Kingdom of Montenegro

The Kingdom of Montenegro (Serbian: Краљевина Црнa Горa, Kraljevina Crna Gora) was a monarchy in southeastern Europe during the tumultuous years on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Legally it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolutist in practice. On November 26, 1918 Montenegro was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes following the country's annexation by the Kingdom of Serbia.

History

The Kingdom of Montenegro was proclaimed by Nicholas I in Cetinje, on 28 August 1910. Nicholas I, which had ruled the country as Prince since 1860, initiated several modernizing reforms in the beginning of the 20th century such as introducing a constitution and a new currency, the Montenegrin perper. Montenegro enthustiastically joined the First Balkan War in 1912, hoping to get a share in the last Ottoman-controlled areas of Rumelia. At first, Montenegro did make further territorial gains by splitting Sandžak with Serbia on 30 May 1913. Later though, the newly-captured city of Skadar had to be given up to the new state of Albania at the insistence of the Great Powers despite the Montenegrins having invested 10,000 lives into the capture of the town from the Ottoman-Albanian forces of Esad Pasha. When, in 1913 after the war, conflict broke out between Bulgaria and Serbia, it was natural for King Nicholas to side with Serbia and once again Montenegro was tossed into war, in which Montenegro indeed was granted substantial additional territory.

During the Great War, Montenegro was allied with the Triple Entente, in line with King Nicholas' pro-Serbian policy. From 15 January, 1916 to October 1918, the country was occupied by Austria-Hungary.

On 20 July 1917, the Corfu Declaration was signed; it declared the unification of Montenegro with Serbia. On 26 November 1918, Montenegrin unification with Serbia was proclaimed. Nicholas I was a staunch supporter of unification with Serbia to form a great Serbian state for all Serbs but was in conflict with the the kings of Serbia concerning who would be the ruler of the new kingdom. Nicholas I was eventually dethroned and exiled.

Nominally, a later Kingdom of Montenegro existed during World War II. In reality, the area was under Italian and then German control, and there was no monarch, with all candidates having refused the crown. Italian-appointed governors ruled this puppet state from 1941 through 1943, and when Italy withdrew, the region came under direct control by German troops. Yugoslav Partisans under Josip Broz Tito took control in December 1944, terminating the ostensible second Kingdom of Montenegro.

Rulers (1910–1918)

• Nicholas I of Montenegro, king from 1910 to 1918

Pretenders (1918–Present)

• Nicholas I of Montenegro (1918–1921)
• Danilo, Crown Prince of Montenegro (Danilo III) (1921)
• Michael, Prince of Montenegro (Michael I) (1921–1986)
• Prince Nicholas of Montenegro (Nicholas II) (1986–Present)
  • Boris of Montenegro (Heir apparent) (born 1980)

Prime Ministers

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

Prime Ministers-in-exile

• 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)

See also

• History of Montenegro
• Principality of Montenegro

External links

• Kingdom of Montenegro in 1918
• Map
• Map
• Montenegro - World Statesmen