Petrovic Njegos (Petar II)
Prince bishop from 1830 to 1851, known for his courage in fighting and defeating the Turks, a victory that was named "the crown of the mountains".
He endowed the royal house with a court, an army and a senate. In 1851 he died of tuberculosis. Today he rests in a mausoleum erected on the ruins of the chapel where he was originally buried in 1974. The mausoleum is located on the Jezerski Peak at 1657 m above sea level in the Mount Lovcen Park.
A long history of several centuries
Montenegro was first a principality and then a kingdom from 1878 to 1918.
The defeat of the Montenegrin army at the hands of the Austrians in 1916 forced Nikola Petrovic to take refuge in France. His descendants still live in France, and his worthy heir is a renowned architect.
During the Second World War, Montenegro fought alongside its allies.
The Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro
(1945-2002)
Montenegro was one of the countries that made up the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945. Podgorica was renamed Titograd in 1946.
Yugoslavian means "South Slavic". Yugoslavia existed from 1918 to 1991. Until then a kingdom, it became a republic on 29 November 1945.
Comprising the current states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Kosovo, Yugoslavia covered an area of 255,803 km².
Tito's regime
After being a great resistance fighter during the Second World War, Marshal Tito, a Croat by birth, was appointed Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.
In 1953, he became President of Yugoslavia. He amended the constitution in 1963 and changed the name to the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia.
Under the titist era, Yugoslavia wanted to be completely neutral and autonomous. Moreover, it refused to engage in the Cold War. Tito maintained good relations with Russia, but asserted its independence.
However, Tito joined the United Nations on the arms embargo against North Korea and People's China. With Western Europe, the United States, China and the non-aligned countries, Tito continued to maintain skillful relations.
The last years of Josip Broz (known as Tito) in Yugoslavia were marked by a strong economic and social crisis. The Serbian-Croatian conflict escalated in the early 1970s. Yugoslavia, then composed of the six republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, granted Kosovo autonomy in 1974.
Josip Broz died in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 4 May 1980.
Towards independence...
From Tito's death in 1980 to January 1990, the 1974 constitution system did not help Yugoslavia's deep economic, social and political crisis.
Slovenia and Croatia are calling for independence, followed by Bosnia. On 27 April 1992, a referendum in Montenegro forced Serbia and Montenegro to form the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the absence of the other four states. Civil war broke out. The federation of the two countries was renamed the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003.
In 2006 the referendum for the independence of Montenegro was held. The people wished to break away from Serbia by 56%. On 3 June 2006, Montenegro proclaimed its independence and the United Nations recognised Montenegro as the 192nd state.
On 22 June, Montenegro became the 56th member state of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
On 15 December 2008, Montenegro presented its application to the European Union.
On 5 June 2017, it becomes the 29th member of NATO.