Tweet
Trivia: What make of gun fired the first shot of WWI?
-
-
If I may be permitted a guess, I would say it was a howitzer. -
Well, Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated with a Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal1910Comment
-
Matthew, more information please!Comment
-
Oops. My bad. Make and caliber and designer?Comment
-
Just a guess 1908 New Browning/380....Comment
-
It was an FN 1910 in 380 and designer was Browning,a surprisingly modern weapon for the time as these had only been on the market a short time in 1914. The gun was almost certainly supplied to the assassin by the Black Hand, Serbia's spy agency at the time. However, unlike the CIA and MI6, the Black Hand operated and recruited openly, somewhat like the Freemasons and other fraternal organizations. The Black Hand also supplied the bomb that was thrown under the Archduke's car shortly before the assassination that failed to explore on time, blowing up the fourth car behind him instead. Ferdinand was on his way to the hospital to visit one of the victims when he was shot. The whole affair demonstrated perhaps the worst example of bodyguard protection and fumbled terrorist attacks. A real comedy of errors. The Serbian government almost certainly knew the attack was going to happen, if it didn't actually organize it. Nevertheless, it's hard to pin much blame on the Serb govt because it was in such a chaotic state. Really, Austria's negligence was entirely responsible for the Archduke's death, but of course the public didn't know the whole story until years later. Europe and the world paid a horrible price. Serbia became the site of one of many stalemated battlefield fronts and lost perhaps a quarter of its population to fighting, famine, and perhaps the worst typhus outbreak in history.Comment
-
Ontario, good trivia question.
Where and what was the first shot fired in WW2?Comment
-
I would like to add the Dukes last words "It is nothing". Very ironic for the start of WWI. The ground work for WWII and all the business in Bosnia. Understatement to say the least.Comment
-
Politicians never let facts stand in the way of starting a good war or two....Comment
-
Well the WWII one I do not know. I'm guessing a German made rifle in WarsawComment
-
Hmmm. WWII started because of a phony staged border infraction, supposedly the Poles conducting some terrorist incursion into Germany. I don't know the answer to that one but it should be interesting!Comment
-
Carl, the "groundwork for the business in Bosnia" certainly predated the assassination! That place has been a sh*tpot for ethnic troubles and violence since the Middle Ages.Comment
-
Another interesting thing about the pistol that killed the Archduke: it and other items associated with the assassination, including the Archduke's bloody shirt, somehow found its way into the hands of the Austrian Jesuit priest who administered the last rights. The Jesuits quietly retained the items until very recently (2004) when they agreed to put them on loan for exhibition in Austria's national military museum.Comment
-
I'm gonna guess it was a 7x57 Mauser, but who? I have not the slightest idea.Comment
Comment