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XVTII . 25'is little authority, however, for this and other fanciful interpretations of the See also:pattern, which was adopted in the reign of See also:Peter I.; the red See also:fez, from which the kapa probably derives its See also:colour, was previously worn. A See also:blue or See also:green See also:mantle is sometimes worn in addition by the chiefs. The poorer mountaineers are often dressed in coarse sacking, but all without exception carry arms. The See also:women, as befits their servile See also:condition, are generally clothed in See also:black, and See also:wear a black See also:head-See also:dress or See also:veil; on Sundays and holidays, however, a See also: The See also:principal See also:food of the See also:people is See also:rye or See also:maize cake, See also:cheese, potatoes and salted scoranze; their drink is See also:water or sour See also:milk; See also:meat is seldom tasted, except on festive occasions, when raki and red See also:wine are also enjoyed. The Montenegrins are See also:great smokers, especially of cigarettes; in the districts which formerly belonged to See also:Turkey the men, whose dignity never permits them to carry burdens, may be seen going to See also:market with the cfiibiik, or See also:long See also:pipe, slung across their backs. The See also:mother possesses little See also:influence over her sons, who are trained from their earliest See also:infancy to cultivate warlike pursuits and to despise the weaker See also:sex. Betrothals often take See also:place in See also:early childhood. See also:Young men who are attached to each other are accustomed to swear eternal See also:brother-See also:hood (pobratimstvo); the See also:bond, which receives the See also:sanction of the See also: The ministry comprises six departments: (1) the interior, with See also:separate sections for public See also:works, posts and telegraphs, See also:commerce and See also:industry, See also:shipping, sanitary service and See also:agriculture; (2) See also:foreign affairs; (3) See also:war; (4) finance; (5) See also:justice; and (6) See also:education. On the 19th of See also:December 1905 a new constitution was proclaimed by Prince See also:Nicholas. A Skupshtina was instituted, consisting of 62 elected deputies, 9 ex officio members (the higher ecclesiastical and See also:civil dignitaries), and 3 generals nominated by the prince. The Skupshtina is elected by manhood See also:suffrage for a See also:period of four years, and is summoned annually on the 31st of See also:October. In See also:conjunction with the See also:Crown it exercises the legislative power; the ministers are responsible to it as well as to the Crown. The constitution affords See also:financial supervision to the Skupshtina, which elects a See also:board of control and votes an See also:annual See also:budget; it guarantees See also:liberty of the See also:person, of religious belief, and of the [r See also:press, together with the right of public See also:meeting, and abolishes the See also:death See also:penalty for See also:political offences. See also:Administration and Justice.—For purposes of See also:local administration the See also:country is divided into 5 departments (oblasti), each governed by a See also:prefect (upravitel), and 56 districts (kapetanati), each under an See also:official styled kapetan. The prefects and kapetans are nominated by the king on the recommendation of the See also:minister of the interior. Rural communes, each under an elected kmet, or See also:mayor, exist in Montenegro as in all Slavonic countries. The kmets See also:act as justices of the See also:peace, and there is an See also:appeal from their decisions to the courts of first instance (kapetanski sudove), of which there is one in each See also:district, the kapetan acting as See also:judge. In each of the five departments there is a See also:superior See also:court (oblasni sud), with a See also:president and two See also:judges; at Cettigne there is a high court of justice (veliki sud), which is the final court of appeal. The ultimate appeal to the prince was abolished in 1902, when Prince Nicholas laid aside his judicial functions, retaining only the See also:prerogative of See also:pardon. The judges, who are removable, are nominated by the king on the recommendation of the minister of justice. With a single exception there are no professional See also:advocates in Montenegro; each See also:man is his own counsel, bringing his own witnesses. The local See also:gendarmerie, numbering 150 men, is distributed in the five departments. The kapetanati have replaced the former local divisions according to plemena; in each of the communes there is one or more of the bratstva. The codification of the See also:law,. which had previously been administered according to unwritten See also:custom, was first undertaken by Peter I. in 1796. An improved See also:code, issued by Danilo II. in 1855, still contained many See also:quaint enactments. The excellent code See also:drawn up by See also:Professor Bogishitch, a native of See also:Ragusa, in 1888, was revised and enlarged in 1899. It contains elements from various foreign systems scientifically adapted to national usages and requirements. A large number of judicial reforms were carried out by See also:Count Voinovitch, who succeeded Professor Bogishitch in 1899; in 1905 a new code of civil See also:procedure was promulgated, and a criminal code in the following See also:year. The only See also:prison is at Podgoritza. In the old prison at Cettigne, closed after 1902, many of the inmates were See also:free to walk in and out at See also:pleasure. Some were burdened with fetters, rather as a See also:punishment than for See also:restraint. Until the completion of an See also:asylum in 1903, dangerous lunatics were confined in prison. The commonest offences are See also:murder and See also:robbery; despite vigorous measures taken by the king and his predecessors, the blood-See also:feud, or See also:vendetta, cannot be stamped out, being approved, and even enforced, by public sentiment. Only women are held exempt from the See also:duty of avenging their next-of-See also:kin; they have been known, however, to undertake it, disguising themselves in male attire. A man who kills his slanderer, or otherwise avenges his See also:honour, often receives a nominal See also:term of imprisonment. Robbery, if practised by means of raids across the frontier, is popularly regarded as a venal offence. Other forms of See also:crime are rare, and foreigners may See also:traverse all parts of the See also:kingdom, except the neighbourhood of the Albanian border, in perfect safety. The death penalty was first introduced by Peter I. Executions are carried out by a firing party selected from the various tribes, in See also:order to prevent the relatives of the criminal from exacting vengeance. Exceptional severity is shown in the treatment of political offenders, who in some instances have been subjected to solitary confinement for years without trial. Finance.—Financial See also:statistics are not published. The See also:total receipts were estimated in 1907 at 2,773,690 See also:Austrian krone,' the principal See also:sources of income being the taxes on See also:land, houses and cattle, the monopolies of See also:tobacco, See also:salt, See also:petroleum and See also:alcohol, and the customs dues. The total See also:expenditure was estimated at 2,730,994 krone, the principal items being: civil See also:list, &c., 189,586 krone; ministry of intenor, 574,822 krone; of foreign affairs, 144,547 krone; of justice, 232,710 krone; of finance, 592,561 krone; of war, 133,696 krone; of See also:worship and education, 269,208 krone; service of national See also:debt, 244,500 krone. The public debt is under £300,000. The contribution of Montenegro to the See also:Ottoman debt has not been fixed. From See also:time to time considerable subventions have been 1 The krone = sod. See also:English. received from See also:Russia and See also:Austria. The annual See also:Russian See also:subsidy, mainly for military and educational purposes, is stated to be about £40,000. Montenegro has no See also:mint; Austrian See also:paper See also:money and coins are generally employed together with Montenegrin See also:nickel and See also:bronze coins struck in Austria. Turkish See also:gold and silver are also in circulation. The former Turkish and Venetian weights and measures have been superseded by the See also:French. See also:Defence.—The Montenegrin is a See also:born See also:warrior; his weapons, which he never See also:lays aside, are his most See also:precious See also:possession, and distinction in See also:battle is the See also:sole object of his ambition. Persons of all classes wear a revolver in the kolan or waistband. " You might as well take from me my brother as my See also:rifle," says a native See also:proverb; and rifles are almost universally carried near the Albanian frontier, where the tribesmen on either See also:side are in a state of chronic hostility. Brave to a See also:fault, an unerring marksman, See also:hardy, agile, crafty and enduring, the Montenegrin has few rivals in the practice of See also:guerrilla warfare. The traditional method of fighting is by ambuscade; the enemy is enticed into some intricate See also:defile, surrounded, and harassed by rifle-See also:fire; then the mountaineers, throwing aside their firearms, deliver a See also:swift attack with the hanjar, or See also:yataghan, which they wield with terrific effect. A number of heads cut off in battle adorned the See also:parapet of a small See also:tower outside Cettigne, called the " See also:Turks' Tower," as See also:late as 1850. When reduced to extremity the Montenegrins often committed See also:suicide rather than fall into the hands of the enemy, the last See also:cartridge being reserved for this purpose; disabled comrades who could not be removed used to be beheaded, in 1876 a Montenegrin offered to perform this kindly service fora Russian officer who was wounded at Klobuk. See also:Savage methods of warfare, however, have been strongly discountenanced by King Nicholas and his predecessor. Till the See also:middle of the 19th See also:century the forces of the principality consisted of undisciplined bands of tribesmen under local chiefs, whose rivalries often proved injurious to the national cause. The supreme command, however, always rested with the prince. The See also:nucleus of a permanent See also:corps was created by Peter II., who formed a bodyguard of picked men known as perianiki, from the feathers (pera) which adorned their caps. The name is still See also:borne by a small corps (20 men in 1907) which See also:guards the residences of the king and his sons, but the feathers are no longer worn. In 1853 Danilo II. ordered the enrolment of all persons capable of bearing arms, and instituted a military See also:hierarchy of voievodes (generals), sirdars (colonels) and kapetans; the organization, which was based on the tribal system, was remodelled by Servian See also:officers in 187o, when the chiefs were brought to Cettigne to receive military instruction. In the same year arms of. precision were introduced: the cost and complex structure of the new weapons threatened to cause serious difficulty, but Russian aid was soon forthcoming. Since 1870, though arms and See also:ammunition are manufactured on a small See also:scale within the kingdom, the See also:chief supplies have come from Russia. In 1895 the See also:tsar presented Prince Nicholas with 30,000 Berdan rifles, besides See also:ordnance and other war material, and in 1898 sent a further See also:gift of 35,000 Moskovska rifles. Every able'bodied See also:citizen must serve in the See also:army, except Moslems, who are exempt on See also:payment of a capitation tax. The military organization has undergone a See also:gradual transformation under Prince Nicholas in conformity with the changed circumstances of the country and the requirements of See also:modern warfare. The See also:militia system on the tribal basis is maintained, but in 1896 a permanent See also:battalion of 500 men was established at Cettigne, and two years later another at Podgoritza, each under a komandir, or See also:major, 4 captains and 15 lieutenants. A permanent See also:brigade of See also:artillery was formed at Nikshitch in 1897. In 1905 these were abolished through motives of See also:economy. There is a See also:standing corps of officers, but no standing army. All young men of military age go through an obligatory period of twelve days' service at the various local military centres. Candidates for a See also:commission afterwards proceed to a military school at Podgoritza for one year; the best and most promising then receive commissions as pod-ofizieri or sous-officiers, and are sent for a further course of instruction of two years to military See also:schools either at Cettigne for the See also:infantry, or at Nikshitch for the artillery. They then receive full commissions and are sent to the local centres to superintend the training of the militia, thus gradually superseding the old militia officers, and replenishing the standing corps of officers of the See also:regular army. Officers who have completed a course of study abroad are allowed to wear a distinctive See also:emblem on the kapa. The war strength is estimated at from 38,000 to 42,000 men, the infantry being composed of about 32,000 men of the first See also:ban and of 5000 or 6000 of the second or reserve (which, however, would scarcely be employed in the See also: Considerable See also:deduction must be made from these See also:numbers in view of the See also:emigration of See also:recent years; according to some authorities between 20,000 and 22,000 men of military age are absent in See also:America and elsewhere. It is expected, however, that many of these would return should the country become involved in war. The infantry is divided into s s brigades, each containing from 4 to 6 battalions; the total number of battalions is 56. The battalion is composed of a varying number of tchete, or companies, each of which belongs to a separate See also:clan and has its own bairaktar, or See also:standard-See also:bearer. The younger men of the first ban are occasionally exercised in the neighbourhood of their homes on Sundays and holidays. They are armed with the Moskovska (repeating) rifle, but a Berdan rifle is also kept in each See also:household. The artillery was composed in 1910 of 18 See also:siege, 25 field and 38 See also:mountain guns, with 4 howitzers, 15 mortars and 18 See also:machine-guns (6 See also:Gatling and 12 See also:Maxim-Nordenfeldt) ; the principal See also:arsenal is at Spuzh, where the heavier guns are kept, the others are distributed among 8 of the 11 local brigades. The perianiki, whose numbers were increased by Prince Danilo, were disbanded in 1898, when steps were taken to fornrrA~ a bodyguard of 3000 picked men under Prince Mirko, King Ni!holas's second son, but the project was abandoned in view of the jealousies to which the selection gave rise. Owing to the lack of open country there is no See also:cavalry. In 1894 the See also:sultan presented Prince Nicholas with equipment for a small mounted See also:body-guard (32 men), and offered the services of three instructors. This corps, however, ceased to exist in 1898. About 20,00o men can concentrate at a given spot within 48 See also:hours. The See also:signal for mobilization is mainly given by See also:telegraph; bonfires, See also:trumpet-calls and volley-firing are also employed. The warriors were formerly summoned by stentorian couriers, who shouted from the tops of the mountains. An See also:ambulance corps has been formed. Transport is deficient, all See also:draught animals, however, in the country have been registered and a few carts have been provided. The wives and daughters of the troops provide the See also:commissariat, and carry the ammunition. Religion.—The Montenegrin Church is an See also:autocephalous See also:branch of the Eastern Orthodox communion. In 1894 it formally vindicated its See also:independence against the claims of the Russian See also:synod. The vladikas, or prince-bishops, formerly depended on the See also:patriarch-See also:ate of See also:Ipek. The theocratic system of government which existed from 1516 to 1851 tended to unite the patriotic and the religious instincts of the people. Since the separation of the spiritual and temporal See also:powers in 1851, the see of Cettigne, in which the See also:diocese of See also:Ostrog Is included, has been occupied by a See also:metropolitan (metropolit), who possesses a nominal See also:jurisdiction over See also:Scutari and the Primore. In judgments relative to See also:divorce his verdicts may be reversed by the king. Otherwise he is supreme in matters spiritual. There are 159 parishes of the Orthodox Church, 10 See also:Roman See also:Catholic parishes under the See also:archbishop of Antivari and 10 See also:Mahommedan parishes under a See also:mufti. The churches are small unpretending structures, almost all exactly alike; a handsome See also:cathedral, however, has been erected at Nikshitch. The principal monasteries, in addition to the See also:convent at Cettigne, are those of St Nicholas, on the Moratcha, and of St See also:Basil at Ostrog. The monastic order is almost See also:extinct; the parochial See also:clergy, who numbered about 400 in 1900, are only distinguishable from the laity by their beards; they wear the national costume, carry weapons, take See also:part in warfare, and follow the See also:ordinary avocations of the peasantry. Even the old vladikas discarded the episcopal robe, except when engaged in sacerdotal duties. The clergy are still for the most part extremely ignorant. Education.—The Bogoslovia, a See also:seminary for the instruction of the young priests and schoolmasters, was established at Cettigne in 1869. It is maintained by a subvention from the See also:emperor of Russia, while the empress supports the Zhenski Tzrnogorski Institut, an excellently managed school for girls (98 pupils in 1907). Government lecturers go on See also:circuit to instruct the older men. They may be seen on Sundays, not only distributing See also:general See also:information, but teaching the shepherds how to safeguard their flocks from disease, and the See also:lowland cultivators how to tend their vines and tobacco crops. An agricultural See also:college at Podgoritza supplements their See also:work. See also:Primary education is compulsory. In the rural districts it is free; in the towns a small See also:fee is charged. In 1906 there were 112 primary schools in the principality with 15o teachers and 9756 pupils; and two secondary schools (at Cettigne and Podgoritza) with 21 professors and about moo pupils; the Moslems and Roman Catholics have separate schools. There are also gymnasia, or high schools, at Cettigne and Podgoritza, with about 700 pupils. Students desirous of higher education proceed abroad, for the most part to the university in See also:Belgrade. The progress of education under Prince Nicholas was very remarkable. In the time of his predecessor, Danilo II., who taught the sons of his chieftains in the See also:palace, there were only three schools in the principality. In 1876, at the beginning of the war, there were 52 schools, with 62 teachers and 3159 pupils. The schools were closed during the war, and at its conclusion only 22 could be reopened, owing to want of funds. Elementary education was reorganized in 1878. See also:Language and Literature.—The Montenegrin language is practically identical with the Serbo-Croatian: it exhibits certain dialectical See also:variations, and has borrowed to some extent from the Turkish and See also:Italian. Existing See also:manuscripts and printed books, chiefly psalters and gospels, See also:bear See also:witness to a period of See also:literary culture among the clergy contemporaneous with the activity of the See also:printing-press at Obod. This was established in 1493, a few years after See also:Caxton set up his first press in See also:Westminster. It was destroyed by the Turks in 1566, after sending out copies of the See also:gospel into all Slavonic countries. The folk-songs, however, of which the first collection was made in the reign of Peter II., constitute the bulk of the national literature. The poems of that ruler are accounted among the See also:classics of the Servian language, especially his Gorski Vienatz, or " Mountain See also:Wreath," a See also:drama describing the See also:massacre of the Montenegrin Moslems by their See also:Christian kinsmen in 1702. The reigning family has produced a See also:succession of poets; the songs of Mirko Petrovitch,the father of Prince Nicholas, and the lyrics and dramas of Prince Nicholas himself enjoy great celebrity. The Grlitze, or " Turtle-doves," a See also:kind of See also:almanac published at Cettigne by Milakovitch between 1835 and 1839, contained poems, tales, statistics and an abridgment of the Montenegrin See also:annals down to 1830; it was succeeded in the time of Danilo II. by the Orlitch, or " Eaglet." The first Montenegrin newspaper, the Tzrnogoratz, or " Montenegrin," founded in 187o, was prohibited on the Austrian frontier, and soon disappeared; it was replaced by the See also:Glas Tzrnogortza, or " See also:Voice of the Montenegrin," a semi-official publication. There were in 1910 three other See also:journals in the kingdom. Antiquities.—In Montenegro, as in Albania, the monuments of early See also:civilization bear witness to Roman rather than to See also:Greek influence. Roman remains occur in many parts of the country See also:east of the Zeta, and early Latin churches exist at Dulcigno (Ulcinium) and other places. " The organization and forms of the churches, the See also:architecture and ornamentation, point to the See also:West and not to the East." It is evident that Latin civilization was firmly planted in See also:Illyria before the See also:barbarian incursions of the 6th century. Latin sepulchral See also:inscriptions and some finely cut See also:marble blocks have been found at Berane, a little beyond the eastern frontier, and at Budimlye in its neighbourhood. Especially interesting and important are the extensive ruins of Doclea, now known as Dukle, the birthplace of the Emperor See also:Diocletian. The See also:city, which received the See also:franchise under the See also:Flavian emperors, occupied a remarkable site at the junction of the See also:rivers Zeta and Moratcha. The See also:outer walls are standing in many places, and excavations carried out in 1893 by M. Rovinski and Messrs J. A. R. See also:Munro, Milne and See also: The See also:building, the See also:home of the reigning vladikas, had been previously sacked by the Turks in 1623, and was again destroyed by them in 1714. In the fortress-monastery of St Nicholas (founded in 1252), which overlooks the headwaters of the Moratcha, are some interesting and well-preserved frescoes which date from the 13th century. The monastery of Ostrog, about twelve See also:miles from Nikshitch, is a comparatively recent See also:foundation, dating from the 18th century. It has been styled " the See also:Lourdes of the Balkans," owing to its reputation for miraculous See also:cures, and is visited annually by thousands of Orthodox pilgrims, and even by Roman Catholics and Moslems. The upper portion, situated in the cleft of a precipitous See also:rock, was in 1768 and again in 1862 successfully defended by a handful of men against the Turks. See also:History.—The history of Montenegro as an See also:independent state begins with the battle of See also:Kossovo (1389), but the country had enjoyed periods of independence or semi-independence at various epochs before that event. It formed a portion of the district of Praevalitana in the Roman See also:province of Illyria, and, lying on the borderland of the empires of the West and East, it alternately shared the fortunes of either till the See also:close of the 5th century. It was then conquered by the See also:Ostrogoths (A.D. 493), but See also:half a century later definitely passed under See also:Byzantine rule, having already acknowledged the ecclesiastical authority of See also:Constantinople, a circumstance which determined the course of its subsequent history. Illyria and See also:Dalmatia succumbed to the great Serbo-Croat invasion of the 6th and 7th centuries; the Serb See also:race by which Montenegro is now inhabited occupied the country about the middle of the 7th century. A confederacy of Serb states was formed under zhupans, or feudal princes, dependent on the See also:grand zhupan, who was nominally the See also:vassal of the Greek emperor. The Serb principality of the Zeta, or See also:Zenta, originally included the Herzegovina, See also:Cattaro and Scutari, as well as the Montenegro of to-See also:day, and was ruled by a zhupan See also:resident at Doclea. The principality, though retaining its zhupans, was practically See also:united with the Servian kingdom between 1159 and 1356 under the Nemanya See also:dynasty, which sprang from Doclea. After the death of the great Servian tsar Dushan in 1356 the feudatory princes of his See also:empire became more or less independent, and the powerful family of Balsha established a dynasty in the Zeta, eventually transferring its See also:capital from Doclea to Scutari. After the fatal defeat of Kossovo, which extinguished the independence of Servia for more than four centuries (see SRRVIA), See also:George Balsha, the ruling prince of the Zeta, withdrew to the mountainous portion of his See also:realm, which became an asylum for many of the Servian nobles and for others who had been outlawed or persecuted by the Turkish conqueror. The principality now owned no suzerain, and the history of its heroic struggle with the Turks began. The long See also:record of warfare is varied by conflicts with the Venetians, who at times allied themselves with the mountaineers, but usually deserted them in the See also:hour of need. The Balsha family became extinct in 1421, and a new dynasty was founded by See also:Stephan Tzernoyevitch, or Tzernovitch, who fixed his capital at Zhabliak on the See also:north-east side of See also:Lake Scutari, and joined with his relative, the famous See also:Scanderbeg (q.v.) in many See also:campaigns against the Turks. After the Turkish See also:conquest of Bosnia in 1463, of the Herzegovina in 1476 and of Albania in 1478, and the surrender of Scutari by the Venetians in 1479, the Montenegrins found themselves surrounded on all sides by the Ottoman power, and the struggle was henceforth for existence. Abandoned by See also:Venice and unable to obtain succour from any Christian state, Ivan the Black, the son and successor of Stephan, set fire to Zhabliak in 1484, and withdrew with his people to the mountain See also:village of Tzetinye (Cettigne) which has ever since been the capital of the little principality. Here he founded the famous monastery and created a bishopric in order to establish the spiritual power at the seat of government. Ivan was one of the greatest heroes of Montenegrin history: according to the national See also:legend, he still sleeps in a See also:cave near his fortress of Obod—to awake when the hour arrives for the See also:expulsion of the Turks from See also:Europe. The Tzernoyevitch dynasty came to an end in 1516, and from this date till 1696 the mountaineers were ruled by the vladikas TheElectiveor bishops of Cettigne, elected by assemblies of the vladikas. chiefs and people, and consecrated by the patriarch of Ipek. The elective vladikas were aided in matters See also:relating to national defence by a civil See also:governor. The institution of a theocratic See also:sovereignty probably saved the country from absorption in the Turkish Empire, the supreme power being vested in a sacrosanct person, whose position was unattainable by ambitious chieftains, and whose See also:holy See also:office precluded the possibility of his defection to See also:Islam. The earlier vladikas were See also:left comparatively unmolested 1 y the Turks, and were enabled to devote their See also:attention to the issue of numerous psalters, missals and gospels from the printing-press at Obod. But the beginning of the 17th century was marked by renewed Turkish aggression. Cettigne was taken in 1623 and again in 1687, when the monastery of Ivan the Black was blown up by the monks; a See also:tribute was for a time imposed on the mountaineers, but the bolder See also:spirits maintained their resistance in the heights, and the invading armies found it impossible to prolong their stay in these inhospitable regions. In 1696 it was decided to continue the hereditary principle with the theocratic system, and Danilo Petrovitch of Niegush, the first ruler of the See also:present reigning family, was The House nominated vladika with power to select his successor of Petro- vitch. from among his relatives. The succession was henceforth regularly from See also:uncle to See also:nephew, owing to the rule of See also:celibacy imposed on the monastic order. The reign of Danilo I. was memorable for the massacre of the Moslems settled in the principality (the " Montenegrin See also:vespers ") on See also:Christmas See also:Eve 1702, the great defeat of the Turkish invaders at Tzarevlatz (1712), the See also:capture of Cettigne by the Turks and the destruction for the third time of its monastery (1714), and the inauguration of the intimate relations which have ever since existed with Russia by the visit of the vladika to Peter the Great in 1715. With Russian aid Danilo was enabled in some degree to repair the ruin which had overtaken his little realm. In the time of his successor Sava (1737–1782) an impostor named Stephan Mali, who represented himself as the Russian emperor Peter III., won the confidence of the Montenegrins, and governed the country with ability for several years (1768–1773), the mountaineers defeating the combined efforts of the Turks and Venetians to remove him. He was eventually assassinated by a Greek suborned by the See also:pasha of Scutari. Peter I. (1782–1830), the greatest of the vladikas, took part in the war of Austria and Russia against Turkey (1788–92), but was abandoned by his See also:allies in the. See also:treaties of See also:Sistova and See also:Jassy. He nevertheless completely routed the Turks in the battle of Krussa (1796), annexed the Brda region to the principality, and obtained a formal recognition of Montenegrin independence from the sultan in 1749. In See also:concert with the Russians he besieged the French in Ragusa (18o6), and in 1813–14 expelled them from the Bocche di Cattaro with the aid of a See also:British See also:fleet under See also:Admiral See also:Fremantle. The much-coveted seaport, however, was almost immediately occupied by an Austrian force. Peter I. reorganized the See also:internal administration and promulgated the first Montenegrin code of See also:laws. After his death he was canonized as a See also:saint by the people. His successor Peter II. (183o–1851), a poet, statesman and reformer, as well as a capable military chief, instituted a senate (1831), abolished the office of civil governor (1832), revived the national printing-press, and did much to educate and civilize his people. He was buried by his See also:desire on the See also:summit of See also:Mount Lovchen that his spirit might survey his beloved land. He was the last of the vladikas; his nephew Danilo II. (1851–186o) at once declined the ecclesiastical dignity, and assuming the title of gospodar, or prince, settled the succession on his See also:direct male descendants. He defeated the Turks near Ostrog in 1853, but refrained from attacking them during the See also:Crimean War. His pacific policy produced much discontent among the warlike mountaineers, which culminated in an open revolt. His demand for the recognition of Montenegrin independence and other claims were set aside by the See also:Congress of See also:Paris. In 1858 his brother Mirko, " the See also:Sword of Montenegro," routed the Turks with great slaughter at Grahovo. In 1855 Danilo II. promulgated a new code, assuring civil and religious liberty to his subjects. On the 1 rth of See also:August 186o he was shot at Persano on the Bocche di Cattaro by a Montenegrin whom he had exiled after the revolt, and died two days afterwards. He left no male offspring, and was succeeded by Nicholas, the son of his brother Mirko. Shortly after the See also:accession of Prince Nicholas (Aug. 13, 1860), an insurrection See also:broke out in Herzegovina, and the sympathy which the mountaineers displayed with their Prince Christian kinsmen led to a rupture with Turkey NI ,' as. (1862). Notwithstanding the heroic defence of Ostrog by the prince's father, Mirko, the war proved disastrous, owing to the superior armament and discipline of the Turkish troops, and severe terms were imposed on the principality by the See also:convention of Scutari (Aug. 31). During the fourteen years of peace which followed, the country suffered greatly from pestilence and See also:famine. Within this period a See also:series of reforms were carried out by the prince: the army was rearmed and reorganized, an educational system was initiated, and a constitution under which the prince surrendered various prerogatives to the Senate was granted. In 1869 the Krivoshians, or Serb inhabitants of the See also:northern shores of the Bocche di Cattaro, See also:rose against the Austrian government; the excitement in Montenegro was intense, but the prince succeeded in checking the warlike ardour of his subjects. The revolt in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875 had more important consequences for the principality. On the 2nd of See also:July 1876 Prince Nicholas, in See also:alliance with Prince See also:Milan of Servia, declared war against Turkey and invaded Herzegovina. A victory was gained at Vuchidol (July 28), and Medun was captured; but the Servian army suffered reverses, and an See also:armistice was arranged in See also:November. In the following See also:spring the determination of Russia to take the field against Turkey encouraged the Montenegrins to renew the war. The Turks succeeded in occupying Ostrog, but were subsequently repulsed; the greater part of their forces was soon withdrawn to See also:Bulgaria, and Prince Nicholas captured successively Nikshitch, Antivari and Dulcigno. The recovery of the seaboard, which had belonged to Montenegro in the middle ages, was perhaps the principal achievement of the war. The enlargement of territory stipulated for by Russia under the treaty
of See also:San Stefano (See also: The See also:Porte interposed delays, though consenting in principle, and the Albanian See also:League (see ALBANIA) assumed a menacing attitude. On the 28th of See also:September the fleets of the Powers under Admiral See also:Seymour appeared off Dulcigno, and the British government shortly afterwards proposed to occupy See also:Smyrna. On the 11th of November the Porte yielded; on the 22nd the Turkish troops defeated the Albanians, and on the 25th Montenegro obtained possession of Dulcigno. The present frontier, as already described, was shortly afterwards delimited by an See also:international commission. With the exception of some frontier troubles, the years since 188o have been spent in peace, and the country has advanced in prosperity under the autocratic but enlightened rule of Prince Nicholas. The relations with Turkey, the traditional foe, have improved, while those with Austria have become less friendly. In July 1893 the four-hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the printing-press at Obod was celebrated at Cettigne, several foreign See also:universities and learned bodies being represented at the festivities. In September 1896 the bi-See also:centenary of the Petrovitch dynasty was commemorated. The See also:marriage in the same year of Princess See also:Helen, See also:fourth daughter of Prince Nicholas, with the crown prince of See also:Italy, subsequently King See also:Victor See also:Emmanuel III., led to an increase of Italian influence in the principality. In December 1900 Prince Nicholas assumed the title " Royal See also:Highness." In October 1906 the first Montenegrin See also:parliament assembled at Cettigne; and on the 28th of August 1910, Prince Nicholas (q.v.) assumed the title of king. AuraoRITIES.—Milutinovitch, History of Montenegro (in Russian), (St See also:Petersburg, 1835) ; See also:Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Montenegro (See also:London, 1848); Vuk See also:Karajich, Montenegro and See also:die Montenegriner (See also:Stuttgart, 1857) ; See also:Kallay, Geschichte der Serben von den dltesten Zeiten bis 1815 (trans. from the Hungarian by J. H. Schwicker; Buda-pest, 1885), Servian trans., Istoria Srpskoga naroda, (Belgrade, 1876) ; Frilley and Wlahowitj, Le Montenegro contemporain (Paris, 1876) ; Rash, Montenegro (See also:Leipzig, 1877) ; Milakovitch, Storia del Montenegro (Ragusa, 1877) ; Gopchevitch, Montenegro and die Montenegriner (Leipzig, 1877) ; Yriarte, See also:Les Bords de l'Adriatique et le Montenegro (Paris, 1878) ; Stefanovitch von Vilovo, Wanderungen durch Montenegro (See also:Vienna, 188o); Chiudina, Storia del Montenegro (See also:Spalato, 1882) ; Tietze, Geologische Uebersicht von Montenegro (Vienna, 1884); Rovinsky, Tchernagora (in Russian; St Petersburg, 1888) ; Duchitch, Tzernagora (in Servian ; Belgrade, 1891) ;. Medakovitch, Pietro II. Petrovic Niegus (Neusatz, 1892) ; Hassert, Reise durch Montenegro (Vienna, I893); Coquelle, Histoire du Montenegro et de la Bosnie (Paris, 1895) ; See also:Miller, The Balkans, pp. 353-468 (London, 1896); Mantegazza, Al Montenegro (See also:Florence, 1896); Tomanovitch, Petar Drugi Petrovich Niegosh (Cettigne, 1896) ; See also:Antonio See also:Martini, Il Montenegro (See also:Turin, 1897) ; See also:Bourchier, " Montenegro and her Prince," in Fortnightly See also:Review (December, 1898) ; Rouvaratz, Montenegrina (in Servian; See also:Semlin, 1899); Gelchitch, La Zedda e la 4 inastia dei Balsidi (Spalato, 1899) ; R. See also:Wynn and G. Prance, The Land of the Black Mountain (London, 1903). The best See also:map is that of the Austrian See also:staff. (J. D. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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