"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 organization 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 organization and carry them with me into my grave. May God and my brothers in this organization be my judges if at any time I should wittingly fail or break this oath." - - Oath of the Black Hand.
One hundred years ago that assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie having set into action a chain of events that resulted in the First World War.
Here with two perspectives on the Black Hand assassin, Gavrilo Princip:
1. "Bosnia and WW1: The living legacy of Gavrilo Princip"
"Tourists, historians and diplomats have been arriving in Sarajevo to commemorate the shots fired by a young Bosnian Serb assassin on 28 June 1914 - shots that sparked World War One. But the city and country are uneasy in the historical spotlight, as the tensions behind those events are still alive today.
Gavrilo Princip fired twice at close range into the open-topped car carrying the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife Sophie. He could hardly miss - two of the bullets found their targets and the royal couple were killed."
This particular drawing of Gavrilo does a degree more justice than some of the photographs I have seen. The man was not impressive by any measure, only nineteen at the time of the crime, a fervent nationalist and zealot, although somewhat shiftless and unaccomplished. There is a certain commonality between Gavrilo and the American assassin Lee Harvey Oswald?
"Villain or hero? Sarajevo is split on archduke's assassin Gavrilo Princip"
"100 years after the Bosnian-Serb radical murdered Austria's Franz Ferdinand the city is still divided on his actions"
"For one half of the city, he was the national hero who fought against imperial oppression and fully deserves a new park in his name. For the other half he is a villain who killed a pregnant woman and brought a flourishing epoque to an end."
"Gavrilo Princip, the Bosnian-Serb radical who set in train a chain of events that led to the outbreak of the first world war will be the central figure in Sarajevo this weekend as the city marks 100 years since he assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914."
coolbert.
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