Friday, May 22, 2020

Gavrilo Princip (1894–1918)


Erik Brown

Jun 30, 2019 · 8 min read

Gavrilo Princip Prison Photo — Photographer Unknown, wikipedia creative commons


If I asked you who the most influential person in modern history was, could you come up with an answer? The question itself might seem a bit monumental. To define it down to a single person over the last couple hundred years might be a struggle.
I’m sure your first instinct might be to think of inventors who created the architecture of our modern world. Nikola Tesla might pop into your mind. Alternating current is the backbone of the modern electrical grid after all. Thomas Edison might come to mind as well.
Another line of thinking might bring up world leaders. Maybe a Churchill or Franklin Roosevelt. They had a good deal of influence on the world. Maybe even someone more malevolent like a Hitler or a Stalin. A negative influence is still an influence nonetheless.
As I thought about this question, a figure popped into my head. He wasn’t an inventor or a ruler. In fact, he had very limited education and money. He really wrote nothing of influence. You couldn’t call him a leader either. However, in a single action he changed the world in ways that’s hard to imagine.
The seed of one act that occurred on one day bore fruit that would change the world in extraordinary ways. The timelines it would set in motion might be the biggest events in the past hundred years. You’ll also still see the ramifications of the action in today’s world.

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