The Black Hand and the Sarajevo Conspiracy

Abstract

The chapter sets the international context for the conspiracy to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, sketching the increased tension between Austria-Hungary and Serbia from 1908. It describes the domestic situation inside Serbia from the regicide of the King and Queen in 1903 to the creation of the Black Hand in 1911, led by the most powerful of the regicides Dragutin Dimitrijević (aka Apis). It follows the early career ofGavrilo Princip, his co-conspirators, their interaction with key operatives of the Black Hand and the assassination itself. Finally, the chapter discusses the vexed question of the Serbian government’s awareness of the plot, the pretext for Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war, and the legacy of the assassination today which still leaves the Princip question unanswered. Terrorist or freedom-fighter?