Evening star., 1924-07-06
BY BORIJONE JEVTIC.

A TINY clipping from news
~ paper, mailed without COM
a terrorists in Zagreb, a capital
of Croatia. to their comrades in Bel
grade, was the torch which set the
world atre with war in 1914. That
bit of paper wrecked old, proud en-
pires. 1t gave birth to new, free
nations.
| was one of the memkers of the
terrorist band in Belgrade which re-
ceived it, and in those days I and
my companions were regarded as des-
perate criminals. A price was on our
heads. Today my little band is seen
In different light. pioneer patri-
OTIS. 1t is recognized that our secret
plans, hatched in an obscure cafe in
the capital of old Serbia, have led to
the independence of the new Jugo
slavia, the united nation set free
from Austrian domination.
The little clipping was from the
Srobobran, a Croatian journal of lin
tied circulation, and consisted of a
short telegram from Vienna. This
telegram declared that the Austrian
visit Sarajevo. the capital of Bosnia,
on June 2S to direct army maneuvers
In the neighboring mountains.
1t reached our meeting place. the
cafe called Zlatna Moruana. one night
the latter part Of April. 1914. To
understand how great sensation
that little piece of paper caused
among us, when it was passed from
hand to hand almost in silence, and
how greatly it inflamed our hearts, it
is necessary to explain just why the
Narodna Odbrana existed, the kind
of men who were in it and. the sig
nif1cance of that date, June %, on
which the archduke dared to enter
Sarajevo.
AS every one knows, the old Aus
tro-Hungarian empire was built by
conquest and intrigues. by sales and
treacheries, which held in subjuga-
tion many peoples who were neither
Austrian nor Hungarian. 1t taxed
them heavily. 1t diverted the
products of their toll to serve the
wealth of the master state. 1t in
terfered in their old freedom by a
multiplicity of laws administered
with arrogance.
In word, it was a rule that was
suffered by millions Of people in
racial and national minorities who
hated it. Among these racial and
national minorities were we Bos-
mans, linked by our family tradi-
tions and our love with old Serbia,
from which our territory had been
taken without justice, but by force.
little group of US, thirty-five in
all, living in several Bosnian and
Herzegovinian cities and villages,
formed the Narodna Odbrana, the
secret society, the aim of which was
to work for freedom from Austria
and union with Serbia. So strict
was the police vigilance in Bosnia
and Herzegovina that we set up
our headquarters in Belgrade, the
capital of our mother country, and
always some of us remained there,
while the rest remained at home.
We were not the only organization
which plotted against Austrian rule.
But we were the only one which went
to the length Of direct action, politi-
cal crimes and demonstrations to in
fame the hearts of the people. The
others merely distributed national
fstic and revolutionary literature and
by argument sought to prepare the
ground for revolution. We were the
extremists. All the organizations had
a loose connection with each other,
but none of them knew our plans or
when we would strike.
BY 1914 we had succeeded fairly
we'll in shaping the younger genera
ton of Bosnia and Herzegovina to
ideals of revolution and liberty. Far
more than a majority Of them were
enrolled in some of the milder revo-
lutionary societies or were sympa-
thetic. But never more than few
ardent spirits were among the ter
rorists.
One of the first deeds of the Bos-
nian terrorists was the attempted
assassination of Gen. Varesanin. COM
mander- chief of the Bosnian forces
in the Austro- Hungarian army, in
1910. He escaped. but the attempt
was useful 1t excited the popu-
lace and caused them to take sides.
Once they began to discuss the Ques-
tion Of liberty or subjugation. natu-