Kingdom of Montenegro

This article is about the early 20th-century Montenegrin state. For the WWII state sometimes called the Kingdom of Montenegro, see Italian governorate of Montenegro.

The Kingdom of Montenegro (Serbian: Краљевина Црна Горa, romanized: Kraljevina Crna Gora) was a monarchy in southeastern Europe, present-day Montenegro, during the tumultuous period of time on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Officially it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolutist in practice. On 28 November 1918, following the end of World War I, with the Montenegrin government still in exile, the Podgorica Assembly proclaimed unification with the Kingdom of Serbia, which itself was merged into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes three days later, on 1 December 1918. This unification with Serbia lasted, through various successor states, for almost 88 years, ending in 2006.

Kingdom of Montenegro^[1] Краљевина Црна Горa Kraljevina Crna Gora
1910–1918
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori Убавој нам Црној Гори "To Our Beautiful Montenegro"
The Kingdom of Montenegro in 1914
Kingdom of Montenegro in 1914 zoomed in the map with some cities
Capital	Cetinje
Capital-in-exile	Bordeaux Neuilly-sur-Seine
Common languages	Serbian
Religion	Eastern Orthodox (official)^[2]
Demonym(s)	Montenegrin
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under military dictatorship (1913–1916)
King (Kralj)
• 1910–1918^[3]	Nicholas I
• 1921^[4]	Danilo
• 1921–1922	Michael
Prime Minister or President of the Ministerial Council
• 1910–1912 • 1912–1913	Lazar Tomanović Mitar Martinović
• 1913–1915 • 1915–1916	Janko Vukotić Milo Matanović
• 1916 • 1916	Lazar Mijušković Andrija Radović
• 1916–1917 • 1917–1919	Milo Matanović Evgenije Popović^[5]
• 1919–1921 1921–1922	Anto Gvozdenović Jovan Plamenac
• 1922 • 1922	Milutin Vučinić Anto Gvozdenović^[6]
Legislature	Popular Assembly
Historical era	20th century & World War I
• Proclamation	28 August 1910
• Balkan Wars	1912–1913
• Treaty of London	30 May 1913
• Balkans Campaign	1914–1918
• Corfu Declaration	20 July 1917
• Podgorica Assembly	28 November 1918
Area
• Total	14.000 km^2 (5.405 sq mi) (21st in Europe before World War I)
Currency	Montenegrin Perper
Preceded by Succeeded by Principality of Montenegro Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Today part of	Montenegro Serbia Kosovo

History

See also: History of Montenegro

 

1899 map of the Balkans; Montenegro is coloured magenta.

Prince Nicholas of Montenegro proclaimed the Kingdom of Montenegro in Cetinje on 28 August 1910, elevating the country from the rank of Principality. King Nicholas I had ruled the country as prince since 1860, and had initiated several modernising reforms at the beginning of the 20th century, such as introducing a constitution and a new currency, the Montenegrin perper.

Montenegro joined the First Balkan War in 1912, hoping to win a share in the last Ottoman-controlled areas of Rumelia. Montenegro did make further territorial gains by splitting Sandžak with Serbia on 30 May 1913. But the Montenegrins had to abandon the newly captured city of İşkodra (Skadar in Serbian, modern-day Shkodër) to the new state of Albania in May 1913, at the insistence of the Great Powers. Esad Pasha made a deal to surrender the town to the Montenegrins in exchange for Montenegro supporting his claims in Central Albania. However, as Shkodër and the surroundings had a large ethnic Albanian majority, the area went to the state of Albania instead. When the Second Balkan War broke out in June 1913, Serbia fought against Bulgaria, and King Nicholas sided with Serbia.

During World War I (1914–1918) Montenegro allied itself with the Triple Entente, in line with King Nicholas' pro-Serbian policy. Accordingly, Austria-Hungary occupied Montenegro from 15 January 1916 to October 1918.

On 20 July 1917, the signing of the Corfu Declaration foreshadowed the unification of Montenegro with Serbia. On 26 November 1918, the Podgorica Assembly, an elected body claiming to represent the Montenegrin people, unanimously adopted a resolution deposing king Nicholas I (who was still in exile) and unifying Montenegro with Serbia. Upon this event Nicholas I, who had previously supported unification with Serbia into a greater state with his dynasty playing the pivotal role, switched to promoting Montenegrin nationalism and opposing the union with Serbia, a position he maintained until his death in France in 1921.

On 1 December 1918, Serbia and Montenegro together formed a major part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia).

During World War II, the occupying forces in Yugoslavia considered turning the Italian governorate of Montenegro into a puppet kingdom, but nothing came of these plans.

Rulers

King of Montenegro (1910–1918)

See also: List of rulers of Montenegro

• Nicholas I of Montenegro (1910–1918)

Prime Ministers (1910–1916)

See also: Prime Minister of Montenegro

• Lazar Tomanović (1910–1912)
• Mitar Martinović (1912–1913)
• Janko Vukotić (1913–1915)
• Milo Matanović (1915–1916)
• Lazar Mijušković (1916)

Prime Ministers in-exile (1916–1922)

• Lazar Mijušković (1916)
• Andrija Radović (1916–1917)
• Milo Matanović (1917)
• Evgenije Popović (1917–1919)
• Jovan Plamenac (1919–1921)
• Anto Gvozdenović (1921–1922)
• Milutin Vučinić (1922)
• Anto Gvozdenović (1922)

Gallery

•  

  Civil flag of the Kingdom of Montenegro

•  

  The Kingdom of Montenegro in 1913

•  

  Proclamation of the Kingdom of Montenegro, 28 August 1910

•  

  Text of the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Montenegro

See also

• History of Montenegro
• Principality of Montenegro

References

1. 1916–1922: Government-in-exile
2. Constitution of the Principality of Montenegro, 1905, Article 40, "Paragraph 1: State religion in Montenegro is Eastern-Orthodox. Paragraph 2: Montenegrin Church is Autocephalous. It is independent from any other Church, but maintains dogmatic unity with Eastern-Orthodox Ecumenical Church. Paragraph 3: All other recognized religions are free in Montenegro.[1]
3. Until 1921 de jure in the government-in-exile
4. March 1 – 7 March 1921
5. Final Prime Minister de facto
6. Final Prime Minister de jure

Further reading

• Živojinović Dragoljub R. (2014). "King Nikola and the territorial expansion of Montenegro, 1914–1920". Balcanica (45).

External links

•   Media related to Kingdom of Montenegro at Wikimedia Commons
• Kingdom of Montenegro in 1918 Archived 2012-12-05 at archive.today
• Montenegro – World Statesmen

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