Black Hand (Serbia)

The Black Hand, officially known as Ujedinjenje ili Smrt ("Unification or Death"), was a secret military society formed in the Kingdom of Serbia on May 9, 1911. It originated from an earlier group, Narodna Odbrana ("National Defense"), and its primary aim was the unification of all South Slavs into a single state, often through violent means and promotion of Serbian nationalism.

The organization's structure was hierarchical and conspiratorial, employing a network of cells and a centralized leadership. Its members included military officers, government officials, and intellectuals. Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević, known as Apis, the chief of Serbian military intelligence, was a key figure and is often considered the de facto leader, although he formally held a lower rank within the Black Hand’s governing structure.

The Black Hand used propaganda, sabotage, and assassination to achieve its goals. It is most infamous for its involvement in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. The assassination, carried out by a group of Bosnian Serb nationalists trained and armed by the Black Hand, triggered a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I.

Following World War I, the Black Hand was suppressed by the Serbian government, now part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). In 1917, Dimitrijević and several other prominent members were arrested and executed on fabricated charges of plotting to assassinate Prince Regent Alexander. This action was likely motivated by political rivalries within the new Yugoslav state and the desire to consolidate power.

The Black Hand remains a controversial subject. While some view it as a patriotic organization fighting for South Slavic liberation, others condemn it for its use of violence and its role in destabilizing the region, ultimately contributing to the outbreak of World War I. Its legacy continues to be debated in historical and political discourse.