Historical documents displayed on Monday in an exhibition in Belgrade depicted the 1914 Sarajevo assassins which led to the First World War as freedom fighters.
The exhibition, called Young Bosnia and the Sarajevo assassination, is a part of the centenary of the First World War marked jointly by Serbia and Republika Srpska, entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said at the opening of the exhibition that the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg in Sarajevo conducted by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip on June 28 was an act of defence.
"Trigger of the Princip's gun was a trigger for the subjugated nations, but also the trigger for the beginning of the First world war", said Nikolic.
He reminded that the "Young Bosnia" was formed in the aftermath of 1912 and 1913 Balkan Wars and resembled similar organizations in Italy, Czech Republic, and Croatia.
"The motives of the students and intellectuals were different across the continent, but they all dreamt about the new world, and demanded changes in their countries", said Nikolic, adding that the documents and photos help people understand the circumstances under which Sarajevo Assassination took place.
Nebojsa Radmanovic, member of the Bosnian presidency who also attended the opening said that the members of the organization were a small group of people fighting for freedom and that their revolutionary steps sparked the First World War.
"Republika Srpska will always recognize the organizers of the Sarajevo Assassination as freedom fighters" he said.
Documents, photos, and other archive materials at the exhibition showed the organization, Young Bosnia that consisted of Serbs, Croats and Muslims, opposed to Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and stood for the unification of South Slavs into one country.