Page - 83 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Assassination While Bertha von Suttner’s body was still being transferred from Vienna to Gotha for cremation, manoeuvres of the Imperial and Royal XV and XVI Corps began in Bosnia. Two divisions of the XV Corps were to defend themselves in the area of the Ivan Ridge on the border with Herzegovina, while two divisions of the XVI Corps were to attack them there. Archduke Franz Ferdinand wanted to be present at the conclusion of the exercise on 27 June.168 After a meeting with the German Kaiser at Franz Ferdinand’s chateau in Konopiště (Konopischt) south of Prague, the Archduke travelled with his wife Sophie to Bosnia via Vienna. The aim of his trip was not only to grant a visit by his own high-ranking person to the new province and the troops. Franz Ferdinand wanted more. As has been mentioned, since for personal rather than objective rea- sons, he no longer harmonised with the Chief of the General Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, he wanted to observe in action the successor he had in mind for the post of Chief of the General Staff of the entire armed force of Austria-Hungary, the regional commander of Bosnia-Herzegovina, General of Artillery Oskar Potiorek, as part of a larger manoeuvre. To a certain degree, this was a test to help the Archduke make a final decision. His visit to the provinces, which had been annexed in 1908, was also intended as a demonstration. Potiorek had requested that they come, since in his view something had to be done for the image of the Monarchy and to ‘show our colours’. It was still not clear in the spring whether the visit would take place, since at that time, Emperor Franz Joseph appeared to be dying, and the heir presumptive was naturally required to remain in Vienna. However, the elderly monarch rallied once more, and the journey was fixed. It was by no means the first time that a high-ranking person had travelled to Bosnia or Herzegovina. Visits of this nature had occurred relatively frequently. However, there was certainly cause, given the ever-recurring crises in the Balkans, to demonstrate the connection between the two southernmost provinces of the Monarchy with the Empire as a whole, and to pay them particular attention. There was therefore undoubtedly suf- ficient reason to go ahead with the journey. And the occasion itself, the observation of a manoeuvre by the Archduke, who in 1909 had taken over the role of Inspector Gen- eral of the Troops ‘placed at the disposal of the Supreme Commander’, and who since that time had been making such troop inspection visits on behalf of the Emperor, was nothing new. The journey also did not appear to be more hazardous than other tours taken by the Archduke. However, assassination attempts against high-ranking officials