Muhamed Mehmedbašić

Muhamed Mehmedbašić
Muhamed Mehmedbašić in the interwar period
Born	1887 Stolac, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary
Died	29 May 1943 (aged 55–56) Sarajevo, Independent State of Croatia
Cause of death	Killed by Ustaše

Muhamed Mehmedbašić (Serbian Cyrillic: Мухамед Мехмедбашић; 1887–29 May 1943) was a Bosnian revolutionary and conspirator in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

Mehmedbašić was born in 1887 into a poor Muslim family in Stolac, in the region of Herzegovina (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, Mehmedbašić befriended Mustafa Golubić (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 revolutionary organization and became a colleague of its ideologue Vladimir Gaćinović, 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. Black Hand founding member Vojislav Tankosić led a Chetnik detachment, in which many revolutionaries volunteered (including Golubić).

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. Ilić then met with Chief of Serbian Military Intelligence Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević "Apis", the leader of the Black Hand, to discuss the matter. Apis' right hand, Serbian Major Vojislav Tankosić, called an action planning meeting in Toulouse, 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. 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.