# 19

                         History of Servia

(It is called Serbia using the Cyrillic script and Servia when using the Latin script. Since English derived from Latin. Hence the use of Servia in the English language until the below mentioned time.

The Cyrillic script is official under the 2006 Constitution of Serbia, but the Latin script continues to gain ground as a result of its popularity among the business community and urban population. Before 1945 Serbs in Serbia did not officially use the Latin alphabet.

According to a printed source (Paul Fussel's The Great War and Modern Memory, London 1975, p. 175 ) the name Servia was changed by British journalists into Serbia at some time between August 1914 and April 1915 .

Servia smacked too much of servility, reminded the English readers of "serfs" and was disrespectful for a valiant ally. Alas I find no internet source to confirm this.)

The Serbian realms disappeared by the mid-16th century, torn by domestic feuds, and Ottoman conquest.
The success of the Serbian revolution against Ottoman rule in 1817 marked the birth of the Principality of Serbia, which achieved de facto independence in 1867 and finally gained recognition by the Great Powers in the Berlin Congress of 1878.

                 Revolution and independence

 

Karađorđe Petrović and Miloš Obrenović, leaders of the Serbian Revolution

Principality and Habsburg Serbia in 1848

May Assembly

The Serbian Revolution for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 until 1815. The revolution comprised two separate uprisings which gained autonomy from the Ottoman Empire that eventually evolved towards full independence (1835–1867).

During the First Serbian Uprising, led by Duke Karađorđe Petrović, Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army was able to reoccupy the country.

Shortly after this, the Second Serbian Uprising began.
Led by Miloš Obrenović, it ended in 1815 with a compromise between Serbian revolutionaries and Ottoman authorities.

Likewise, Serbia was one of the first nations in the Balkans to abolish feudalism.
The Convention of Ackerman in 1826, the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 and finally, the Hatt-i Sharif, recognized the suzerainty of Serbia.
The first Serbian Constitution was adopted on 15 February 1835.

Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and Serbs in Belgrade in 1862, and under pressure from the Great Powers, by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Principality. By enacting a new constitution without consulting the Porte, Serbian diplomats confirmed the de facto independence of the country.

In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, proclaiming its unification with Bosnia.
The formal independence of the country was internationally recognized at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which formally ended the Russo-Turkish War; this treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with Bosnia by placing it under Austro-Hungarian occupation, alongside the occupation of Raška (Sandžak).

From 1815 to 1903, the Principality of Serbia was ruled by the House of Obrenović, except from 1842 to 1858, when it was led by Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević.

The 1848 revolution in Austria lead to the establishment of the autonomous territory of Serbian Vojvodina.
By 1849, the region was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.

In 1882, Serbia became a Kingdom, ruled by King Milan I.

                            Ottoman rule

 

Medieval Bosnia and Zeta lasted until 1496.
A Serbian principality was restored a few years after the fall of the Serbian despotate by the Brankovics and existed as a Hungarian dependency situated in what is now Vojvodina and the northern Hungary/Romania.
It was ruled by exiled Serbian nobles and existed until 1540 when it fell to the Ottomans.

From the 14th century onward an increasing number of Serbs began migrating to the north to the region today known as Vojvodina, which was under the rule of the Kingdom of Hungary in that time.
The Hungarian kings encouraged the immigration of Serbs to the kingdom, and hired many of them as soldiers and border guards.
During the struggle between the Ottoman Empire and Hungary, this Serb population performed an attempt of the restoration of the Serbian state.

In the Battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526, Ottoman Empire destroyed the army of Hungarian–Czech king Louis Jagellion, who was killed on the battlefield.
After this battle Hungary ceased to be independent state and much of its former territory became part of the Ottoman Empire.
Soon after the Battle of Mohács, leader of Serbian mercenaries in Hungary, Jovan Nenad established his rule in Bačka, northern Banat and a small part of Srem (These three regions are now parts of Vojvodina).
He created an ephemeral independent state, with city of Subotica as its capital.
At the peak of his career, Jovan Nenad crowned himself in Subotica for Serb emperor.
King John of Hungary forces defeated his rebellion in the summer of 1527. Jovan Nenad was killed and his 'state' collapsed.

European powers, and Austria in particular, fought many wars against the Ottoman Empire, sometimes with assistance from Serbs.
During the Austrian–Ottoman War (1593–1606), in 1594, some Serbs participated an uprising in Banat—the Pannonian part of the Ottoman Empire, and Sultan Murad III retaliated by burning the relics of St. Sava.
Austria established troops in Herzegovina but when peace was signed by Ottoman Empire and Austria, Austria abandoned to Ottoman vengeance.

This sequence of events became customary for the centuries that followed.
During the Great War (1683–90) between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League—created with the sponsorship of the Pope and including Austria, Poland and Venice—these three powers as means of divide and conquer strategy, incited including Serbs to rebel against the Ottoman authorities and soon uprisings and terrorism spread throughout the western Balkans: from Montenegro and the Dalmatian Coast to the Danube basin and Old Serbia (Macedonia, Raška, Kosovo and Metohija).
However, when the Austrians started to pull out of the Ottoman region, they invited Austrian-loyal people to come north with them into Hungarian territories. Having to choose between Ottoman reprisal or living in Hungary, some Serbs abandoned their homesteads and headed north led by patriarch Arsenije Čarnojević.

Another important episode in the history of the region took place in 1716–18, when the territories ranging from Dalmatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to Belgrade and the Danube basin became the battleground for a new Austria-Ottoman war launched by Prince Eugene of Savoy.
Some Serbs sided once again with Austria.
After a peace treaty was signed in Požarevac, the Ottomans lost all its possessions in the Danube basin, as well as today's northern Serbia and northern Bosnia, parts of Dalmatia and the Peloponnesus.

The last Austrian-Ottoman war was the so-called Dubica war (1788–91), when the Austrians urged the Christians in Bosnia to rebel.

No wars were fought afterwards until the 20th century that marked the fall of both Austrian and Ottoman empires, staged together by the European powers/imperialism just after World War I.

                      Modern history of Serbia

 

            Serbian Revolution and Autonomous Principality (1804–1878)

 

Leader of first Serbian uprising, Karađorđe Petrović circa 1810.

Serbia gained its autonomy from the Ottoman Empire in two uprisings in 1804 (led by Đorđe Petrović – Karađorđe) and 1815 (led by Miloš Obrenović), although Turkish troops continued to garrison the capital, Belgrade, until 1867.

The Turkish Empire was already faced with a deep internal crisis without any hope of recuperating. This had a particularly hard effect on the orthodox nations living under its rule. The Serbs launched not only a national revolution but a social one as well.

In 1817 Principality of Serbia was granted de facto independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Principality/Kingdom of Serbia (1878–1918)

 

Serbian gains from the treaty of Berlin, in 1878

The Autonomous Principality became an internationally recognized independent country following the Russo-Turkish War in 1878.

Serbia remained a principality or kneževina (knjaževina), until 1882 when it became a Kingdom, during which the internal politics revolved largely around dynastic rivalry between the Obrenović and Karađorđević families.
This period was marked by the alternation of two dynasties descending from Đorđe Petrović—Karađorđe, leader of the First Serbian Uprising and Miloš Obrenović, leader of the Second Serbian Uprising.

Further development of Serbia was characterized by general progress in economy, culture and arts, primarily due to a wise state policy of sending young people to European capitals to get an education. They all brought back a new spirit and a new system of values.
One of the external manifestations of the transformation that the former Turkish province was going through was the proclamation of the Province of Serbia in 1882.

Southern and Northern Serbia (Vojvodina) in 1848.

During the Revolutions of 1848, the Serbs in the Austrian Empire proclaimed Serbian autonomous province known as Serbian Vojvodina.
By a decision of the Austrian emperor, in November 1849, this province was transformed into the Austrian crown land known as the Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamiš Banat (Dukedom of Serbia and Tamiš Banat).
Against the will of the Serbs, the province was abolished in 1860, but the Serbs from the region gained another opportunity to achieve their political demands in 1918. Today, this region is known as Vojvodina.

In 1885, Serbia was against the unification of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia and attacked Bulgaria. This is also known as Serbo-Bulgarian war.
 Despite better weapons and skilled commanders, Serbia lost the war.

In the second half of 19th century, Serbia gained statehood as the Kingdom of Serbia.
It thus became part of the constellation of European states and the first political parties were founded, thus giving new momentum to political life.

The May Overthrow in 1903, bringing Karađorđe's grandson to the throne with the title of King Petar I, opened the way for parliamentary democracy in Serbia.
Having received a European education, this liberal king translated "On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill and gave his country a democratic constitution. It initiated a period of parliamentary government and political freedom interrupted by the outbreak of the liberation wars.

The Balkan wars 1912–13, terminated the Turkish domination in the Balkans. Turkey was pushed back towards the Bosporus, and national Balkan states were created in the territories it withdrew from.
Even though Serbia at the beginning was part of a united alliance of Balkan powers against the Ottomans the initial victory led to squabbles about the division of the spoils and in the second of the two wars it was Bulgaria who was Serbia's main enemy.

19th century Timeline of Servian/Serbian History

 

 

Year	Date	Event
1804		Napoleon annexes the Bay of Kotor to the First French Empire as a part of the Illyrian provinces. The Venetian Republic collapses after almost 1000 years of existence.
1808		The country's Narodni Zbor (Revolutionary Parliament) adopts the first constitutional act in this part of Europe defining Serbia as a constitutional monarchy under Karađorđe's supreme rule.
1813		The Revolutionary Serbia is crushed facing the Ottomans as they invade the country with 200,000 soldiers. The lack of support from Napoleon and Imperial Russia, who were at war at the time, also contributed to the Serbian defeat. Wide spread revenge attacks upon civilians, nobles and "Intelligentsia" trigger a second insurrection.
1816		The Ottoman governor, Marashli Ali Pasha, approves partial autonomy for the rebel province pressured by Imperial Russia and the Habsburg Empire– the supervisors and protectors of the Serbian people in the Sultanate.
1848		The Spring of Nations erupts in Europe. The Serbs of Habsburg Empire demand self-rule according to the 1691 charter of Leopold I, Emperor of Austria. The Serbs proclaimed the creation of autonomous Serbian Vojvodina in Sremski Karlovci as the Serb army in the Habsburg Monarchy clashes with the Hungarians.
1850		In Vienna Serbian and Croatian linguists agree to create a unified literary language based on the Shtokavian dialect. It becomes known as Serbo-Croatian for the next 150 years. The aim is to establish closer cultural ties between the two closest nations and boost local Serbian support for the Croatian cause. Croats accept Serbian grammar based on Vuk Stefanović Karadžić's reform.
1860		Franz Joseph of Austria abolishes the Serbian crownland of Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat igniting a revolt among Serbs without any success.
1867		The Habsburg Empire is replaced by the Dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Serbian lands are split between the two.
		Southwards, in the Principality of Serbia, Serbs rebel against the Ottoman authorities following the bombardment of Belgrade. Great Britain and France urge the Ottomans to withdraw their troops from Serbia. The Principality of Serbia is now de facto independent— 50 years after the Second Serbian Uprising.
1869		Subotica, one of the biggest Serbian settlements, is connected to the West by railway.
1873		Banat Krajina is abolished and included into Transleithania; despite the wishes of the majority Serbs and Germans. This is the first step towards the destruction of the Serb-populated Military Frontier inherited from the Habsburg Empire. By 1883 the Military Frontier is entirely abolished and incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, save for the Bay of Kotor (Austria).
1877		The Russo-Turkish War begins. The majority peoples, the Bosnian Serbs, launch an uprising against the Ottomans in Nevesinje declaring their unification with the Principality of Serbia. Nikola Pašić and Nicholas I of Montenegro proclaim the formal independence of Serbia and Montenegro. The Ottoman Empire declares war on Serbia and Montenegro.
1878		Christian troops besiege Istanbul. Western interference stops the collapse of Ottoman Turkey by acknowledging de jure independence of Montenegro, Serbia and Romania with the Treaty of Berlin: all of whom have already been sovereign for some time prior to the Congress.
1882		The Kingdom of Serbia (5th Serbian Realm) is proclaimed under austrophile King Milan Obrenović following a corruption scandal he was involved in.
1885		The Serbo-Bulgarian War results in the country's humiliation following the Unification of Bulgaria increasing hostility toward the House of Obrenović.
1889		King Milan Obrenović abdicates the throne in favour of his minor (age) son Aleksandar Obrenović. Austrophile policy continues.
1893		Aleksandar Obrenović assumes power following a coup d'état.

Serbian National Costumes

 

 

 

Thanks to wiki.

#18

                       History of Romania

                      Early modern period

By 1541, the entire Balkan peninsula and most of Hungary became Ottoman provinces.

In contrast, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, came under Ottoman suzerainty, but conserved fully internal autonomy and, until the 18th century, some external independence.

During this period, also called the Phanariot Epoch, the Romanian lands were characterised by the slow disappearance of the feudal system and the distinguishment of some rulers like Vasile Lupu and Dimitrie Cantemir in Moldavia, Matei Basarab and Constantin Brâncoveanu in Wallachia, and Gabriel Bethlen in Transylvania.

At that time the Russian Empire appeared to become the political and military power which threatened the Romanian principalities.

 

John II, the non-Habsburg king of Hungary, moved his royal court to Alba Iulia in Transylvania, and after his

abdication from the Hungarian throne, he became the first "Prince of Transylvania".

His Edict of Turda was the first decree of religious freedom in the modern European history (1568).

In the aftermath Transylvania was ruled by mostly Calvinist Hungarian princes (until the end of the 17th century), and Protestantism flourished in the region.

 

Michael the Brave (Romanian: Mihai Viteazul) was the Prince of Wallachia (1593–1601), of Transylvania (1599–1600), and of Moldavia (1600).

 

For a short time during his reign Transylvania was ruled together with Moldavia and Wallachia in a personal union.

After his death the union dissolved and as vassal tributary states Moldavia and Wallachia still had an internal autonomy and some external independence, which was finally lost in the 18th century.

 

The Principality of Transylvania reached its golden age under the absolutist rule of Gabor Bethlen (1613–1629).

 

In 1699, Transylvania became a part of the Habsburgs' Austrian Empire, following the Austrian victory over the Turks.

The Austrians, in their turn, rapidly expanded their empire: in 1718 a major part of Wallachia, Oltenia, was annexed to the Austrian monarchy and was only returned in 1739.

In 1775, the Austrian empire occupied the north-western part of Moldavia, later on called Bukovina, while the eastern half of the principality (by the name of Bessarabia) was occupied in 1812 by Russia.

 

During the Austro-Hungarian rule in Transylvania, and the Ottoman suzerainty over Wallachia and Moldavia, most Romanians were actually second-class citizens (or even non-citizens) in a territory where in fact they constituted the majority of the population.

In some Transylvanian cities like Brașov (at that time the Transylvanian Saxon citadel of Kronstadt), Romanians were not even allowed to reside within the city walls.

 

                              Revolutions of 1848

 

As in other European countries, 1848 brought up the revolution upon Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, through Tudor Vladimirescu and his Pandurs in the Wallachian uprising of 1821.

The goals of the revolutionaries - full independence for Moldavia and Wallachia, and national emancipation in Transylvania - remained unfulfilled, but were the basis of the subsequent evolutions.

The uprising helped the population of all three principalities recognise their unity of language and interests; all three Romanian principalities were very close, not only in language, but also geographically.

 

After the unsuccessful 1848 Revolution, the Great Powers rejected the Romanians' expressed desire to officially unite in a single state, forcing the Romanians to proceed alone their struggle against the Turks.

Heavily taxed and badly administered under the Ottoman Empire, in 1859, people's representatives in both Moldavia and Wallachia elected the same "Domnitor" (ruling Prince of the Romanians) : Alexandru Ioan Cuza.

 

Thus, Romania was created as a personal union albeit that did not include Transylvania, where the upper class and the aristocracy remained mainly Hungarian, although Romanian nationalist spirit inevitably ran up against the Hungarian nationalism at the end of the 19th century.

As in the previous 900 years, Austria-Hungary, especially under the Dual Monarchy of 1867, kept the territory firmly in control, even in parts of Transylvania where Romanians constituted a vast majority.

 

      Independence and Kingdom of Romania

In an 1866 coup d'état, Cuza was exiled and replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who became known as Prince Carol of Romania.

He was appointed Domnitor - Ruling Prince of the United Principality of Romania, as Prince Carol of Romania.

 

      King Carol I

Romania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 in which she fought on the Russian side.

In the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, Romania was finally officially recognized as an independent state by the Great Powers.

In return, Romania ceded the district of Bessarabia to Russia "in exchange" for the access to the ports on the Black Sea shore, and acquired Dobruja.

In 1881, the Romanian principality was raised to a kingdom and Prince Carol became on the 26 of March King Carol I of Romania.

United Principalities (Romania) 1859–1878, shown in lighter shade

National Costumes Of Romania

 

Thanks to wiki.

 

# 17

        History of Montenegro

 

  

History of Montenegro
Prehistory
Roman Praevalitana
Middle Ages and early modern
Duklja Crown land of Zeta Lordship of Zeta Albania Veneta Sanjak Prince-Bishopric
Modern and contemporary
Principality Kingdom

Early history

Illyria

 

Roman Roads in Montenegro

Before the arrival of the Slavonic peoples in the Balkans during the 6th century AD, the area now known as Montenegro was inhabited principally by the Illyrians.
 

During the Bronze Age, the Illirii, probably the southernmost Illyrian tribe of that time, that gave their name to the entire group were living near Skadar lake on the border of Albania and Montenegro and neighboring with the Greek tribes south.

Along the seaboard of the Adriatic, the movement of peoples that was typical of the ancient Mediterranean world ensured the settlement of a mixture of colonists, traders, and those in search of territorial conquest.

Substantial Greek colonies were established on the 6th and 7th centuries BC and Celts are known to have settled there in the 4th century BC.

During the 3rd century BC, an indigenous Illyrian kingdom emerged with its capital at Scutari.

The Romans mounted several punitive expeditions against local pirates and finally conquered this Illyrian kingdom in the 2nd century BC, annexing it to the province of Illyricum.
 

The division of the Roman Empire between Roman and Byzantine rule – and subsequently between the Latin and Greek churches – was marked by a line that ran northward from Shkodra through modern Montenegro, symbolizing the status of this region as a perpetual marginal zone between the economic, cultural, and political worlds of the Mediterranean peoples.

As Roman power declined, this part of the Dalmatian coast suffered from intermittent ravages by various semi-nomadic invaders, especially the Goths in the late 5th century and the Avars during the 6th century.

These soon were supplanted by the Slavs, who became widely established in Dalmatia by the middle of the 7th century. Because the terrain was extremely rugged and lacked any major sources of wealth such as mineral riches, the area that is now Montenegro became a haven for residual groups of earlier settlers, including some tribes who had escaped Romanisation.

Duklja

 

Duklja within a Balkan political context, mid 9th century

Saint Jovan Vladimir (990-1016), Prince of Duklja

Kingdom of Duklja, about 1100 AD

In the second half of the 6th century, Slavs migrated from the Bay of Kotor to the River of Bojana and the hinterland of it as well as surround the Skadar lake. They formed the Principality of Doclea.
Under the following missions of Cyril and Methodus, the population was Christianised. The Slavic tribes organised into a semi-independent dukedom of Duklja (Doclea) by the 9th century.

Middle Ages

After facing subsequent Bulgarian domination, the people were split as the Doclean brother-archonts split the lands among each other after 900. Prince Časlav Klonimirović of the Serbian Vlastimirović dynasty extended his influence over Doclea in the 10th century.

After the fall of the Serbian Realm in 960, the Docleans faced a renewed Byzantine occupation through to the 11th century. The local ruler, Jovan Vladimir Dukljanski, whose cult still remains in the Orthodox Christian tradition, was at the time struggling to ensure independence.
 

Stefan Vojislav started an uprising against the Byzantine domination and gained a huge victory against the army of several Byzantine strategies in Tudjemili (Bar) in 1042, which put to an end the Byzantine influence over the Doclea.

 In the 1054 Great Schism, the Doclea fell on the side of the Catholic Church. Bar became a Bishopric in 1067.
In 1077, Pope Gregory VII recognised Duklja as an independent state, acknowledging its King Mihailo (Michael, of the Vojislavljević dynasty founded by nobleman Stefan Vojislav) as Rex Doclea (King of Duklja).

Later on Mihailo sent his troops, led by his son Bodin, in 1072 to assist the uprising of Slavs in Macedonia. In 1082, after numerous pleas the Bar Bishopric of Bar was upgraded to an Archbishopric.
 

The expansions of the Kings of the Vojislavljević dynasty led to the control over the other Slavic lands, including Zahumlje, Bosnia and Rascia.
The might of the Doclea declined and they generally became subjected to the Grand Princes of Rascia in the 12th century.
 Stefan Nemanja was born in 1117 in Ribnica (today Podgorica).
In 1168, as the Serbian Grand Zhupan, Stefan Nemanja took Doclea.

Duklja (Zeta) in the Nemanjić State (1186-1360)

Zeta in the Serbian Empire (1345-1360)

Zeta

The earliest State of Balsic

The State of Crnojević in the 15th century

Coat of arm (House of Balšić)

The Principality of Zeta was ruled by the houses of Balšić (1356–1435) and Crnojević (1435–1498).

Zeta (Principality of Balšić) 1360-1421

Zeta in the Serbian Despotate (1421-1456)

After the death of Balša III, last representative of House of Balšić, Zeta joined the Serbian Despotate.

The Venetian coastal Montenegro

Citadel in Old Town (Budva)

Kotor (City wall)

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), the romanised Illyrians of the coast of Dalmatia survived the barbarian invasions of the Avars in the 6th century and were only nominally under the influence of the Slavs in the 7th and 8th centuries.

In the last centuries of the first millennium, these Romanised Illyrians started to develop their own neo-Latin language, called Dalmatian language, around their small coastal villages that were growing with maritime commerce.
 

The Venetian areas of Montenegro

Venice started to take control of the southern Dalmatia around the 10th century, quickly assimilating the Dalmatian language with Venetian.
 By the 14th century the Republic of Venice was able to create a territorial continuity around the Bay of Kotor (Cattaro).

Early modern period

The Republic of Venice dominated the coasts of today's Montenegro from 1420 to 1797.
In those four centuries the area around the Cattaro (Kotor) became part of the Venetian albania-montenegro, called in those centuries Albania veneta.

Ottoman Empire

Much of today's Montenegro was under Ottoman control from 1498 to 1699, while coastal Montenegro was under Venetian control and central Montenegro (Upper Zeta) was independent.
 

Half of today's Montenegro was part of the Ottoman Sanjak of Scutari, while the other was part of the Sanjak of Bosnia, but central Montenegro, also known as Upper Zeta, was independent.
 

In 1514, the Ottoman-controlled territory of Montenegro was proclaimed as a separate Sanjak of Montenegro, by the order of Sultan Beyazid II.

The first Sanjak-beg (governor) who was chosen was Ivan Crnojević's son Staniša (Skenderbeg Crnojević), who converted to Islam, and governed until 1528. Despite Skenderbeg's emphasized cruelty, Ottomans did not have real power in Montenegro. After Skenderbeg's death, the Sanjak of Montenegro was annexed to the Sanjak of Scutari.
However, Montenegro was, for a time being, in the Sanjak of Dukagjin and the Sanjak of Herzegovina, but then being annexed back to the Sanjak of Scutari.
 

Montenegrins used the Great Turkish War of 1683-1699 (Also known as War of the Holy League) to expel Ottomans and their rule from Montenegro, which didn't quite work.
The Montenegrins then declared war on the Turks in 1876 after a rebellion in Herzegovina, starting their liberation from the Ottoman Empire. Montenegrins won the war in 1878 and increased its territory to about four times its original territory.
 

By the end of the 17th century the romance speaking population was already a minority. But still in 1880 there were in the city of Cattaro, according to the Austrian census, 930 ethnic Italians (or 32% of a total population of 2910 people).
 

In 1516, the secular prince Đurađ V Crnojević abdicated in favor of the Archbishop Vavil, who then formed Montenegro into a theocratic state under the rule of the prince-bishop (vladika) of Cetinje, a position transmitted from 1697 by the Petrović-Njegoš family of the Riđani clan, from uncle to nephew as the bishops were not allowed to marry.

Modern history

Flags of Montenegro,about 1800 AD

The Principality of Montenegro in 1862
 

Petar Petrović Njegoš perhaps the most influential vladika, reigned in the first half of the 19th century. In 1851 Danilo Petrović Njegoš became vladika, but in 1852 he married, threw off his ecclesiastical character, assuming the title of knjaz (Prince) Danilo I, and transformed his land into a secular principality.
 

Proclamation of the Kingdom of Montenegro.

Montenegro territory expanded (1830-1944)

Following the assassination of Danilo by Todor Kadić in Kotor, in 1860, the Montenegrins proclaimed Nicholas I as his successor on August 14 of that year. In 1861 – 1862, Nicholas engaged in an unsuccessful war against Turkey, Montenegro holding onto its independence only by the skin of its teeth (see Montenegrin-Ottoman War (1861-62))
 

He was much more successful in 1875.

Following the Herzegovinian Uprising, partly initiated by his clandestine activities, he yet again declared war on Turkey in 1876.

Serbia joined Montenegro, but it was defeated by Turkish forces in 1876. Russia now joined in and decisively routed the Turks in 1877-78.

The Treaty of San Stefano (March 1878) was highly advantageous to Montenegro, as well as Russia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.
The gains were trimmed somewhat by the Treaty of Berlin (1878).
The end results were decisive; 1,900 square miles (4,900 km²) were added to Montenegro's territory by the that the port of Bar and all the waters of Montenegro were closed to the ships of war of all nations; and that the administration of the maritime and sanitary police on the coast was placed in the hands of Austria.
 

The reign of Nikola I (1860 – 1918) saw the doubling of Montenegro's territory and international recognition of her independence (1878).

 

             Nikola 1

                           Costumes Of Montenegro

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to wiki.

#16

                           History of Macedonia

Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας, Aléxandros ho Mégas from the Greek Greek: ἀλέξω alexo "to defend, help" + Greek: ἀνήρ aner "man"), was a king of the Greek kingdom of Macedon.

Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II, to the throne at the age of twenty. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, until by the age of thirty he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to Egypt and into present-day Pakistan. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders.

During his youth, Alexander was tutored by the philosopher Aristotle until the age of 16. When he succeeded his father to the throne in 336 BC, after Philip was assassinated, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He had been awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his father's military expansion plans. In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid empire, ruled Asia Minor, and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela. He subsequently overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire. At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.

Seeking to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea", he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back at the demand of his troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexander's surviving generals and heirs.
Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics.


                                 

From the 12th century, parts of Macedonia were conquered by the Serbian kingdom of Raška.
In the 13th century, following the Fourth Crusade, Macedonia was disputed among Byzantine Greeks, Latin crusaders of the short-lived Kingdom of Thessalonica, and the revived Bulgarian state. Most of southern Macedonia was secured by the Despotate of Epirus and then by the Empire of Nicaea, while the north was ruled by Bulgaria.
After 1261 however, all of Macedonia returned to Byzantine rule, where it largely remained until the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347. Taking advantage of this conflict, the Serb ruler Stefan Dushan expanded his realm and founded the Serbian Empire, which included all of Macedonia, northern and central Greece – excluding Thessaloniki, Athens and the Peloponnese. Dushan's empire however broke up shortly after his death in 1355. After his death rulers of Macedonia were Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his son Marko Mrnjavčević.

At this time, the Ottoman threat was looming in the Balkans, as the Ottomans defeated the various Christian principalities, whether Serb, Bulgarian or Greek. After the Ottoman victory in the Battle of Maritsa in 1371, most of Macedonia accepted vassalage to the Ottomans and by the end of the 14th century the Ottoman Empire fully annexed it. Macedonia remained a part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 500 years, during which time it gained a substantial Turkish minority. Thessaloniki later become the home of a large Sephardi Jewish population following the expulsions of Jews after 1492 from Spain.

                Emergence of a Macedonian region

After the revival of Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian statehood in the 19th century, the Ottoman lands in Europe that became misidentified as "Macedonia", were contested by all three governments, leading to the creation in the 1890s and 1900s of rival armed groups who divided their efforts between fighting the Turks and one another.

It is often claimed that macédoine, the fruit or vegetable salad, was named after the area's very mixed population

 

 

 Map of the region contested by Serbia and Bulgaria and subject to the arbitration of the Russian Tsar

The birth of nationalism and of Macedonian identities

 

 

 

The nationalities of Southeastern Europe in the late 19th century represented in Pallas Nagy Lexikona, 1897:

  Serbs

  Serbs and ethnic Macedonians

  Bulgarians

  Albanians

  Greeks

  Turks ("Osmans")

  Rumanians and Tsintsars

  Albanians and Serbians

  Greeks and Albanians

  Greeks and Turks

  Bulgarians and Turks

 

 

Over the centuries Macedonia had become a multicultural region.
The historical references mention Greeks, Bulgarians, Turks, Albanian, Gypsies, Jews and Vlachs.
From the Middle Ages to 20th century the Slav-speaking population in Macedonia was identified mostly as Bulgarian or Greek and occasionally as Serbian.
During the period of Bulgarian National Revival many Bulgarians from these regions supported the struggle for creation of Bulgarian cultural educational and religious institutions, including Bulgarian Exarchate.
Eventually, in the 20th century, 'Bulgarians' came to be understood as synonymous with 'Macedonian Slavs' and, eventually, 'ethnic Macedonians'.

Krste Misirkov, a philologist and publicist, mostly known for his work "On the Macedonian Matters" (1903), heralded by Macedonians as one of the "founders of the Macedonian nation", stated:

"Some will ask why I speak of breaking away from the Bulgarians when in the past we have even called ourselves Bulgarians and when it is generally accepted that unification creates strength, and not separation. And, anyway, what sort of new Macedonian nation can this be when we and our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers have always been called Bulgarians?"

 

The restricted borders of the modern Greek state at its inception in 1830 disappointed the inhabitants of northern Greece (Epirus and Macedonia).

Addressing these concerns in 1844, the Greek Prime Minister Kolettis addressed the constitutional assembly in Athens that "the kingdom of Greece is not Greece; it is only a part, the smallest and poorest, of Greece.
The Greek is not only he who inhabits the kingdom, but also he who lives in Ioannina, or Thessaloniki, or Serres, or Odrin" .
He mentions cities and islands that were under Ottoman possession as composing the Great Idea (Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα) which meant the reconstruction of the classical Greek world or the revival of the Byzantine Empire.
The important idea here is that for Greece, Macedonia was a region with large Greek populations expecting annexation to the new Greek state. At this time, the region which today is the Republic of Macedonia was known as the "fief (vilayet) of Skopje".

The 1878 Congress of Berlin changed the Balkan map again.
The treaty restored Macedonia and Thrace to the Ottoman Empire. Serbia, Romania and Montenegro were granted full independence, and some territorial expansion at the expense of the Ottoman Empire.
Russia would maintain military advisors in Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia until May 1879.
Austria-Hungary was permitted to occupy Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Sanjak of Novi Pazar.
The Congress of Berlin also forced Bulgaria, newly given autonomy by the 1878 Treaty of San Stefano, to return over half of its newly gained territory to the Ottoman Empire. This included Macedonia, a large part of which was given to Bulgaria, due to Russian pressure and the presence of significant numbers of Bulgarians and adherents to the Bulgarian Exarchate.

The territorial losses dissatisfied Bulgaria; this fuelled the ambitions of many Bulgarian politicians for the following seventy years, who wanted to review the treaty – by peaceful or military means and to reunite all lands which they claimed had a Bulgarian majority.
Besides, Serbia was now interested in the Macedonian lands, until then only Greece was Bulgaria's main contender, which after the addition of Thessaly to Greece in (1881) was bordering Macedonia.

Thus, the Berlin Congress renewed the struggle for Turkey in Europe, including the so-called Macedonia region, rather than setting up a permanent regime.
In the following years, all of the neighboring states struggled over Turkey in Europe; they were only kept at bay by their own restraints, the Ottoman Army and the territorial ambitions of the Great Powers in the region.

Serbian policy had a distinct anti-Bulgarian flavor, attempting to prevent the Bulgarian influencing the inhabitants of Macedonia.
On the other hand, Bulgaria was using the power of its religious institutions (Bulgarian Exarchate established in 1870) to promote its language and make more people identify with Bulgaria. Greece, in addition, was in an advantageous position for protecting its interests through the influence of Patriarchate of Constantinople which traditionally sponsored Greek-language and Greek-culture schools also in villages with few Greeks.

This put the Patriarchate in dispute with the Exarchate, which established schools with Bulgarian education. Indeed, belonging to one or another institution could define a person's national identity. Simply, if a person supported the Patriarchate they were regarded as Greek, whereas if they supported the Exarchate they were regarded as Bulgarian.

Locally, however, villagers were not always able to express freely their association with one or the other institution as there were numerous armed groups trying to defend and/or expand the territory of each. Some were locally recruited and self-organized while others were sent and armed by the protecting states.

             National Heroes of Macedonia 

Grigor Prlichev born in Ohrid in 1830 is one of the famous writers from the 19th century. Grigor first studied in a Greek School in Ohrid, and then he studied medicine in Athens. In 1860 he participated at a literary competition for the best poem in the Greek language and ultimately becoming the winner. He took the highest award, 'The Lovorov Wreath', for his poem "Serdarot". Later he still continued to work as a teacher in Ohrid, Bitols and in the Soluns grammar school. Besides his famous poem he also wrote 'The Autobiography' and 'Skenderbeg' as well. This Macedonian national hero died in Ohrid in 1893.

Krste Petkov Misirkov a very famous national hero of Macedonia and also in the Macedonian history was born in 18th November, 1874. A philologist and publicist, his life was full with many sufferings and miseries. This Macedonian national hero was modest, quiet, peaceable, moralist and religious in nature. His ethnic self-identity and views were a matter of clash between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia. One of the first fighters for the Macedonian nation, he was also a collector of the national Macedonian songs, translator and the author of the most important book "Z a makedonckite raboti".

Goce Delcev born in Kukus in a family with many children, he is one of the most popular national heroes of Macedonia. Delcev's father was a tradesman and an innkeeper. In the summer of 1891 he registered in the military school in Sofia. He was honest, stable, open, radical, firm and had a visionary in spirit. Goce Delcev got involved in the movement TMORO. One of the well-known national heroes of Macedonia, he supported publishing of the Macedonian newspaper "Delo". Killed at 4th May, 1903, Goce Delcev gave his life for the freedom of the country. Out of his 31 years of life, for 10 years he was part of the Macedonian national fight.

         National Costumes Of Macedonia

Thanks to wiki.