 HISTORY |
"Over the centuries ,Montenegrins have developed the notion that all cultural and religious monuments, even those created by one-time enemies, deserve respect and attention, even though these were the product of temporary or centuries long enemies. Having the feeling of respect for themselves and their convictions, Montenegrins have felt the same towards everyone else." "Stecci" (tombstones) on Mt.Durmitor
Crest of the old Kingdom of Montenegro
| I. Zetan Orthodox Metropolitanate (X - XV c.) |
 1) Human settlement |
The first traces of human settlement in the present-day territory of Montenegro date from the middle Palaeolithic period. Archaeological finds contain artefacts from different epochs held to be between 60 and 35 millennia old. These were mostly tools, hunting weapons, jewelry and items used for religious purposes. Other objects of historical meaning have been discovered throughout present-day Montenegro, thus traces of human settlement bespeak of a continuity of living in these spaces before any document emerged.
To the south, around Lake Skadar, lived the Leojejis who had the fortified towns of Scutari and Meteon. The Romans encompassed all the territories but failed to consolidate their authority. Around 6AD did the Romans strengthen their rule and gradually begin Romanizing these regions. When the Roman Empire split into the Eastern and Western empires, the territory of present-day Montenegro belonged to the province of Prevalis and the population lived mostly by farming and livestock breeding. This split was marked by a line that ran northward from Skadar through modern Montenegro, symbolizing the status of this region as a perpetual marginal zone between the economic, cultural, and political worlds of the Mediterranean peoples and the Slavs. The earliest Slavic settlers arrived in the 6th century. Their arrival resembled raids rather, than actual habitation. Slavic colonization took place in the 7th century by settling down and establishing larger settlements. According to some historical sources, the Slavic ancestors of Montenegrins came from the region between the Baltic Sea and the present-day city of Hanover, Germany. Even today there are in the Baltic around 800 settlements, rivers, lakes and mountains with names similar to corresponding places in Montenegro.Slavic arrival to the Roman province of Prevalis brought the new urban settlements of Kotor, Risan, Budva, Bar, Ulcinj and Doclea (which lies about 15 km from the present-day capital of Podgorica). At the beginning, the Montenegrins were pagans, but through coexistence and assimilation they accepted Christianity from the Romans.
| 2) Duklja (Doclea) - Zeta the first Montenegrin state. |
Information about the first state in Zeta is quite unreliable. What can be stated positively is that the first state in Zeta encompassed a region subsequently called Brda and a small part of the Montenegrin coast. In the 11th century, the Byzantine towns of Kotor and Scutari became part of the state of Zeta though most of the population was Roman and would remain so until the 17th century. The Romans encompassed all the territories of the Illyrian kingdom, but failed to consolidate their authority. After several punitive expeditions, this kingdom was finally conquered by the Romans in AD 9 and annexed to the province of Illyricum.
The history of the Montenegrin state begins in the ninth century with the emergence of Duklja, a vassal state of Byzantium. Duklja (later called Zeta) was ruled by the Vojislavljevic dynasty, the first Montenegrin dynasty.
The first ruler of Zeta about whom some information has been preserved was Jovan Vladimir, a Byantine vassal. He put the capital of the state in Prapratna (about 20 km from the present-day port of Bar). When unrest broke out in the state of Tsar Samuel of Macedonia, Vladimir tried to become independent. The war lasted for several years, and at the end Vladimir was defeated. Samuel took over Zeta, captured Vladimir and imprisoned him. Soon after, however, Vladimir and Samuel reconciled. Vladimir was released from prison and married Samuels daughter becoming later on appointed governor of Zeta.
Zeta and the Legend: Aside to these historical facts there is a legend, which subsequently served as the basis for many medieval novels about Vladimir and Kosara (daughter of Samuel), and attained literary actualization during the period of national romanticism. history and legend concur up to the point when Samuel captured Vladimir. According to the legend when Princess Kosara saw the prisoner, took pity on him and then fell in love with him. Her will prevailed upon her fathers and Vladimir became the Tsar's son-in-law. After the death of Samuel, his nephew Vladislav invited Vladimir to Struga and had him killed After Vladimir`s death Kosara built a Church whose ruins still exist in Ostros (place located between Bar and Skadar Lake. After her death she was buried together with Vladimir in the Church that was built on her order. After their death the Orthodox Church has made Vladimir a saint.
Promoter of the Vojisavljevic dynasty was Vojislav who ruled for 25 years. He won in 1042 a decisive battle near Bar against Byzantium and after that Duklja became independent. Duklja's power and prosperity reached their zenith under King Vojislav's son, King Mihailo (1046-81), and his son King Bodin (1081-1101).
Mihailo received royal insignia from the Pope, and his crown still remains in the Church of St.Mihailo in Ston, a town in the Peljesac peninsula (in present-day Croatia). In a letter the Pope refers to him as "Michaeli Sclavorum Regi" (Mihailo, King of Slavs). Recognizing Mihailo as a king, the Pope also considered his request that Duklja's bishopric in Bar be raised to an archbishopric and soon it happened.
The last of the significant rulers of Zeta prior to the period of the Nemanjic house was Bodin (1081-1101), who pursued the policy of relying on the Curia and the Norman's rather than waging a direct war with Byzantium. The Pope granted the archbishop of Bar the title of primate of Serbia. After the death of Bodin, struggles for the throne broke out again, lasting for several decades. Bodin's heir was the grand zupan of Raska, Stefan Nemanja who gained dominance with the aid from Byzantium and extended his rule on to Zeta.
| 3) The Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro - 1219 |
The Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral exists continually for 780 years as an integral diocese of The Serbian Orthodox Church. It was founded in 1219. by St. Sava (Nemanjic). St. Sava decided to divide the area that was under his ecclesiastical jurisdiction into nine dioceses. One of these was the diocese of Zeta (the southern half of modern Montenegro). The seat of Zetan bishops was at that time in the Monastery of St. Michael the Archangel (near today's city of Tivat) Zetan diocese was elevated to the status of Metropolitanate by the decisions of the Serbian Emperor Stefan Dusan.
After the Serbian tzar Dusan Nemanjics death in 1355, the Serbian Kingdom started to crumble and a part of its territory was given to a semi-independent chiefdom of Zeta under the Balsic dynasty, who increasingly asserted Zeta's sovereignty. Zeta, thus, regained its independence under the second Montenegrin dynasty, the Balsic, whose founder Balsa I, came to power in 1360.The Balsics were Catholics with dominant influence of the Roman Catholic Church. They ruled Zeta until 1421, when Balsa III passed the rule of Zeta to Stefan Lazarevic,. The next thirty years were a period of turmoil and rivalry for power. From this period emerged the third Montenegrin dynasty, the Djurasevic family of the Crnojevic clan.
The Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro was an integral diocese of The Serbian Orthodox Church until 1670, when the Turkish authorities took over The Serbian Orthodox Church. After that moment, the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro became independent. Its recognition as an independent Montenegrin Orthodox Church happened in the19th century.
Origins of the Name "Crna Gora" Montenegro
The Queen Helen (Jelena), a widow of Raska's/Serbia's King Uros I, was ruling Zeta between 1276 and 1309. She advanced the highest level of autonomy of the Zetan state within Nemanjic's Serbia and built and restored around 50 monasteries in Zeta, most notably St. Srdj and Vakh on the river Bojana (present-day city of Ulcinj). During this period, the name Crna Gora (Montenegro) is mentioned for the first time in the charter of St. Nicholas' monastery (Vranjina). Crna Gora was the highland region under mountain Lovcen, within Zeta, and under the domination of Raska.
| 4) The fall of the Serbian medieval state - 1389 |
The fall of the Serbian medieval state in 1389 to the Turks, after the battle of Kosovo and the disintegration of its parts in the 15th century together with the Venetian conquest of coastal cities of Kotor, Budva and Pastrovici region, endangered the existence of the Zetan Orthodox Metropolitanate. When Zeta finally fell to the advancing Turks, the grand duke of Zeta, Ivan Crnojevic with his people moved to the Montenegrin mountains.
The next significant rulers of Montenegro were the Crnojevic clan, with Ivan Crnojevic who bought the printing press in Venice a few years before his death in 1490. His son Djuradj becomes the next grand duke, and in 1493 he prints the book that is the first one ever to be printed among the south Slavs. That book is the "Oktoih", a Serb-Slavonic translation from the original Greek of a service book that is today still of daily use in the orthodox church. Montenegro in 1499 finally falls to the Turks and that coincides with the disappearance of the Crnojevic family from the historical scene. From then on the name Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro is being used instead of the old name Zetan Orthodox Metropolitanate.
See related info on: "Culture" during the state of Zeta
| II. history of the Orthodox Metropolitane of Montenegro |
During the 16th and 17th centuries their Orthodox Metropolitans together with the leaders of the clans lead the people of Montenegro. With more or less success they were fighting the Turks who never completely conquered the Montenegrin mountains. In this struggle the Venetians were often their allies, but never their true friends.
"Alongside the Adriatic Sea amongst its brutal rock is found Montenegro. history glorifies this eagle's nest. This is an unconquerable homeland as glorious as Sparta. Her little nation is the only one of all the great Slavic races which has never been in the chains of slavery."
Gaston Rupnel (1871-1946), French writer
The destruction of the old Cetinje Monastery perpetrated by the Venetians and the Turks in 1692 with the emergence of the Petrovic family mark the beginning of a new phase in the Montenegrin history. Montenegro after that turns completely towards the Russian Empire that through its power and authority strengthens the institution of etnarchy (with the metropolitans being heads of the Church and rulers of the state at the same time). The Petrovic dynasty ruled Montenegro for 220 years, from 1697 - 1918. All the Metropolitans of Montenegro, were members of this family for this period.
All Metropolitans and rulers from the Petrovic family always considered themselves to be Serbs who live in Montenegro, which was, as a separate entity, for a long time the only land in the Balkans free of the foreign occupation.
In the times of the grand-duke and (as of 1910.) king of Montenegro Nikola I Petrovic we can see the culmination of the geopolitical idea to unify Montenegro with Serbia, as well as the spiritual need to unite the church. The territory of Montenegro was almost doubled and the church spread into three dioceses.
After the Serbian victory in the First World War by the end of 1918 Montenegro enters the political union with Serbia under the Karadjordjevic dynasty. It is important to stress that this resolved the long-standing dynastic rivalry between the two Slavic royal families: the Petrovic family and the Karadjordjevic family. The decision was taken at the Great people's council of Podgorica on November 1918 with the active participation of representatives from the Metropolitanate of Montenegro.
The main decisions reached at the event were:
1.) The unification of Serbia and Montenegro
2.) Dethronization of king Nikola I Petrovic and the acceptance of Karadjordjevic dynasty.
Although most Montenegrins were in favor of these decisions, some of king Nikola's supporters wished to preserve the Petrovic dynasty, and also wanted the union with Serbia but under completely different terms (a federal union and not a centralized one).
- Petar II Petrovic Njegos, under his rule a Senate was set up,
And the first school opened -
The unification of the church was, however, a completely different issue supported by both sides in the dispute both by the federalists and the centralists. The dethroned king Nikola I Petrovic never opposed to the unification of the church. The decision to unify the Metropolitanate of Montenegro with the other Serbian dioceses, was reached in1918 This decision was signed by all diocesan bishops in Montenegro. Not a single document pointing in a different direction was ever produced. The decision of the Church regarding the unification was accepted and confirmed by H.M. king Aleksandar I Karadjordjevic in 1920.
| III. Liberation, Independence and union of Serbia and Montenegro |
After the Serbian medieval empire and other countries had fallen under the Ottoman control in the second half of the 15th century, the national consciousness of people living in Serbia and Montenegro was preserved by the Kosovo oath, legend and tradition as well as a persistence of its liberation action. Serbia and Montenegro were statehood centers from where the two states were restored after the numerous uprisings and liberation wars and then built and expanded following ethnic principles.
Having defeated the Turks on Krusi and Martinici (1796) and established the borders with Austria (1841) and Turkey (1859), Montenegro went into the process of establishing its own independent state. Almost at the same time, a part of Serbian territory was freed from the Turkish authority. By the 1830 and 1833 Hatisherifs (Sultan's Edict) it became autonomous within the Ottoman Empire and was given autonomy in religious affairs.
Simultaneously, Serbia and Montenegro tried to free and unify all Southern Slavs in one country. Having aimed their efforts to common action and support to the areas still under Turkish and Austrian authority, they sought the cooperation with other Slavic and Southern Slavic nations as well as the support of Russia.
Both individual achievements and cooperation between the two states resulted in restoration and further development of Serbia and Montenegro and their recognition as completely independent states at the Congress of Berlin (1878). Common border was given to the two states for the first time (1912-1913); projects of unifying in a common country were made; countries were defended and liberated of Austria-Hungarian, German and Bulgarian occupation (1914-1918); Srem, Baranja, Backa and Banat were absorbed into Serbia (1918) and Serbia and Montenegro were united (1918).
The Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from former Austria-Hungary, together with Serbia and Montenegro were taken into the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918.
| V. Liberation and development of Montenegro and Serbia as independent states and their mutual cooperation until 1875 |
Preserved state tradition and unique national consciousness enabled Serbia and Montenegro gradually to liberate themselves from the Turkish authority, to develop their state institutions, to expand their territories and permanently to aspire and work on liberation and unifying of their nations.
In Montenegro such process was accomplished by long and often bloody fights with the Turks from the 15th century on, and particularly from the end of the 18th and during the 19th century to the Great war (1876-78). Since then the state was formed and ruled by vladika, prince-bishop of the Orthodox Church, metropolitan, while in 1852 the Montenegrin ruler assumed the title of knjaz (prince). It was the period when the first written laws were introduced: "Stega"- Declaration of joining of neighboring regions to Montenegro, which at the same time introduces an obligation of defense of the country, Common Montenegrin legal code, Common legal code, 1855. Such changes heralded an era of modernization, transforming Montenegro into an organized country. Tax liability was introduced; schools, printing shops and other institutions were founded; newspapers and books were printed. The military reforms carried out to transform the tribally organized army into modernly equipped and armed people's army. All these new institutions were of great importance for the state.
Until 1878 Montenegro hasn't been recognized by any international treaty. Two opposite opinions existed regarding its international status. One, considering Montenegro to be still a Turkish province, was confronted by the other considering Montenegro as the independent state. However, having in mind that from the end of the 18th century Montenegro was ruled by its own rulers, who were not subjugated to the Sultan and thus had right to maintain diplomatic relations as well as that its borders with Austria (1841) and Ottoman Empire (1859) were established by international treaties, it is more than obvious that Montenegro was an independent state - really but not formally. | From the period by 1878 Serbia and Montenegro emerged as ordered states, their territories almost doubled, faced to each other and ready, with Russian support, to arise both the Serbian and the Eastern Question in order to free and unite their territories.
| VI. Serbia and Montenegro solving the Eastern question 1875-1878 |
| War with the Ottoman Empire 1876 |
Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1876, and Russia came into the war on their behalf the following year. The Treaty of San Stefano, concluded in1878, proposed a radical redrawing of the frontiers in the Balkans, including the creation of a large independent Bulgarian principality under Russian protection, that was not according to Serbian/Montenegrin national interests.
Unacceptable to the other Great Powers for a variety of reasons, this solution was revised in the Treaty of Berlin in1878 defining for a longer period both Great Powers and the Balkan states' positions in solving the Eastern Question. The Treaty of Berlin not only enlarged the territories of Serbia (on the southern frontier) and Montenegro (towards Herzegovina and the sea) but also recognized them as completely independent states. However, the South Slav plans were disabled by Great Powers. Serbia and Montenegro remained separate by a strip of land where Austrian garrisons were allowed.
At the beginning of the 20th century the rivalry between Austria-Hungary and the two Serb states became more than evident. In 1908 Austria-Hungary disturbed the status quo in the Balkans set by the Congress of Berlin.
| VII. Serbia and Montenegro from the Berlin congress to the Balkan Wars - 1878-1912 |
After being recognized as independent states, Serbia and Montenegro entered the period of the state and institutional modernization, establishing diplomatic missions and experiencing economic prosperity. Subsequently, two principalities were declared kingdoms - Serbia in 1882 and Montenegro in 1910.
Status quo in the Balkans made it difficult for Serbian and Montenegrin attempts to solve the Serbian question. The crisis was settled by enthronement of Peter I Karageorgevich, when Serbia, politically, economically and militarily strengthened and supported by Montenegro and Russia, could be considered the guarantee that the Serbian question would be solved satisfactorily.
| VIII. The final solution of the Serbian and Eastern question - 1912-1913 |
In September 1912 Serbia and Montenegro joined a mutual alliance, the two states agreed on a cooperation together with the other Balkan League states to oust Turkey from its European possessions, trying to prevent Austria-Hungary benefiting from the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.
In the First Balkan war Serbia and Montenegro took cooperated actions.
The Treaty of London (1913) finally removed Turkey from Europe (to the Enos-Midia line) and it also resulted in a division of liberated areas among the allies. The new Albanian state was recognized that disabled Serbian access to the sea and left Montenegro without the plain of Scutari, city of the mediaeval capital.
The Second Balkan war (1913), waged against the Bulgarian predominance in the Balkans, opposed by Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and Greece, resulted not only in the breakdown of the Balkan Entente but also in a Serb-Bulgarian conflict. Although this war, in which Bulgaria was defeated, was waged far away from its territory and with no immediate interests, Montenegro supported the Serbian army.
In the Peace of Bucharest (August 1913) the European areas of the Ottoman Empire were divided among the Balkan states as well as the frontiers among them were established. The Serb-Montenegrin border was detailed later by a bilateral agreement signed in 1913.
Serbia and Montenegro emerged victorious and strengthened from the Balkan wars, with their territories almost doubled and with a new common border, having plans for the union of the two countries as well as the liberation of all other Serbian areas across the Drina and the Sava.
| IX . Serbia and Montenegro - WW I |
When Serbia and Montenegro were given a common border in 1912-1913, discussions began about the possible union of the two countries with mutual administration, judiciary, finance, postal service, customs, military and foreign affairs. Unfortunately, these negotiations were interrupted by the attack of Austria-Hungary and the beginning of World War One. As many times before, Serbia and Montenegro fought together.
In 1915, when Serbia, left without allied support, was forced to retreat its government to Corfu. King Nicholas and its government emigrated, while the Montenegrin army was disbanded. Experiencing its most difficult days in war, Serbia succeeded in its attempt to preserve both its state institutions and the main forces which, recovered on Corfu. Given the international support, Serbia entered union with Montenegro and subsequently their incorporation created the new Yugoslav state. Thus the Montenegrin project to join the new state as an independent country was not realized.
| X. Union in 1918 |
Following the end of the hostilities, the Assembly of the Serbs, Croats, Bunjevacs, Slovaks, Ruthenians and other nations announced on its sessions in Ruma on November 11, 1918 and in Novi Sad the day after, the incorporation of Srem, Banat, Backa and Baranja in Serbia, while the National Assembly meeting in Podgorica declared the union with Serbia.
It was decided that the Assembly be held in Podgorica from November 11, 1918. On that day representatives from all of Montenegro's districts gathered:
Metohija, Andrijevica, Berane, Pljevlja, Kolasin, Niksic, Podgorica, Bar and Cetinje.
During the first two sessions on November, the Presidency of the Assembly was elected by secret vote.
During the session on November 13, 1918, the Assembly had made the following decisions:
1. that King Nikola Petrovic and his dynasty be dethroned,
2. unification of Montenegro and Serbia in one state under the Karadjordjevic dynasty and so become a common Yugoslav state,
3. that an Executive National Committee consisting of five members be elected, to rule in Montenegro until the union of Montenegro and Serbia is completed,
4. that King Nikola, be informed of these decisions as well as the government of the Serbian Kingdom, and the allied countries: France, England, the United States of America, and Italy. After the October Revolution Russia was no longer in the ally block.
Since the 19th century, the two states, had waged five mutual wars against the common conquerors. As the result, Serbia and Montenegro emerged strengthened from these wars and given for the first time a common border. Consequently that was followed by their integration plans finally achieved after World War One by the act of union.
The union of the two countries, Serbia and Montenegro was predecessor to the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes announced in Belgrade on December 1, 1918
| XI. From 1918 - To the end of the 90s |
The united country of Serbs and Montenegrins existed from 1918 to 1941, when German-led Axis forces invaded and dismembered it during World War II. It was reestablished in 1945, but in 1991 political and ethnic conflicts led to its second, final disintegration.
In the first period, Yugoslavia was a kingdom. In the second period, it was a federation consisting of six republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina (often referred to simply as Bosnia), Croatia, Macedonia ( Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. In addition, two autonomous provinces existed within the republic of Serbia: Vojvodina and Kosovo. Belgrade was the federal capital.
The pact of the two states was endorsed by the Allies, who won the war in 1918, and the new Yugoslav nation was proclaimed in December 1918.
Montenegro formally became the Yugoslav province of Zeta in 1921. When Axis troops invaded the Balkan Peninsula during World War II, Italian forces occupied parts of Montenegro.
In 1946 Yugoslavia was established as a federal republic under Communist rule, and Montenegro became one of its six constituent republics. Yugoslavia, meaning "land of the South Slavs," was created as a constitutional monarchy at the end of World War I (1914-1918). It was known as the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes until 1929, when it was renamed Yugoslavia. The kingdom was destroyed and divided by the invasion and occupation of Axis forces in 1941.
At the end of World War II (1939-1945), Yugoslavia was recreated as a federal republic by the Partisans, a Communist-led, anti-Axis resistance movement. Under Josip Broz Tito, founder and leader of the Partisans, Yugoslavia emerged as a faithful copy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), with a dictatorial central government and a state-controlled economy. Tito broke up partially with the USSR in 1948, and he decentralized the Yugoslav government and gradually eased repression. Economically, the government experimented with looser controls under the labels of workers' self-management and market socialism. Yugoslavia was unique among Communist countries in its relatively open and free society and its international role as a leader of nonaligned nations during the Cold War.
| Faith in the period of 1945 - the 90s |
During the Second World War and after the communists came to power in 1945, the church suffered the worst imaginable persecution at the hands of the atheist regime. The communists have killed more than a hundred priests and thousands of Montenegrin people. Fifteen other priests were killed by the fascist occupiers.
The new regime exerted unprecedented pressures upon the remaining clergy to abandon their flocks. The property belonging to the Church was confiscated, many churches and monasteries turned into police stations, stables for cattle and warehouses. Communists in1972 seriously damaged the "spiritual veil" of Montenegro, by destroying the church dedicated to St. Petar I Petrovic (St. Petar of Cetinje) and desecrated the tomb of the world famous poet, Metropolitan Petar II Petrovic Njegos who built this church on top of the Lovcen mountain. In these circumstances the life of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro was totally marginalized by the communist government. This period can be marked as the time of open and brutal persecution of the Church.
The present Metropolitan of Montenegro Dr. Amfilohije Radovic becomes the head of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro in 1990, at the same time when the processes of deconstructing the old communist system result in free democratic elections. The Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral quickly started to flourish. The number of priests, monks and nuns as well as the number of the faithful increased rapidly. Many monasteries and parish churches were rebuilt and brought back to their former glory. For example from only 10 active monasteries with about 20 monks and nuns in 1991, Montenegro now has 30 active monasteries with more than 160 monks and nuns living and praying in them. The number of parish priests was also increased from 20 in 1991, to more than 60 today.
Following Tito's death in 1980, ten years of economic crisis and growing political and ethnic conflicts led to the federation's disintegration in 1991 and 1992. The breakup was bloody, resulting in civil wars in two successor states, Croatia and Bosnia. Together with Montenegro, Serbia formed what its leaders claimed to be the successor state to Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
In early 1992, after Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia had declared their independence from Yugoslavia, a referendum was held in Montenegro that at the end kept the republic in federation with Serbia.
Since then the relationship between Serbia and Montenegro has loosened. A major factor has been the result of economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations (UN) on Yugoslavia. They were originally to punish Yugoslavia for supporting Serbs in the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. Some of them have remained since those wars ended, and the international community threatened even more in 1998 after the federal and Serbian governments launched a bloody crackdown on separatist Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Montenegrins who have opposed nationalist Serb efforts in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo resent the sanctions Montenegro must endure as a result
In 1997 Momir Bulatovic, president of Montenegro since 1990, lost his bid for reelection to Milo Djukanovic, a reformist modern businessman who had been Montenegro's prime minister and since then occupies the position of President of the Republic of Montenegro. Bulatovic was an ally of the Serb nationalist federation president, Slobodan Milosevic, but Djukanovic has been openly critical of Milosevic and is considered pro-Western. He was the first among politicians to openly criticize the policy of Slobodan Milosevic. In Montenegrin parliamentary elections held in May 1998, a reformist coalition led by Djukanovic won far more seats than Bulatovic's party, the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (SDPCG). That same month, Milosevic engineered the removal of the federation's prime minister and installed Bulatovic. Since that time, Montenegro's government has regarded the federal government as illegitimate, and since then some Montenegrin politicians have spoken of possible secession.
Serbian-led attacks on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo worsened in 1999, after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began air strikes against Yugoslav military targets in March. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo, with the largest numbers seeking refuge in Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Montenegro. By early June, when the Yugoslav government finally accepted an international peace plan for Kosovo, Montenegro had received nearly 70,000 refugees, according to UN estimates.
| Summary since 1990: |
In 1990 the Communist party split, and new non-Communist parties formed. Multiparty elections that year ended 45 years of one-party rule but also brought nationalist political parties into power in all six republics, contributing to ethnic tension in the SFRY.
Four of the republics-Bosnia and Herzegovina (often referred to simply as Bosnia), Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia-declared their independence in 1991 and 1992, leaving only Serbia and Montenegro unified.
On April 27, 1992, Serbia and Montenegro acknowledged the breakaway of the four republics by proclaiming themselves the successor state to the SFRY, taking the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).
In early 1996 the FRY was recognized as a country by the member nations of the European Union (EU); however, it was not recognized by many other countries, including the United States, until 2000. The United Nations (UN) did not recognize the FRY as the successor state to the SFRY.
In 1997 Momir Bulatovic, president of Montenegro since 1990, lost his bid for reelection to Milo Djukanovic. Since that time, Montenegro's government has regarded the federal government as illegitimate, and since then some Montenegrin politicians have spoken of possible secession. In 2002 a democratic referendum for independence will be organised.
In 2000 the UN admitted the FRY as a new member. United Nations economic sanctions against Yugoslavia (starting1992) damaged Montenegro seriously, especially by undermining its lucrative tourist trade
The breakup of the Yugoslav federation after 1989 left Montenegro in an acutely precarious position. The first multiparty elections in 1990 returned the reformed League of Communists to power, confirming Montenegrin support for the disintegrating federation. The Republic therefore joined Serbia's efforts to preserve the Federation and in 1992 it acceded to the "Third Yugoslavia," a federal republic comprising only it and Serbia. On the other hand, in 1989 the remains of King Nicholas and other members of the former royal family were returned to Montenegro to be reentered with great ceremony in Cetinje … proving the continuing strength of a sense of distinctive Montenegrin identity.
|
