow, June 28th, a teenager fired two shots that ignited a world war.  By the time the smoke cleared, four years later, an estimated sixteen million people were dead.  Empires fell.  Europe was forever changed.  New, more sinister threats emerged that would once again plunge the world into war.  All because a teenager fired two quick shots at Archduke Franz Ferdinand.  In a split second, millions of lives would be irrevocably altered.  Some for the better perhaps, but most for the worst.

Gavrilo Princip.  The teenager who changed history.

My name is Lee Hutch and I am a Half Ass Historian who hopes that the 100th Anniversary of this event does not pass unnoticed by the media, though I'm sure it will.  They are too busy telling us how soccer is going to become the most popular sport in the United States.

2 comments:

  1. Do you know how old he was? I remember learning about the significance of his actions, but not much about the man or in this case teenager. That's really interesting

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    1. Thank you for your comment. He was only 19 years old.

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