| Christmas Uprising | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Montenegrin Greens Kingdom of Italy |
Montenegrin Whites Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Krsto Zrnov Popović | Marko Daković | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 4,000 | 10,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3,00 | unknown | ||||||
The Christmas Uprising or Christmas Rebellion (Serbian: Божићна побуна, Božićna pobuna or Божићни Устанак, Božićni Ustanak) refers to the uprising of Montenegrin guerrilla fighters aimed against the planned unification of Montenegro with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. This event occurred in Montenegro on 7 January 1919, the day of Orthodox Christmas, shortly after the First World War.
The catalyst for the uprising was the decision of the controversial Grand People's Assembly in Montenegro (The Podgorica Parliament) for unification of Montenegro with the Kingdom of Serbia. The unionist side (in favor of unification with Serbia) outnumbered the party favoring separation. The uprising was named after the Orthodox Christmas of January 7, 1919, when it occurred. The Unionists with aid from the Serbian Army defeated the Zelenaši near Cetinje. Many Montenegrin families and homes were destroyed, as well as many separatists being thrown in prison. The proponents of the rebellion fled to Italy or fled to the mountains, continuing a guerrilla war under the banner of the Montenegrin Army in Exile.
The military leader of the uprising was Krsto Zrnov Popović and its political leader was Jovan S. Plamenac. After it occurred, the dethroned King Nicholas was forced to issue a call for peace, but several groups of rebels continued to resist until 1929, most notably the militia of Savo Raspopović.
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Though the actual rebellion was started by local Montenegrin chieftains, the Kingdom of Italy played an instrumental role in its organizing. Various Italian figures visited prominent Montenegrins who were known to be dissatisfied with the decisions of the Podgorica Assembly in order to spur them on to take up arms and rebel.
The Kingdom of Italy was vehemently opposed to the creation of joint South Slavic state Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Italians disputed many of the new kingdom's coastal territories such as Dalmatia. Their support of the Montenegrin uprising was seen as part of a larger attempt to stretch the already frail defense capability of the newly created South Slavic state which would make it easier for Italians to attack the new state's still undefined borders.
On 7 January 2008, on the 90th anniversary of the uprising, the Montenegrin Government of prime minister Milo Đukanović revealed a memorial statue for the Greens died in the battles. [1]
