Muhamed Mehmedbašić

gigatos | February 16, 2022

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Summary

Muhamed Mehmedbašić (Stolac, 1887 – Sarajevo, May 29, 1943) was a Bosnian revolutionary, known for being one of the conspirators in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Habsburg-Este on June 28, 1914, giving rise to the so-called July Crisis and then the First World War.

Early years

Mehmedbašić was born in 1887 in Stolac, a small town in Herzegovina, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; his father, from a Muslim Bosnian family, was part of the nobility during Ottoman rule, but had been reduced to poverty under the new administration.

In his youth he worked as a bricklayer and during a trip to Belgrade organized by an Islamic association he met Mustafa Golubić, also a Muslim from Stolac, who gave him his first revolutionary ideas. Both defined themselves as Serbian Muslims. Later he got in touch with the secret society Crna ruka (“Black Hand”) through Danilo Ilić, one of the main organizers of the attacks against the Austro-Hungarian domination in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was Vladimir Gaćinović, also a member of the Black Hand, who introduced him to the ranks of the Serbian nationalist organization Mlada Bosna (“Young Bosnia”). Mehmedbašić swore allegiance to the organization in the presence of the provincial director of Bosnia, Gaćinović, and Ilić.

During the Balkan wars of 1912-1913, the Black Hand participated in the fights at the side of Serbia, engaged against the Ottoman Empire, with a detachment of cetnics commanded by the founder Voijslav Tankošić and with many volunteers, including Golubić himself.

The attempted murder of Oskar Potiorek

In late 1913 the leadership of the Black Hand Association began to think about more direct acts against Austro-Hungarian targets in Bosnia; Danilo Ilić in particular discussed this with the head of Serbian military intelligence Dragutin Dimitrijević “Apis”, who was also the head of the secret organization, and who delegated the preparations to his right-hand man, Major Vojislav Tankosić. In January 1914, a meeting was organized in Toulouse, France, to discuss possible targets, including the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand. The participants, however, opted for the elimination of Oskar Potiorek, at that time governor of Bosnia; the organization was taken care of by Gaćinović and Golubić and the execution entrusted to Mehmedbašić.

Mehmedbašić received 300 crowns as funding for the mission and a Morakniv knife containing poison. At the end of March 1914 he arrived in Dubrovnik by ship and then continued by train. On his way to Sarajevo, when he arrived at the station in Hum, the train was inspected by the police; Mehmedbašić, fearing that the police might find the weapon and that he would be discovered, threw the knife out of the window.

Later the intention to assassinate Potiorek was abandoned because the news spread of the imminent visit to Sarajevo of the archduke Francesco Ferdinando on the occasion of the Serbian festivity of Vidovdan (June 28). The visit was considered an insult to the subjugated populations and the Black Hand leadership decided to direct its efforts against the heir to the imperial throne. On March 26, Ilić informed Mehmedbašić of the new objectives declared by Apis himself, and ordered him to wait and be ready during the preparations of the new attack.

Also read, biographies – Richard Hamilton (artist)

The Sarajevo attack

Apis and the other conspirators Milan Ciganović and Tankosić recruited three young men to carry out the attack: Gavrilo Princip, Nedeljko Čabrinović and Trifko Grabež. Princip was stationed in Sarajevo together with Danilo Ilić, who in turn recruited Vaso Čubrilović, Cvjetko Popović and Mehmedbašić.

On June 28, 1914, at about 9:00 a.m., the six conspirators took up position on the Appel embankment on the Miljacka River, between the Ćumurija, Latino, and Emperor”s bridges. Divided into pairs, they were to kill the Archduke the moment his car passed in front of one of the positions.

At about 10:00 a.m. Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were supposed to drive through the main street of Sarajevo in a motorcade towards the town hall. The first opportunity came to Mehmedbašić, who was positioned near the Austro-Hungarian bank, but he missed the right moment to throw his hand grenade, perhaps because of the presence of a policeman nearby. A similar fate befell Čubrilović, positioned after Mehmedbašić.

At about 10:10 a.m. Vaso Čabrinović was more resolute and managed to throw a hand grenade at the archduke”s car, but it bounced off the roof and exploded near another car of the convoy, injuring between 16 and 20 people. Čabrinović tried to commit suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill, but this induced only vomiting and the bomber could be caught; all the bombers dispersed through the streets of the city except Gavrilo Princip and Trifko Grabež.

The imperial procession quickly reached the town hall where it was decided to change the program of the day and visit the wounded of the failed attempt at the hospital. The procession started again at about 10:45 a.m., but immediately afterwards, due to a mistake in the information given to the driver of Franz Ferdinand”s car, he had to brake near the Latin Bridge in order to take the right road, exactly where Gavrilo Princip was at that moment. Princip jumped on the step of the car and fired two shots that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Duchess Sophie Chotek von Chotkowa.

Immediately after the assassination, Princip tried to commit suicide with a gunshot to the head but the weapon was wrenched from his hand before he could fire the shot. He was then arrested and interrogated together with Čabrinović. Ilić was caught at a routine check a few hours later. When cornered, Ilić confessed his role in the organization of the attack and gave the names of the other conspirators, all of whom were arrested and charged with treason except Mehmedbašić, who had fled and taken refuge in Montenegro, escaping the police search by blending in with the crowd thanks to civilian clothes and a fez.

Mehmedbašić arrived in Nikšić on 4 July and as soon as the news spread the Austro-Hungarian authorities put pressure on the fugitive to be arrested and extradited. Montenegrin authorities, on the other hand, made it known that they would arrest Mehmedbašić, but that he would be tried by a local court. Mehmedbašić was arrested on 12 July but managed to escape from the Montenegrin prison after two days. Mehmedbašić, who in the course of his brief imprisonment had admitted his involvement in the attack, was probably helped to escape by the Montenegrin authorities themselves, who showed him the way to Serbia via the Čakor mountain.

Also read, biographies – Eleftherios Venizelos

The First World War

In Serbia Mehmedbašić met again Mustafa Golubić and together with him enlisted the Cetnic detachment commanded by Vojislav Tankosić engaged against the Central Empires during the First World War. Mehmedbašić took care of the training of young volunteers and on these occasions he met Apis several times.

In 1916 Mehmedbašić was accused of taking part in the planning of an attempt on the part of Apis to assassinate the regent of the Kingdom of Serbia, Alexander. In reality, Alexander had been trying to get rid of Apis and his men for some time, fearing his rivalry in the race for power in Serbia. On March 15, 1917 Apis and officers loyal to him were indicted on several false charges by a Serbian court-martial convened in Thessaloniki, at that time of the war under French control. On 23 May Apis and eight other loyalists were sentenced to death, while two others, including Mehmedbašić, were sentenced to 15 years in prison; the sentences were later reduced to only three death sentences. Among other things, during the Apis trial, Ljubomir Vulović, Rade Malobabić and Mehmedbašić confessed to their roles in the Sarajevo bombing.

Also read, biographies – Alexandros Mavrokordatos

The interwar period and death

After World War I, in 1919, the sentence was commuted and Mehmedbašić was released; he then returned to Sarajevo.

Mehmedbašić was killed on May 19, 1943, during World War II, by an Ustaša. He was buried in the cemetery in the Butmir district on the outskirts of Sarajevo.

Later, a Serbian Supreme Court in 1953 rehabilitated Mehmedbašić by declaring the Thessaloniki trial illegitimate.

Sources