Introduction to this issue: The Evolution of Terrorism from 1914 to 2014

摘要

On June 28, 1914, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb assassinated the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, igniting long-simmering conflicts and triggering the start of the First World War. Gavrilo Princip, a university student suffering from tuberculosis and certain of his impending demise, acted on the instructions of The Black Hand, a radical Serbian nationalist group. The Black Hand, led by Dragutin Dimitrijevi, head of Serbian intelligence, provided Princip with weapons and designed the plot. After acting, Princip was expected to commit suicide to prevent the detection of Dimitrijevi's role as the instigator of the plot and leader of the Black Hand. Princip's suicide attempt failed and he was arrested, tried, and convicted of murder. Because Austrian law did not allow the execution of individuals under the age of 20, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He died of his tuberculosis in prison in 1918 (Fay, 1966).