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Black Hand (Crna Ruka)

There was in Serbia a patriotic society called the "Black Hand." In no other country would a patriotic society have such a name. This society was the one which assassinated King Alexander and Queen Draga. The term "Black Hand" was also used with respect to the totally unrelated organized crime communities in Italy and the United States.

In 1899 a would-be-assassin named Knesevitch attempted to murder King Alexander of Servia. His trial was a scandalous effort to implicate various political opponents of the existing Servian government and ended in the assassin’s condemnation, and he was shot on the same day. Pastitsch, the Radical leader, found guilty of complicity and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, was immediately pardoned; and he alienated the sympathies of his friends bv his extremely undignified letter of thanks to the king.

In August 1901, a group of lower officers led by captain Dragutin Dimitrijevic Apis founded the Black Hand, a conspiracy group against the Obrenovic dynasty. The first group meeting took place on September 6, 1901. The meeting was attended by captains Dimitrijevic, Radomir Arandjelovic and Milan Petrovic, as well as lieutenants Antonija Antic, Dragutin Dulic, Milan Marinkovic and Nikodija Popovic . They were plotting to kill the royal couple, King Alexander and Queen Draga.

In 1901 Servia adopted a new constitution, but late in 1902 King Alexander began acting very arbitrarily, appointing a Ministry consisting chiefly of military men and proroguing the Skupshtina, or Servian National Assembly, because it opposed the new Cabinet, thus evincing a desire to rule as a dictator or an absolute monarch through his army. In April, 1903, King Alexander of Servia issued a proclamation suspending the constitution, repealing certain laws passed thereunder, retiring Councilors of State, dissolving the Skupshtina and enacting the laws as they existed prior to the adoption of the constitution in 1901. A few minutes later King Alexander issued another proclamation restoring the constitution.

Black Hand was formed by an informal group of officers on 29 May 1903. On June 11, 1903, King Alexander and Queen Draga of Servia were brutally assassinated by certain army officers who had conspired to overthrow the reigning dynasty because of the disrespect with which the Servian people regarded the queen. The murder of the king and the queen was carried out by a group of conspirators led by the officer Dragutin Dimitrijevic Apis.

Immediately after the dreadful tragedy a provisional Cabinet was formed; and the constitution which had existed before March 23, 1903, was re-established. This terrible tragedy excited horror throughout the civilized world; and Great Britain, the United States and some other nations refused to recognize the new Servian government because it was founded on assassination. King Peter was formally crowned with imposing ceremonies on September 21, 1904.

By around 1910 Servia’s internal affairs were at the mercy of secret societies; of these the most influential was the society known as the Black Hand. In their eyes it was statesmanship to give free rein to the unbridled appetites of ignorant, short-sighted men intoxicated with success.

Unification or death is the name of a secret Serbian officer organization whose goal was the creation of a Greater Serbian or Yugoslav state. It was founded on May 9, 1911. It was known to the wider public as the Black Hand , which would imply the use of violence or terror for political purposes. The Black Hand was intended to unite "all the Serbian provinces: 1. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2. Montenegro, 3. Old Serbia and Macedonia, 4. Croatia, Slovenia and Srem, 5. Vojvodina, 6. Sea Coast (Dalmatia) ".

Given that it was a secret organization and the circumstances of its creation, the real goals, membership and scope of the organization's activities are still the subject of historical controversy. The Black Hand took over the terrorist actions of Narodna Odbrana, and worked deliberately at obscuring any distinctions between the two groups, trading on the prestige and network of the older organization.

Dimitrijevic and several dozen of his associates were arrested for allegedly assassination of the crown prince-regent Alexander and the prime minister. In the case of the arrested general colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic-Apis , a member of the Supreme Central Administration, the original Constitution of the organization was found from 9/5 1911, and among the matters of the accused Lieutenant Colonel Velimir Vemic was found a list of members of the organization. By the judgment of the military courts of 23 May, the members of the organization, Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic-Apis, Major Ljubomir Vulovic and Rade Malobabicwere found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. The other indictees were sentenced to many years of imprisonment, from which they were subsequently pardoned, except lieutenant colonel Vitomir Cvetkovic , who died in prison during the investigation, and Bogdan Radenkovic , who died after the verdict was pronounced. Apis was shot a month later, June 24, 1917.