Leading up to the Assassination In the southern portion of Austria-Hungary was a region called Bosnia. Many of the Bosnians wanted to have their own country and not be under the rule of Austria-Hungary. The country of Serbia, just south of the Austria-Hungary border also wanted the freedom of the Bosnians. Serbia was an ally with the powerful Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary was allied with Germany. When Archduke Ferdinand announced his trip to Sarajevo, Bosnian nationalists (people who wanted Bosnia to be its own country) saw their opportunity to strike at the Austrian Empire. With help from the neighboring country of Serbia, assassins were recruited and trained to kill the Archduke as he traveled through the streets of Sarajevo. These assassins were members of a terrorist group called the Black Hand. The Assassination On June 28, 1914 Franz Ferdinand and his wife were in the third car of a motorcade traveling through Sarajevo to the Town Hall. The Black Hand had several assassins positioned along the route. On the way to the Town Hall, the first assassination attempt occurred. A man named Nedeljko Cabrinovic threw a bomb into the car with the Archduke. However, the bombed bounced off the car and landed under the next car in the motorcade. The car with the Archduke was able to speed away and make it safely to the Town Hall. The assassins did not give up, however. On the return trip, the motorcade took a wrong turn. When the driver began to back up, another assassin named Gavrilo Princip happened to be right next to the car. He took advantage of this opportunity and began firing at the Archduke. He fired twice, hitting the Archduke once and his wife Sophie. The crowd jumped on Princip and he was arrested by the police. At the same time the car sped to the Governor's residence to get medical help. Unfortunately, Sofie was dead before they arrived and the Archduke died a few minutes later.