History of Montenegro - 7-13-2026 242

A very long time ago, Montenegro was inhabited by the Illyrians. The Illyrians were later conquered by the Romans to connect their Italian land with their Greek land. The Illyrians remained under Roman rule for a very long time until the emperor Diocletian decided that the empire was so vast that it was no longer feasible to govern from the seat of Rome. So, he divided the empire into east and west. The eastern Roman empire gained control of Montenegro. Montenegro remained under the control of that empire, later known as Byzantium, for a while. Then, the Bulgarian Empire conquered Montenegro from Byzantium, but not before a massive number of Slavs had settled there. Bulgaria's reign would not last forever, as the Kievan Rus' attacked them which inspired the Byzantines to attack them as well and Bulgaria became a Byzantine vassal state. Bulgaria later re-delcared their indepedence and re-expanded their empire, but they soon collapsed due to invasions from Mongols, Byzantines, Hungarians, and Serbs. Later, the Serbian empire conquered Montenegro. Modern-day Montenegrins are mostly of Serbo-Montenegrin descent. But then a king with no authority came to power and Serbia began splitting apart into smaller states. The kingdom of Raska got control of Montenegro and most of Serbia. However, they were soon conquered by the Ottomans. They remained under Ottoman rule for a VERY long time. But one time, the Christian Slavs, including the Montenegrins living in the Balkans, being persecuted by the Muslim Ottoman Empire, had their cries heard by Russia who had declared itself as the protector of the Slavs. So, Russia funded Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro to have a revolution against the Ottoman empire and they did. Montenegro became an independent state. In 1912, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece all decided to form the Balkan league to rescue their other people living in the Ottoman empire. So, they banded together and pushed the Ottomans out of the Balkans, leaving Istanbul, the Ottoman capital. However, Bulgaria was not pleased with their share of land in the outcome of this war, and they declared war on all their former allies including Romania and the Ottoman Empire. Bulgaria obviously lost and land was taken from it. Montenegro and Serbia became very friendly nations. One day, a Serbian nationalist by the name of Gavrillo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. One thing leads to another, and Serbia ended up at war with them. Montenegro joined in. Austria-Hungary, however, was distracted by the Russians who had joined the war to protect the Serbians. Austria-Hungary could not push into Serbia or Montenegro, and it remained a stalemate. A stalemate, that is, until Bulgaria joined the war and attacked Serbia from a new front and just like that, Serbia and Montenegro were defeated. They remained that way until the Entente powers including the United States won the war against the central powers. In the treaty of Versailles, Serbia and Montenegro were re-instated. They were joined together along with gaining Vojvodina, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia and became the kingdom of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia over time became a very powerful nation in Europe. Then, the Germans under the dictator, Adolf Hitler, sent an ultimatum to Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Yugoslavia demanding that either they join the Nazis, or be invaded. Yugoslavia chose to be invaded, and they were. Yugoslavian partisan uprisings continued as the war went on. The Nazi vassal states of Serbia and Croatia were instated. But, in the end, the allies won including the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. They attacked Germany from all sides until they won. Yugoslavia was re-instated and was given Trieste and Pula from Italy. However, the Soviet Union demanded they become a Communist, Soviet client state. The people were not happy and many revolts and revolutions happened, but the Soviet Union kept suppressing them. In the end, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Yugoslavia became independent. But not for long, the Slovenians had a revolution, then the Croatians, then the Bosnians! The Macedonians even just left with no war. Then, Montenegro declared independence. The end. -- Written by Vikenait Productions