Muhamed Mehmedbašić (1887 – 29 May 1943) was a Bosnian revolutionary and conspirator in the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range whil ...
.
Early life
Mehmedbašić was born in 1887 into a Bosniak family in
Stolac
Stolac is an ancient city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the region of Herzegovina. Stolac is one of the oldest cities in Bosnia and Herzego ...
, in the region of
Herzegovina
Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...
(at the time part of
Austro-Hungarian Bosnia and Herzegovina). His father was impoverished, formerly part of the Ottoman Bosnian nobility. Mehmedbašić worked as a carpenter.
[, ] During a Muslim youth organization's trip to
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...
, Mehmedbašić befriended
Mustafa Golubić
Mustafa Golubić ( sr-Cyrl, Мустафа Голубић, ; 24 October 1889/24 January 1891 – July 1941) was a Serbian, and later Yugoslav, guerrilla fighter, revolutionary and intelligence agent.
Following the outbreak of the Balkan Wars, ...
(another Muslim, also from Stolac) who influenced his revolutionary feelings. Mehmedbašić, as did Mustafa Golubić, identified as
Serb Muslim.
[
While working as a carpenter, Mehmedbašić befriended Black Hand member Danilo Ilić, the main organizer of conspiracy against the Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He joined the ]Young Bosnia
Young Bosnia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Mlada Bosna, Млада Босна) was a separatist and revolutionary movement active in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary before World War I. Its members were predominantly ...
revolutionary organization and became a colleague of its ideologue Vladimir Gaćinović
Vladimir Gaćinović ( sr-cyr, Владимир Владо Гаћиновић; 25 May 1890 – 11 August 1917) was a Bosnian Serb essayist and revolutionary in Austria-Hungary. He was one of the leaders and organizers of the secret cells of the r ...
, who was also a member of the Black Hand. As Mehmedbašić held strong Serbian nationalist sentiment, and Ilić and Gaćinović saw a strong character in him, he was given delicate duties. He was sworn into the Black Hand by Provincial Director for Bosnia-Herzegovina Vladimir Gaćinović and Danilo Ilić. In 1912–13, Serbia fought in the Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...
. Black Hand founding member Vojislav Tankosić
Vojislav Tankosić ( sr-cyr, Војислав Танкосић, 20 September 1880 – 2 November 1915) was a Serbian military officer, ''vojvoda'' of the Serbian Chetnik Organization, major of the Serbian Army, and member of the Black Hand, who ...
led a Chetnik detachment, in which many revolutionaries volunteered (including Golubić).
Young Bosnia
Potiorek assassination plot
In late 1913, Danilo Ilić recommended the end of revolutionary organization building and a move to direct action against Austria-Hungary when meeting a Serbian captain and fellow Black Hand member in Užice
Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 59,747. The C ...
. Ilić then met with Chief of Serbian Military Intelligence Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević
Dragutin Dimitrijević ( sr-Cyrl, Драгутин Димитријевић; 17 August 1876 – 24 June 1917), better known by his nickname Apis, was a Serbian army officer and chief of the military intelligence section of the general staff in ...
"Apis", the leader of the Black Hand, to discuss the matter. Apis' right hand, Serbian Major Vojislav Tankosić
Vojislav Tankosić ( sr-cyr, Војислав Танкосић, 20 September 1880 – 2 November 1915) was a Serbian military officer, ''vojvoda'' of the Serbian Chetnik Organization, major of the Serbian Army, and member of the Black Hand, who ...
, called an action planning meeting in Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...
, France. On Orthodox New Year, Golubić called Mehmedbašić, who was in Stolac, to immediately come to the meeting in Toulouse. During this January 1914 meeting, various possible Austro-Hungarian targets for assassination were discussed, including Franz Ferdinand. However, it was decided only to kill the Governor of Bosnia, Oskar Potiorek
Oskar Potiorek (20 November 1853 – 17 December 1933) was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army, who served as Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1911 to 1914. He was a passenger in the car carrying Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austr ...
. The assassination plot was organized in Toulouse by Gaćinović and Golubić. Mehmedbašić was chosen for the task. He had left Stolac with 300 '' krone'' borrowed to finance the plot. Mehmedbašić was (according to himself) "eager to carry out an act of terrorism to revive the revolutionary spirit of Bosnia." He was given a Swedish knife containing poison.
Mehmedbašić arrived at Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranea ...
by steamship, and then traveled by train. At the Hum train station, on the way to Sarajevo, gendarmes searched the train; fearing they were on to him, he threw the knife out the window. Potiorek was planned to be assassinated at the end of March 1914, when the new mufti
A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...
Čaušević was to be enthroned in Sarajevo. However, upon hearing that Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
Fr ...
would come to Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
on Vidovdan
Vidovdan ( sr-cyr, Видовдан, lit. "Saint Vitus Day") is a Serbian national and religious holiday, a ''slava'' (feast day) celebrated on 28 June (Gregorian calendar), or 15 June according to the Julian calendar. The Serbian Church des ...
, the Black Hand changed their minds. The Archduke's scheduled visit on Vidovdan (28 June), a Serbian national holiday, was perceived as an insult. Ilić summoned Mehmedbašić and informed him on 26 March that the plan now was to murder Archduke Franz Ferdinand, as ordered by Apis, and Mehmedbašić should stand by for the new operation. Mehmedbašić said during talks of the assassination that "half of Bosnia and Herzegovina will join the plot, and the other half will approve everything we do".
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Apis and fellow conspirators Milan Ciganović and Major Tankosić hired three youngsters, Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip ( sr-Cyrl, Гаврило Принцип, ; 25 July 189428 April 1918) was a Bosnian Serb student who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.
Pr ...
, Nedeljko Čabrinović and Trifko Grabež to carry out the assassination. Gavrilo Princip stayed in Sarajevo with Danilo Ilić, who hired three more as a backup team, Vaso Čubrilović
Vaso Čubrilović ( sr-Cyrl, Васо Чубриловић; 14 January 1897 – 11 June 1990) was a Bosnian Serb scholar and politician. As a teenager, he joined the South Slav student movement known as Young Bosnia and was involved in the conspir ...
, Cvjetko Popović and Mehmedbašić. On 28 June, a Sunday, a motorcade took the royal party to the City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
for the official reception. Security was light; the Archduke objected to heavy security and soldiers between him and the people. 120 police officers were on crowd duty. The group of six assassins were positioned along the route, the Appel Quay. The first opportunity came to Mehmedbašić, who stood by the Austro-Hungarian Bank, but he lost his nerve (later claiming that a policeman stood near and would have intervened if he took his grenade) and watched the motorcade pass. Likewise, the second, Čubrilović, did not act. The next, Čabrinović, threw his bomb which bounced off the royal car and exploded under the following car, wounding two in the car and twenty in the crowd, then failed at suicide as his cyanide did not work and was arrested. Princip, hearing the explosion, believed the assassination to be a success and went to a nearby café. The motorcade made it safely to the Hall, and speeches were held, in which Franz Ferdinand was concerned about the injured and insisted on visiting them at the hospital, advised against by von Morsey but supported by Potiorek. As the motorcade took a wrong route to the hospital, it found itself outside the café where Princip was at; he fired fatal shots at the royal couple and then turned the gun at himself, however, two bystanders stopped him and he was arrested.
Čabrinović and Princip gave up the names of their fellow conspirators under torture. Mehmedbašić managed to escape (wearing civilian clothes and a fez) to Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = ...
, arriving on 4 July, but Danilo Ilić, Veljko Čubrilović, Vaso Čubrilović, Cvjetko Popović and Miško Jovanović were arrested and charged with treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
and murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...
. Upon learning that Mehmedbašić was in Nikšić
Nikšić ( cnr, Никшић, italic=no, sr-cyrl, Никшић, italic=no; ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 56,970 located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot ...
, the Austro-Hungarian authorities urged the Montenegrin authorities to have him arrested and handed over to them. Jovan Plamenac said that the Montenegrin government gave strict orders to capture Mehmedbašić, but informed the Austro-Hungarian diplomacy that the Montenegrin government had no intention to hand him over if they captured him, and that instead, a Montenegrin court would judge him. On 12 July, Mehmedbašić was apprehended by the Montenegrin authorities. However, before he was extradited he escaped from the Nikšić prison two days later. It has been claimed that the Montenegrin government hid him and had him sent over the Čakor mountain into Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian authorities suspected Montenegrin collusion in his escape and arrested the gendarmes who guarded Mehmedbašić.[ During his captivity Mehmedbašić admitted his complicity in the assassination.][
]
World War I
In Serbia, Mehmedbašić met up with Mustafa Golubić, with whom he joined the Chetnik detachment of Vojislav Tankosić that fought in World War I. He trained Bosnian volunteers. Mehmedbašić met with Apis on several occasions.
Mehmedbašić was accused of having participated in an alleged plot to kill Serbian regent Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
in 1916. For some time, Regent Alexander and officers loyal to him had planned to get rid of the military clique headed by Apis who represented a political threat to Alexander's power. The Austro-Hungarian peace demand gave added impetus to this plan. On 15 March 1917 Apis and the officers loyal to him were indicted, on various false charges by Serbian Court Martial on the French-controlled Salonika front
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...
(known in Serbo-Croatian as '). On 23 May Apis and eight of his associates were sentenced to death; two others (one was Mehmedbašić) were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Charges were eventually reduced, leaving three death sentences in place. Among those tried, Apis, Ljubomir Vulović
Ljubomir Vulović ( sr-cyr, Љубомир Вуловић, 6 January 1876 – 27 June 1917), known by his nickname Ljuba (Љуба), was an artillery major in the Serbian Army, conspirator of the May Coup, and member of the Black Hand.
Life
Lj ...
, Rade Malobabić and Mehmedbašić confessed their roles in Sarajevo. During the trial, Mehmedbašić said that "I saw in Serbia with my eyes as the Piedmont of Serbdom
Serbian nationalism asserts that Serbs are a nation and promotes the cultural and political unity of Serbs. It is an ethnic nationalism, originally arising in the context of the general rise of nationalism in the Balkans under Ottoman rule, ...
, I couldn't see anything else..." and that his idol was "the national ''guslar
The gusle ( sr-cyrl, гусле) or lahuta ( sq, lahutë) is a single- stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe (in the Balkans). The instrument is always accompanied by ...
'' (poet) singing Serbian songs". It was later found that Mehmedbašić had in fact proved the trial false. Serbia's Supreme Court retried the case and all defendants were exonerated (rehabilitated) in 1953.
He survived the war and arrival of the Serbian army in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the "happiest day in his life". Mehmedbašić was commuted and released in 1919.
Interwar period and death
After World War I, Mehmedbašić returned to Sarajevo and in 1919 was pardoned.
Mehmedbašić was killed during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
by the Ustaše
The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...
on 29 May 1943. He was buried in the Butmir
Butmir ( sr-cyrl, Бутмир) is a neighborhood in Ilidža municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sarajevo International Airport, the main airport of Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in Butmir.
Horse races are held at Butmir.Archived aGhosta ...
district of Sarajevo, on the outskirts of the city.[Mušeta-Aščerić, Vesna (1989). Spomenici revolucije grada Sarajeva. Sarajevo: Gradski zavod za zaštitu i korišćenje kulturno-istorijskog i prirodnog nasljeđa Sarajevo. p. 94]
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmedbasic, Muhamed
1880s births
1943 deaths
20th-century Serbian people
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Austro-Hungarian rebels
Black Hand (Serbia)
Bosnia and Herzegovina civilians killed in World War II
Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims
Bosnia and Herzegovina people of World War I
Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina
People executed by the Independent State of Croatia
People from Stolac
People from the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Recipients of Serbian royal pardons
Serbian people of World War I
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Young Bosnia