Weapons used in the assassination plot that triggered World War I go display in London from next week to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the conflict, the Imperial War Museum said Thursday. A pistol and a bomb carried by the six men involved in killing Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914 will be part of the museum's "In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War" exhibition.
The assassination led to the Austro-Hungarian Empire declaring war against Serbia, sparking a chain reaction of declarations of war and a four-year conflict which claimed the lives of at least 20 million people. The exhibition, which opens Tuesday, marks the November 11, 1918 armistice which halted the war.
"We hope that 'In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War' will allow visitors to discover more about the personal experience of those whose lives were shaped by the events of the First World War," said Terry Charman, the museum's senior historian. The exhibition - which also recalls the experiences of 90 service personnel and civilians during the war and its aftermath - runs till September 6, 2009.