Montenegro

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MONTENEGRO.

Historically Montenegro ("Black Mountain") represents one of the most turbulent spots in the Balkans; at first a semi-independent territory, it became a part of the Serbian medieval state in the twelfth century, and finally fell to the Ottomans in 1499. With a land-mass of only 5,333 square miles and a population of some 650,000, early-twenty-first-century Montenegro could soon become the smallest independent country yet to emerge from the ruins of what used to be Yugoslavia. This might come as part of the continuing political recomposition of southeastern Europe, following the unification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the process would require the dissolution of Montenegro's union with Serbia, which may be difficult to accomplish because of the sharp division that splits the country into two equal political camps. This conflict echoes the dilemma that has plagued the Montenegrins since the beginning of the twentieth century: is their country a nation-state, a geographical territory, or a historical bastion of Serbdom? Meanwhile, the Montenegrin economy is largely dependent on foreign aid and the country is vulnerable to all kinds of outside pressures. These factors will probably decide Montenegro's political future in the same way they have shaped its past during the twentieth century.

As Serbia's staunch ally at the beginning of World War I, Montenegro fully coordinated its military operations with the Serbs in 1914 and 1915. However, when Nikola Petrovi? (1860–1918), the king of Montenegro—unable to hold out against superior Austrians—disbanded his army and left for France, his opponents, the pro-Serbian "Whites," pushed for the unification with Serbia. Despite some opposition by the king's supporters, the so-called Greens, the Great National Assembly voted in favor of the unification in November 1918, declaring that "the Serbian people in Montenegro are of one blood, one language, and one aspiration, one religion and custom with the people that live in Serbia and in other Serbian regions." After forty years of formal independence from the Ottoman Empire, Montenegro thus united with Serbia—soon to become a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (renamed Yugoslavia in 1929) under the Serbian Karadjordjevi? dynasty.

After King Alexander Karadjordjevi? (1888–1934) introduced new internal borders in 1931 Montenegro became known as Zetska Banovina. A new player appeared on its political scene: Communists carried off 40 percent of the votes for the National Assembly in the election of 1920. The popularity of the new, "Russian" ideology was not entirely unexpected. From the first half of the eighteenth century to World War I Russia had supported Montenegro politically as well as financially, paying for its army, administration, infrastructure, and even food. Many Montenegrins traditionally claimed that they and the Russians were "one hundred million strong."

At the beginning of World War II, backed by the Italians who occupied Montenegro, the separatist Greens declared independence on 12 July 1941. The very next day, however, a popular uprising took place and most of Montenegro was temporarily liberated. Due to the disunity among the insurgents—the "internationalist" (communist) partisans were pitted against the "nationalist" Chetniks—the two-pronged, liberation/civil war was extremely bloody, and Montenegro lost almost 14 percent of its prewar population of four hundred thousand.

After 1945 Montenegro became one of Yugoslavia's six constituent republics. The victorious Communists supported the Greens' idea of the Montenegrin non-Serbian identity, and officially developed the concept of the Montenegrin nation. In economic terms, Montenegro remained poor, second only to the province of Kosovo, despite a number of Potemkin village projects, including two international airports built only sixty miles apart. In 1948—when the Yugoslav leadership split with Joseph Stalin—it again became clear how strong Soviet influence was in Montenegro: 20 percent of all pro-Soviet political prisoners in Yugoslavia were Montenegrins, although they made up less than 2.5 percent of the population.

After Yugoslavia's violent breakup in 1991 Montenegro joined Serbia in the "rump" Yugoslavia. However, in 1997 President Milo Djukanovi? (b. 1962) distanced himself from his political mentor Slobodan Miloševi? (1941–2006) of Serbia and became a factor in the U.S. and European attempts to depose Miloševi?.AfterMiloševi?'s fall in 2000 Serbia and Montenegro once again changed the nature of their relationship and formed a virtual confederation in 2002. Montenegro remains a sharply divided land: the traditional White/Green political conflict has multiplied in a number of various formal divisions (Serbian Orthodox Church versus noncanonical Montenegrin Orthodox Church; Montenegrin Academy of Arts and Sciences versus Doclean Academy).