Montenegro » History

The name "Crna Gora", known as Montenegro, in 1276 was stated for the first time in the Charter of King Milutin. It is believed that it got its name after the dense forests that covered Mount Lovcen and the adjoining area. The forests were so gloomy and dark that the spectators got the feeling of a "black" mountain.
Most society at referendum seized on May 21, 2006 voted independence of Montenegro. Thus today Montenegro is an sovereign state globally acknowledged.

Longer Historical Perspective

In 1878 Montenegro was known as an self-governing and sovereign principality by the Congress of Berlin. The principality was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th century, though this mountainous region managed to escape tight Ottoman control.

The Balkan wars of the 1912-13 against Turkey followed by the Treaty of London brought Montenegro more territorial expansion on the Albanian and Kosovan borders. Montenegro was defeated and taken over by Austria in the First World War, when they fought on the side of the Allies. King Nicholas was forced to flee the country and Montenegro was annexed to Serbia in 1918 and thus Montenegro lost everything that it gained through the centuries: its statehood, army and dynasty. The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovene was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929.

In April 1941, during the Second World War, Yugoslavia was raided and split by the Axis powers, with Montenegro falling below the power of the Italians. After World War II Montenegro enhanced its legal and state condition and became one of the six equal republics of the Yugoslav federation in 1945 under the communist partisan leader Josip Broz (Tito). Tito ruled the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) for 35 years, sharing power amongst Yugoslavia's constituent nations. Tito’s tight rein kept ethnic tensions in check until his death in 1980.

Recent History

Tito's decease in 1980 signalled the foundation of the end of the SFRY. The state's monetary decline continued and, increasingly, the power sharing matter rose up the agenda. In 1989 Slobodan Milosevic, carrying a wave of nationalist sentiment, came to power in Serbia, swiftly establishing his supporters in positions of power and sternly holding back the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Inter-Republic affairs were tensed by 1991, and Slovenia and Croatia, followed by Macedonia, all pulled out from the Federation.

Montenegro stayed a supporter of Serbia, in the wars of the early nineties. Montenegrins fought in Bosnia and Croatia; and were involved in the siege and violence of Dubrovnik. Following the secession of the other Yugoslav republics between 1991 and 1992, Serbia and Montenegro implemented the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) on 27 April 1992, and confirmed themselves a new state.