Editing Black Hand (Serbia) (section)

==1914==
By 1914, the group had hundreds of members, many of them [[Serbian Army]] officers. The goal of [[Pan-Serbism|uniting Serb-inhabited territories]] was implemented by training guerilla fighters and saboteurs. The Black Hand was organized at the grassroots level in cells of three to five members, supervised by district committees and by a Central Committee in Belgrade, whose ten-member executive committee was primarily led by Colonel [[Dragutin Dimitrijević]] "Apis". To ensure secrecy, members rarely knew much more than the other members of their own cell and one superior above them. New members swore the oath:

{{blockquote|I (...), by entering into the society, do hereby swear by the Sun which shineth upon me, by the Earth which feedeth me, by God, by the blood of my forefathers, by my honour and by my life, that from this moment onward and until my death, I shall faithfully serve the task of this organisation and that I shall at all times be prepared to bear for it any sacrifice. I further swear by God, by my honour and by my life, that I shall unconditionally carry into effect all its orders and commands. I further swear by my God, by my honour and by my life, that I shall keep within myself all the secrets of this organisation and carry them with me into my grave. May God and my brothers in this organisation be my judges if at any time I should wittingly fail or break this oath.<ref>[http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/magazin/story/56166/Tadi%C4%87ev+deda+bio+zadu%C5%BEen+za+ubistvo+Ferdinanda!.html Pressonline.rs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812163602/http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/magazin/story/56166/Tadi%C4%87ev+deda+bio+zadu%C5%BEen+za+ubistvo+Ferdinanda%21.html |date=12 August 2016 }} Press (7 October 2011). Retrieved on 2011-11-08. {{in lang|sr}}</ref>}}

The Black Hand took over the terrorist actions{{which|date=March 2014}} of ''Narodna Odbrana'' and deliberately worked
to obscure any distinctions between the two groups, trading on the prestige and network of the older organization. Black Hand members held important army and government positions. [[Alexander I of Yugoslavia|Crown Prince Alexander]] was an enthusiastic financial supporter.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-02|title=Šta je bila Crna ruka i ko je bio Dragutin Dimitrijević Apis|url=https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/srbija-56611049|access-date=2021-09-17|website=BBC News na srpskom|language=sr-latn}}</ref> The group held influence over government appointments and policies. The Serbian government was fairly well-informed of Black Hand activities.

Friendly relations had fairly well cooled by 1914. The Black Hand was displeased with Prime Minister [[Nikola Pašić]] and thought that he did not act aggressively enough for the Pan-Serb cause. The Black Hand engaged in a bitter power struggle over several issues, such as who would control territories that Serbia had annexed during the [[Balkan Wars]]. By then, disagreeing with the Black Hand was dangerous, as political murder was one of its tools.

In 1914, Apis allegedly decided that Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir-apparent of Austria, should be assassinated, as he was trying to pacify the Serbians, which would prevent a revolution if he was successful. Towards that end, three young Bosnian Serbs were allegedly recruited to kill the Archduke. They were certainly trained in bomb throwing and marksmanship by current and former members of the Serbian military. [[Gavrilo Princip]], [[Nedeljko Čabrinović]], and [[Trifko Grabež]] were smuggled across the border back into Bosnia by a chain of contacts similar to the [[Underground Railroad]].
The decision to kill the Archduke was initiated by Apis and not sanctioned by the full Executive Committee (if Apis was involved at all, a question that remains in dispute<ref>Vladimer Dedijer, ''The Road to Sarajevo''</ref>).