War

This man is Gavrilo Princip. This bruised picture of him was taken in prison shortly after he shot a man and his pregnant wife.

In direct result of his actions 10 million young men, a whole generation, would be dead. 25 years after his eventual succumbing to tuberculosis, and malnutrition in prison, another 24 million innocent people would be wiped of the face of this earth.

On June 28 1914, a band of 6 Serbian Nationalists set out in sarajevo to assassinate Arch Duke of Austria Franz Ferdinand. Gavrilo Princip succeeded. With a stroke of luck, Ferdinand's chauffeur took a wrong turn  and ended up in front of the Cafe Princip had retired to after initially failing his 1st assassination attempt. It was at this intersection that Arch Duke of Austria Franz Ferdinand died along with his pregnant wife Sophie.

After the assassination of the beloved Arch Duke and his wife, Austria's swift retribution was brought upon Serbia to start World War I. In this picture though we see a man who has destroyed the lives of millions. His battered face reflects not just the crowd who beat him to a pulp immediately after he fired his fateful shots, it also reflects the hate of a nation. Austria's brutal attacks on Serbia would be returned ten fold at the end of the war, when an enraged allies coalition would impose crippling restrictions on already punished Austria and Germany. This picture shows the soulless eyes of a man who's solely remembered attribute lead to a lasting scar on human history, a blemish of senseless death and gore. Finally this picture reflects a time of violence. Yes, Gavrilo Princip is accredited with pushing Europe over the edge into war, but the true cause of the war was a war mongering culture brought on by the industrialization of countries who now had new fancy weapons to try out. In essence Gavrilo was but a cog in the war machine.

To end with, Gavrilo Princip forever changed the course of human history. In this picture though a simpler world lives on. Peace was still in place, although crumbling from Gavrilo's actions. The lives of millions were still untaken by the grim reaper of war. But all would soon change because of this man.