The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip in June 1914 set off a chain of events such as the Austrian July Ultimatum to Serbia, the subsequent Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia and the eventual outbreak of World War I. The position of Serbs in Bosnia became increasingly difficult. SSK members were no exception as many of them got arrested or forcibly conscripted to fight in the Austro-Hungarian Army. The newly built ground at Čurčić Vila got ransacked and burned by an angry mob of Croats and Bosniaks.