Born in what is modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, he attended the State Teachers' College in Sarajevo and for a while taught at a school in Bosnia. In 1913, Ilić moved to Belgrade where he became a journalist and a member of the Black Hand secret society. Ilić returned to Sarajevo in 1914 where he worked as an editor of a local Serb newspaper. He became a member of Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia).Edward R. Kantowicz. The rage of nations. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA; Cambridge, England, UK: Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1999. p. 97. He recruited Gavrilo Princip, Nedeljko Čabrinović, Vaso Čubrilović, Trifko Grabež, Muhamed Mehmedbašić, and Cvjetko Popović to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, which led directly to World War I. He and Gavrilo Princip were close friends.
