WI: Apis dies in 1903

Captain Jack

What if Dragutin Dimitrijević, commonly known as Apis, were killed in 1903 during the assassination of King Alexander and Queen Draga. IOTL Apis was part of the group of officers that stormed the palace but was shot three times in the initial exchange of fire with the sentries and nearly bled to death while the rest of the group carried out the assassinations. Apis was the leader and organizer of the Black Hand which originally formed to perpetrate the 1903 regicide but continued afterward as a powerful force influencing the actions of the new Serbian government and King. More famously, the Black Hand would go on to be responsible for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Now, accounts from members of the Black Hand describe Apis as an incredibly and inexplicably charismatic person who was able to lead others solely on the power of his personality. What if he had died in 1903. Would the Black Hand have stayed together in the aftermath of the regicide or would the organization have drifted apart?
 

Halagaz

Since the Black Hand only evolved from a few like-minded officers into an actual organization in 1911, without Apis there's a good chance it wouldn't be formed at all.

Then again, while Apis was one of the founding members, he wasn't the only one, and the causes that influenced the Black Hand's foundation will still be there. So the organization might come to life anyway, but much weaker than IOTL.

For example, without Apis to employ his charisma and connections as the unofficial spokesman of the officer corps and during its negotiations with the opposition parties in the May 1914 political crisis, the remaining members of the Black Hand might very well lapse into passivity due to their lack of connections, and end up forcibly retired.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top