Ukryty fragment czarnogórskiej historii: przyłączenie Czarnogóry do Serbii w 1918 roku

The circumstances accompanying the incorporation of Montenegro into Serbia in November 1918 were marked by an internal conflict in the Montenegrin nation, which, to be specific, was the conflict between King Nicholas I and his supporters on the one side and the group of pro-Serbian former ministers in Montenegrin governments on the other side. The royal camp aimed at maintaining independence of the Kingdom of Montenegro while the pro-Serbian camp’s aspiration was unconditional incorporation of the country into the borders of the Kingdom of Serbia and later into the unified South Slavic Kingdom. The pro-Serbian camp tipped the scales in its favour as it organised the illegal National Assembly on the territory of Montenegro, which decided about the unification of Montenegro and Serbia and the dethronement of King Nicholas I. The consequences of this state of affairs led to a significant number of uprisings of the Montenegrins allied with the royal camp. Out of these, the Christmas Uprising gained a rank of a symbol. Montenegrin-Montenegrin and Montenegrin-Serbian fights involved considerable losses on the part of the people of Montenegro and the country’s architectural wealth, yet they solidified the national awareness of the Montenegrins, and the cult of this awareness made it possible to regain independence after 88 years of strong bonds with Serbia.