2. The Black Hand
The Black Hand (also known as Unification or Death) was a secret military society. It was formed in 1911 on the 9th of May by several officers in the Army of the Kingdom of Serbia. The group adopted a constitution that was similar to that of German nationalist groups. The black hand had ties with a semi-secret society the Narodna Odbrana which had a Pan-Serbism and anti-Austrian propaganda.
In 1914 the group had expanded to include hundreds of members including numerous officers within the Serbian Army. The group was a grassroots organization with small cells that were supervised by district committees and then a central committee. The central committee was then overseen by the Executive Committee led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitriejevic “Apis.” The group was relatively well known in the Serbian government and even funded by Crown Prince Alexander. It was in 1914 that “Apis” is believed to have decided to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand without the approval of the Executive Committee or the Serbian government.
“Apis” likely believed that killing of the Archduke would start a war between Austria and Serbia, a war that Russia would enter on the side of Serbia. Others in the Black Hand were not so sure that Russia would jump to their aid. No one could have predicted the chain of events that would lead to the World War. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary quickly found the assassins and declared war against Serbia. In 1916, in response to the actions of the Black Hand and the power they had amassed, the government of Serbia decided to destroy the leaders of the organization in order to put an end to it. In 1917, “Apis” and three others were killed by firing squad on June 26th, 1917 after a sham trial found them guilty of crimes, including an assassination plot against Prince Regent Alexander.