Serbia and Montenegro

Montenegro has a population of about 600,000 (200,00 Serbs, 48,000 Muslims)

     From the 14th to the 19th cent. the principal activity of the fiercely independent Montenegrin people was fighting the Turks, who never entirely conquered their mountain stronghold. In the 14th century the region constituting present Montenegro was the independent principality of Zeta in the Serbian empire. After Serbia was defeated by the Turks in the battle of Kosovo Field (1389), Montenegro continued to resist and became a refuge for Serbian nobles who fled Turkish rule. The sultans did not recognize Montenegrin independence but, although they thrice destroyed Cetinje, they never succeeded in making Montenegro a tributary. However, the princes of Montenegro ruled only a small part of the present republic, the rest being governed by Turkey after 1499 and by Venice, which held Kotor.

    From 1515 until 1851 the rule of Montenegro was vested in the prince-bishops (vladikas) of Cetinje; these were assisted by civil governors. Social organization, geared almost exclusively to the needs of war, was largely military and patriarchal. With Danilo I , who ruled from 1696 to 1735, the Episcopal succession was made hereditary in the Niegosh family, the office passing ordinarily from uncle to nephew, because the bishops could not marry. Danilo I also inaugurated (1715) the traditional alliance of Montenegro with Russia; the emperors of Russia were henceforth considered as at least the spiritual suzerains of the vladikas.

    Peter I, who reigned from 1782 to 1830, defied both France and Austria when the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) transferred the Venetian possession of Kotor to Austria, but he failed to obtain the coveted port. However, in 1799, Sultan Selim III recognized the independence of Montenegro. Peter I instituted internal reforms and sought to end the blood feuds and lawlessness that had become a traditional way of life. He was canonized as a saint after his death. Peter II (reigned 1830-51), a gifted poet, continued his predecessor's work of reform and fostered a revival of learning and culture; aside from occasional border warfare, he lived in relative peace with his neighbors, Turkey and Austria. Danilo II , who succeeded him, secularized his principality in 1852 and transferred his ecclesiastic functions to an archbishop.

    Under King Nikola I (reigned 1860-1918) Montenegro was formally recognized as an independent state at the Congress of Berlin (1878), which increased its territory and gave it a narrow outlet on the Adriatic. In 1910, Nicholas proclaimed himself king. He fought Turkey in the Balkan Wars and took Shkodër in 1913, but was forced by the pressure of the European powers to evacuate the city. Montenegro did, however, receive part of the territory claimed by newly independent Albania .

During World War I, Montenegro fought on the side of the Allies but was defeated and occupied by Austro-German forces in late 1915. Upon Austrian occupation, the Montenegrin king, King Nikola I, and his family fled to Italy. Consequently, the Serbian king, Petar Karadjordjevic, was able to exploit the chaotic conditions in Montenegro at the war's end, paving the way for the violent and unwanted Serbian annexation of Montenegro.

In Nov. 1918, a national assembly declared King Nikola I deposed and the family fled to Italy, and effected the union of Montenegro with Serbia. Under the centralized, Serbian-dominated government of what became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Montenegro largely ceased to exist.

Montenegro was the only Allied country in World War I to be annexed to another country at the end of the war. The majority of the Montenegrin population opposed the annexation and on January 7, 1919, staged a national uprising--known to history as the Christmas Uprising--against the Serbian annexation. The uprising became a war between Serbia and the Montenegrins that lasted until 1926. Many Montenegrins lost their lives, and though many hoped for an intervention by the Great Powers to protect their sovereignty, none came and Montenegro was effectively absorbed into the new kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1922 the Serbian Orthodox Church was declared the official church and the Montenegrin branch was outlawed.

When Yugoslavia was invaded and partitioned by the Axis powers in April 1941, Montenegro was appropriated by the Italians under a nominally autonomous administration. This caused a great divide within the Montenegrin population. Many nationalists who had been frustrated with the experience of Yugoslav unification supported the Italian administration.

But there were advocates of the union with Serbia who began armed resistance movements as well as many communists who, by nature of their political beliefs, were opposed to the Italian presence. As war progressed, the local strength of the communists grew and Montenegro served as an effective base for communism in the region; it was an important refuge for Tito's partisan forces during the most difficult points in the struggle.

After the war (1946), the communist strategy of attempting to unify Yugoslavia through a federal structure elevated Montenegro to the status of a republic, thus securing Montenegrin loyalty to the federation, and its territory was enlarged with the addition of part of the Dalmatian coast.

     As Yugoslavia began to disintegrate in the early 1990s, Montenegro and Serbia were the only republics in which the electorate kept the Communists in power and voted to remain in the Yugoslavian federation. Although Montenegro backed the Serbs militarily early in the civil war, it moved away from armed engagement and vigorously protested being grouped with Serbia when UN trade sanctions were imposed in 1992. The sanctions crippled shipping and tourism and caused economic hardship. When they were temporarily lifted in 1995, Montenegro privatized businesses and pursued a market economy.

    Milo Djukanović, a supporter of increased sovereignty or independence for the republic, was elected president of Montenegro in 1997. Although many Montenegrins desire independence from Serbia, many others oppose it. Montenegro was not heavily attacked by NATO during the Kosovo crisis of 1999, but many Montenegrins sympathized with Serbia. Relations with Serbia, which grew increasingly strained in 1999 and 2000, eased after Vojislav Koštunica became Yugoslav president (Oct. 2000), but Djukanović did not waver in his support for a looser Yugoslav federation or independence. In Nov., 1999, Montenegro adopted the German mark as legal tender along with the dinar; the mark (the euro, after Mar. 2001) became the sole currency in Nov. 2000. Djukanović's party won the largest bloc of seats in the Apr. 2001, elections, but failed to win a parliamentary majority.

    After failed talks later in the year on the future of the Yugoslav federation, the Montenegrin and Yugoslavian presidents agreed that Montenegro would hold a referendum on independence in May 2002. That referendum was postponed, however, by the signing in Mar. 2002, of a pact that called for restructuring the federal government. The accord led to a constitution establishing the “state union” of Serbia and Montenegro in Feb. 2003. Both republics have increased autonomy under the new constitution; the federal government is responsible primarily for foreign policy and defense.

    In Nov. 2002, Djukanović resigned as president to become prime minister. The December and February presidential elections were legally inclusive due to low turnout. After the election law was amended to require only a majority of those voting to win the presidency, Filip Vujanović, an ally of the prime minister's, was elected in May 2003.

Land, People, and Economy

Situated at the southern end of the Dinaric Alps, Montenegro is almost entirely mountainous, with a small coastline along the Adriatic. It consists of two regions: the barren karst of Montenegro proper, on the west, is separated by the Zeta River and its plain from the higher Brda region, on the east, which has forests and pastures. In addition to the capital, other principal cities are Cetinje , Nikšić , and Kotor, the only Adriatic port of Serbia and Montenegro. The Montenegrin people are mostly Serbs who, while sharing a language, many customs, and an Orthodox faith with other Serbs, nevertheless are recognized as a separate ethnic nationality with a distinct history.

Traditionally, the raising of sheep and goats have been important occupations in Montenegro. In recent years, smuggling is said to have supplied about a third of the government's revenues. Agriculture, mainly in the Zeta valley and near Lake Scutari (which forms part of the Albanian border), is poorly developed, with only about 6% of the country cultivated. Industry is also relatively underdeveloped, except for aluminum and steel mills. Montenegro has significant deposits of iron, bauxite, and petroleum.

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