How did Montenegro Become Independent (Again)? | From Kingdom to Republic via 5 Countries!
In June 2006, after almost ninety years, Montenegro split from neighbouring Serbia and regained its independence. However, few know the extraordinary story of what happened to the country in between. In this video, I explore Montenegro's journey from an independent kingdom to an independent sovereign republic through five different countries - including several different variants of Yugoslavia.
Welcome to Independent Thinking. A channel dedicated to international relations, independence disputes, secession and the origins of countries.
Montenegro is one of the smallest countries in Europe, and yet it has a truly fascinating history. Indeed, as I argue in this video, I am not aware of any other country that has undergone such a wide range of transformations over the course of the past century - if not over the entire history of its existence. This is a story of how this tiny, mountainous South East European state, a former part of Yugoslavia, went from being principality to becoming a kingdom and eventually achieving independence again as a sovereign state when, in 2006, it became the 192nd member of the United Nations.
By the way, one quick clarification: although the country declared independence as the 'Republic of Montenegro', since 2007 it has been formally and simply known as 'Montenegro'.
I hope you found this video useful. If you did, please do press the 'Like' button. And don't forget to subscribe and press the notification bell if you would like to be alerted to my future videos. Also, if you have any suggestions for topics that you would like to see me cover, please leave a comment below. Thank you.
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Ashgate Research Companion to Secession amzn.to/2FabXyh
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Thanks for watching. Given everything happening, I thought I would take the opportunity to produce an extra video this week. I have been meaning to expand on my series of how countries became independent and this seemed like a chance to do so. I went with Montenegro because the story of its path to (regained) independence is truly extraordinary. I can't think of any other country that has been through so many transformations over the past century! If you enjoyed this video and found it useful, do consider subscribing. I usually publish new videos every Friday.
MR Lindsey as i said Montenegro won tonight and bashed the pro Nato mobster mr Đukanović!Long live the new pro Serb coalition!!!!
@@temistogen but Milo Is your serb, you know he Is, don't lice to yourself, be honest. And also, pro serb is not go na last, you hate amongst yourself...
Fun fact: Montenegro was technically at war with Japan for 101 years. They joined the Russo-Japanese war in 1905 but didn’t participate in peace conference and sign a peace treaty for some reason. And only in 2006 the end of the hostilities between Montenegro and Japan was formally announced.
Many thanks! A great fun fact! Montenegro is such an interesting country in so many ways. I couldn't include it in the video, but the United States didn't in fact recognise Montenegro until 1905, and then only formally withdrew that recognition in 1921. Here's the overview: history.state.gov/countries/montenegro
lmao
Also a Montenegrin killed a Samurai in that war!
@@darjandjordjevic You wanna know how he did it. So samurais have to kneel down in respect before a battle, and while the samurai was doing that montenegrin just went for it and killed him. Bith the Japaneese and Russians respected the Montenegrin and there is now a villidge near Berane named after the man. You probably know this story but tge rest of the world probably doesn't.
James did not say that the king of Montenegro and the king of Yugoslavia was in family relationship. The king of Montenegro was the grandfather of the new young king of Yugoslavia.
djole1122 Thanks. I am sure that you will understand that there are any number of small but interesting details I have to miss out in all of my videos. They are just 10-15 minutes long. They are also mainly aimed at an audience interested in international relations, rather than those who have an in-depth knowledge of the country in question.
Hopefully they join the EU in the next couple of years. I think them being inside and telling the serbians what it's like inside, is one of the only ways to convince the serbs to join it as well in the future.
Thanks. Great point. I do worry that Serbia is becoming increasingly inward looking.
@@JamesKerLindsay along with bulgaria, it seems to be especially receptive to russian disinformation. I think a common cause might be their national victimhood complex.
Awesome video, thanks for everything! Montenegro is really a fascinating country. I'm starting to produce an article about Montenegro's independence and its singularities when compared to other independent coutries from the former SFRY. It will probably be one of the first researches in Brazil about this sometimes forgotten country. Really hope you keep producing this amazing content about international affairs! Also, I took some time to add subscriptions in Portuguese, hope it helps!
Thank you so much! 🙏🏻 I don’t know what to say!? That really is incredibly kind of you to take the time to do that. That is wonderful! And thank you so much for the really nice words about the channel. It is really appreciated. Do let me know if I can be of help. By the way, if you are doing anything on Montenegro, do drop a line to Professor Kenneth Morrison. He would be an incredible source and is very approachable. (Feel free you use my name. He is a good friend.) Very many thanks again, James
I find it very interesting that EU insisted on forming a very loose federation which allowed Montenegreen president to consolidate his power in Montenegro and allow him to influence the vote through pressure and blackmail of people working in public and state run sector. Although not allowing Montenegrins living in Serbia to vote is one of the key controversies it's not the only one. Those events of 2006 are even more interesting when one take in consideration what happened later, Kosovo recognition and NATO membership, and especially what is happening today in Montenegro with government waging some kind of war against Serbian Orthodox Church...
Thanks again for the comment. Yes, the decision to limit who could vote and deny Montenegrins living in Serbia (or Serbs from Montenegro living in Serbia - as many would put it), was extremely unfair. The decision should either have been to deny everyone living beyond the borders a right to vote or let everyone have their say. This was certainly a fateful decision. (As it happens, I also made another video on who gets to vote in secession referendums in which I address how important this issue can be.)
Similar behaviors have been observed in the Balkans since the Yugoslav wars in other places. It sounds like there was some propensity in the EU to limit the influence of Serbia and therefore limit Russian influence there. However conflicts between churches is normal in orthodox church areas in secession conflicts. After all orthodox churches are strongly tied to the states or governments in their name and have usually worked on behalf of their states to influence the population. Sometimes they openly tie themselves to hard-line nationalism or far-right extremism. We had the same kind of conflict in the Ukrainian-Russian church conflict, where the Ukrainians try to get their independence recognized.
@@mardasman428 Unlike in Ukraine Montenegrin Orthodox Church has no following and didn't split from SOC (which happens in orthodoxy). MOC has priest who are not really priest and no other church recognizes their existence. When a church splits up, it is somewhat "legal" process but when someone just starts calling themselves church it is completely illegal. I mean patriarch of MOC is a guy who was expelled from church because of his behavior, and not from SOC but by patriarch in Constantinople.
Even if they put all those limitations they still bearly passed the treashold, and now that Milos tiranny has finally ended well see where Montenegro will go.
@@saladbruh2625 Decisions like these are very hard to undo or overturn, I believe if one would want now to unify two countries for it to be peaceful it would need to be in accordance with the messed up rules of previous referendum... And the thing is those in Montenegro who are pro unification they are also very proud of Montenegro and have very strong let's say "regional" or "local" patriotic pride in Montenegro so in a way they don't really mind independent Montenegro while those who are for independent Montenegro have somewhat anti Serbian sentiment and they hate the idea of unification which is also a viewpoint of most if not all national minorities in Montenegro. All of that makes situation even more complicated and begs the question is unification good idea even if it could pass the referendum...
The funny thing is that Serbia and Montenegro participated in World Cup 2006 days after splitting!
Spectacular video!
Thanks very much!
Thank you for the summary
Montenegrin saw a man walking his snail. Oh, what a nice snail you have! I had one, but it run away from me!
Damn, I miss my Montenegrin friend and her jokes😂
History of Montenegro goes way back,900 AC..South slavs formed a country name Duklja,which was later renamed into Zeta then Montenegro,3 names-same country -same people.
Thanks. By the way, keep an eye out for this week's video.
Serbs, not South Slavs
@@fascistmonke Nah- just the other way around- only you tried to change that much broader concept to such a small and an unimportant one such is serbian. Montenegrins were never Serbians, in fact Montenegrin kingdom Duklja existed some 100y before Raška was anything important.
Woohoo! Next video, and as always, very interesting topic!
Thanks so much! :-) I hope you are keeping well.
Wonderful video, learned so much that has put the recent election and recent events into context.
Thank you so much. I’m really glad you found it useful. Despite its small size, it really has had a fascinating history. And the relationship with neighbouring Serbia is incredibly complex - as we are indeed seeing even now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the channel. By the way, let me know if there are any other topics you’d like to see me cover.
Didn't know it had such a long history. Thanks Prof!
Thanks. Yes, it’s rather incredible, isn’t it!?
In fact, Montenegro regained its sovereignty in 1941, which the Communists accepted as a precarious situation in 1945, when Montenegro first became part of Yugoslavia, by signing a state treaty.
Awesome viva Montenegro !
I think that it is important to mention how the question was put in 1992 referendum -> Are you in favor of Montenegro, as a sovereign republic, continuing to live in a common state - Yugoslavia, fully equal to other republics that wish the same? An informative and well put video. Good job o/
Thanks so much for the comment, and for the kind words. Much appreciated! And very good point indeed about the question! As you note, the 1992 referendum wasn't so immediately defined as an independence referendum as it was in 2006. However, I guess that given that Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia had already left the SFRY, and Bosnia had also declared independence just a few weeks earlier, I think the underlying intention was probably clear. But good to clarify how it was nevertheless phrased. Many thanks again.
very good vid now am expert on name changing thx to this brillian vid that explains the difference between SFRY and FRY
Thanks you so much for the comment. Really appreciated. Yes, it is rather difficult trying to work out the various forms of Yugoslavia!
Great video, I’ve always wondered what changed in the around 14 year between the 92 and 06 referendums to make Montenegrins feel as though they are a different people group from the Serbs. A follow up video explaining the two different arguments for and against independence during the run up to the 06 referendum would be great.
Well I believe that deciding factor is who was allowed to vote, Serbia and Belgrade always were big magnet for people from Montenegro and if they were allowed to vote situation would be different. Other significant and interesting factor is that the same guy was in power during Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and after the referendum. Milo Djukanovic(president of Montenegro) in early 90 was extremely pro Yugoslavian in late 90 he was pro Serbian and in 2006 he was pro independence and now he is very much anti-Serbian. He was in power and he used that power to sway and blackmail people to vote how he wants. That is possible because Montenegro is small and most companies and jobs are state owned. So to answer your question in 14 years nothing changed, in fact in 30 years nothing changed, same party, same president, same old corruption and same old playing on divisions for preservation of power. Just to clarify I am not saying that all who voted for independence were blackmailed or forced but significant number was, especially if you consider that vote was decided by a few hundreds of votes.
Thanks so much for the comment and the excellent suggestion. I certainly hope to return to Montenegro at some point. There are a number of interesting loose ends to the story!
Completely agree. I have always thought that the limitation on Montenegrins living in Serbia, but not elsewhere, was deeply unfair.
@@JamesKerLindsay Even now, Montenegro doesn't allow dual citizenship with Serbia which is preventing a lot of people to go to their home for months because of the covid 19 border shut down. And many people choose Serbian over Montegreen citizenship because they ether study or work in Serbia. Of course this decision traces back to referendum and is still relevant considering who will have a right to vote and who will participate in census. At the same time Serbs in Montenegro have a hard time finding jobs, especially in public sector so they are in some way forced to take their Serbian and disavow Montenegrin citizenship. Worth a mention is a fact that Serbian citizens have dual citizenship rights with over 130 countries.
@MIRZA DRASKOVIC don’t you think it would have come up in 92 then?
Glad the country was able to become an autonomous entity once again✔
Bonus fact, Mussolini gave Montenegro indepentence as a italian puppet state close to the end of WW2, but after fall of Berlin, Yugoslavia was fully unified.
Bonus fact, head of Serbian church in Montenegro at the time, collaborated with Italians and chetniks, who were fascist also, and he helped Italians a lot. There is photographs where head of the serb church is welcoming Italian general pircio biroli.
Wow, Montenegro had quite the history that would make anyone's head spin. Very insightful video since I have always wondered by Montenegro stayed with Serbia after the Breakup of Yugoslavia. I bet that for some Montenegrins it's hard to imagine that their country is less than 20 years old.
Thanks! Yes, it has certainly had a fascinating history - especially for such a small and tucked away country. Montenegrins tend to be quite independent minded - and tend to live life at their own pace, to put it euphemistically - and so I am not always totally sure that they ever realised that they weren't in fact independent for the best part of a century! :-)
Regardless of the degree of sovereignty, Montenegro has existed continuously as a state entity for over 1,000 years, and, incredibly, in the same geographical location.
@@JamesKerLindsay Yes, an entity with limited sovereignty, but still an entity. You will admit that this is a rather rare phenomenon for the world, but a mission impossible for the Balkans. At the same time, there is no world power, against which they did not fight, and which in the end they did not defeat, in more than a millennium of its existence.
We stayed in union because we loved Yugoslavia and the question on referendum from 1992. was: "Are you in favor of Montenegro, as a sovereign republic, continuing to live in a common state - Yugoslavia, completely on an equal footing with other republics that wish to do so?" In that time due to the secession of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia Yugoslavia was dying and we weren't informed good because of Milosevic's propaganda which engulfed Montenegro in 1992. and that's why the big part of montenegrin citizens boycotted the 1992. referendum, unlike the one from 2006.
Man great video,as a Montenegrin i aprove it.
What a complex history! Thank you. Do you think it will every join with another state in the Balkans, or will it remain independent from now on?
Thanks. Never say never. It has a fascinating history. But I think it is on its own for the foreseeable future.
About the only unintentional light-hearted point in the break-up of Yugoslavia was, when I think Stipe Mesić (from Croatia) was then the last Federal President, the various factions met in an (ostensible) attempt to thrash things out in the town called 'Split'.
when does a translation get acepted?
Hi there. Did you provide the translation into Swedish?
@@JamesKerLindsay yes
@@JamesKerLindsay thx
read Is good No. Thank YOU! That was incredibly kind and generous of you to do that for the video. I really, really appreciate it! 👏👏👏🙏🏻
in idea for improvement is to make fewer and more detailed vids. explaining things like what happend at 1992 election as an example or more detailed what happend when tito died.
I am a Croat but I am still triggered by Montenegro becoming an independent state.
Haha! Think you might need to get over that one. 😀
@@JamesKerLindsay i mean they are serbs who deny themselfs being serbs taking serbia away all of their coast xD
Well, when you put it like that! :-) Strangely, I haven’t immediately made the link of Serbia and Montenegrins. But it has some interesting parallels with Bulgaria and North Macedonia. What is a national identity?
@@JamesKerLindsay There is however one big difference between the two, while Macedonia was on the periphery of an emerging Bulgarian national identity during the 19th century ( which never really spread to the whole region ) and even clashed with peripheral Serbian national identity over there, Serbian national identity in Montenegro was basically proto-national, it preceded the formation of modern nations and it was one of the central points in the developmentt of modern Serbian national identity.
@@zempov Dude, you couldn't show your ignorance more than you did here. I thought Croatians had better education system, as it turns out your history is taught even worse than it is in Serbia, and they always had the worse cultural and historic propaganda in their education and school system.
It is hard to believe that having a coastline has not had some impact on the outlook of Montenegrins compared to the land-locked Serbs.
It probably made that 1%(maybe much more) needed for independence since our costline is not as Serbia loving as our northern and central parts.
So they let Montenegrins who lived abroad vote in the referendum but not Montenegrins who actually lived in the state union. Totally not sus.
Instead of sending pro-unionist Montenegrins to prevent Montenegro from restoring its statehood, Serbia avoided holding a referendum on its territory for its residents who were also supposed to give their opinion on the future of the Union!!!
Excluding Montenegrins living in Serbia from the vote, a decision taken by Mr Gerry Mander.
Es tiempo que vuelva a ser Reino,si como se constituyó como República y a la época era monarquía cuando era endependiente
@ James , doing all this research on the Balkan , I have a question : what is one common problem in states that border Serbia !? And is there a solution to the greater Serbia issue ?
The problem, more or less, was that in every Republic there was a large Serbian minority that didn't want to live outside Yugoslavia. Second reason was the politician who found that it was rather easy to radicalise the Serb people because pretty much all they had to do was to remind them what the Croats, Bosniaks or Albanians did to them 50 years earlier during WW2 and from there it's easy to get to the point of seeking revenge and all that.
Very well done video , objective and informative. I live in serbia and have been to montenegro countless times on a vecation , i never really understood why we separated , but now i know its because of some meddling from EU and politicians that dont care.
Crna Gora je povratila ono što je oduvijek imala, svoju državu koju uređuje svojom voljom, Srbija je uvijek bila podli neprijatelj Crne Gore. EU i političari pokušali su zadržati Crnu Goru. čak su uvjetovali 10-godišnji moratorij na pitanje nezavisnosti 1996. godine, a tih 10 godina mi je najteže, stotine oružanih incidenata i ubijena su tri Crnogorca, to Srbi naravno ne znaju.
@@formica4266 е, човече Божји, испеци па реци..Србија ,,подли непријатељ” ….питам се….
@@mirjanamilosavljevic4261 Draga Mirjana, kada je Crnogorska vojska spasila Srpsku vojsku iuspješno zaustavljajuć 40.000 Crnogoraca , 90.000 Austrougara u punom trku koji tjeraju u paničnom bijegu 140.000 Srba, na Mojkovcu i kada je Crnogorska vojska izginula. Dvij egodine kasnije Srpska vojska na talasu savezničkog proboja Solunskog fronta zauzma Crnu Goru, zemlju saveznicu, koja se u međuvremenu potpuno oslobodila, anektira Crnu Goru i detronizuje dinastiju Petrovića, ukida nekanonslki i nelegalno Crnogorsku pravoslavnu crkvu, Srbi ubijaju 10.000 Crnogoraca, u logore zatvore 4.000 Crnogorki sa djecom, srvene sa zemljom 300 crnogorskih sela, spale 6.000 crnogorslkih domova, istrijebe besramno krvoločno i zločinački 300 familija crnogorskih, rasele trećinu stanovništva primoravajući ih glađi na napušte svoje domove. Misliš da je to izraz prijatelja? Ne rdaga Mirjana, to radi samo podli neprijatelj. a pazi od kad postoji animozitet između Crnogoraca i Srba, ne samo od Zakona kojim se zabranjuje Crnogorcima preći granica Srtbije, nego mnogo ranije postimg.cc/ZvqT7JYY Kao što vidiš draga Mirjana ja sam dobro ispekao što sam rekao.
the shape of kosovo and montenegro looks similar
Russia is the successor of the USSR but somehow Serbia and Montenegro wasn't the successor of Yugoslavia???
The Federal Republic of Jugoslavia (1992-2003) consisted of Serbia and Montenegro. The name was changed to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003.
Que bom que tem legendas em brasileiro. (Não português (
Hi, there is lost country named PUNJAB in southern Asia. Can it gain it’s independence from India somehow?
So the dissolution of the union was legal because it was decided in the referendum. The dissolution of my homecountry czechoslovakia was illegal because it wasnt passed on referendum. Anyway, I wonder what is difference between Kosovo and Montenegro? Why didnt kosovars take the same referenfum and left serbia legally?
Kosovo has never had an independent state in its history. Montenegro had an independent state in the past, that's the difference.
Hi great video, but its not Republic of Montnegro its just Montengro
Thanks. In fact, I clarify this point in the video description. It is indeed just Montenegro now. However, the country officially declared independence as the Republic of Montenegro and changed the name in 2007.
Montenegro first apeared in the 1000s and has a long history of defeating invadors for centuries
From 1941-43 it was under Italian occupation and then from 1943-44 it was under German occupation.
It seems to me that serbs did bad job there by negating montenegrin indentity, it is not way to make friends. If they stayed cool, it would be easier to maybe reintegrate them in longrun. Now even if some pro-serb goverment does steps toward serbia, there will be strong anti-serb sentiment in half of country, thuss making country hard to govern.
Serbia has never and will never recognize the Montenegrin nation. She considers all Montenegrins to be part of the Serbian nation.
So 50% turnout and 50%plus1in favor to legitimacy the referendum. Well that answers alot of questions i had in mind.
Ahmed Elmi Thanks, but in the case of Montenegro’s 2006 referendum, the threshold was 55% support for independence from a minimum 50% turnout. The turnout was easily enough to pass the 50%. However, the final total in favour of independence was 55.5% and so only just made the required amount!
kosovo isnt a country why is there a border on it @0:43
As you can imagine, for a channel like this, the question of maps is an obvious source of contention. I realise that Kosovo's independence is not recognised by Serbia. Ironically, however, it is recognised by Montenegro. So, while the map may be wrong from a Serb perspective. It is, officially at least, correct from a Montenegrin one.
@@JamesKerLindsay It's wrong from any perspective as Kosovo is not a member of the United Nations as such it is not an independent country, for now at least. I'm fairly certain you would not show a map with Crimea as part of Russia. But nice attempted save.
Nemanja Stevanovic In fact, if you watch my video on the significance of UN membership, you’d see that joining the UN doesn’t actually prove a state is independent or not. Recognition is a right of sovereign states, and the UN can’t recognise a country. This is part of the problem. In the international system you can have states that are independent for some countries and not for others. (As troubling as this is.) Again, the interesting thing is that this map is perfectly correct from Podgorica’s perspective, but incorrect from Belgrade’s. Take it up with your Montenegrin neighbours.
@@JamesKerLindsay That's a perfectly fine argument. Let's say all it takes for a country to be independent is to have a defined territory, people and government , no recognition or UN membership as prerequisites. I watched your video on Russia and Crimea. Abkhazia and South Ossetia were NOT shown as independent countries despite having all the same statehood elements as Kosovo and being recognized by Russia. Since it was shown from Russian perspective, perspective being the valid argument here apparently, was it just a mistake or intellectual dishonesty?
@@JamesKerLindsay You failed to answer which is an answer in itself. Biases keep people from taking you seriously.
You are obviously knowledgeable on the subject but you don't get to call the democratic decision of Montenegro parliament to join the kingdom of Serbia an annexation. It really wasn't annexation.
As a Montenegrin I do- there WASN'T ANY DEMOCRACY- Montenegro was annexed and the king kept in another country for the rest of his life while people who call themselfs Montenegrins killed, burned and torchured.... in other words you're full of shit. With all that name of Montenegro and it's people- the Montenegrins was almost completely deleted for 100y and we served as a Serbian province. A nation that existed for 7 centuries became nothing in one year.
Annexation isn’t inherently illegitimate. Another country can democratically consent to being annexed.
No one asked all citizens of Montenegro at the time if they wanted to join Serbia!!! Even at that moment, the still legal government of Montenegro in exile was not consulted! The unconditional annexation of Montenegro to Serbia was decided by Serbian bayonets!!!
@@walker2943 Sure. Hahahaha 🤣🤣🤣. Go get a 🧠.
@@petarjovanovic1481 who killed all those montenegrians back in 1918 ? Why was our government in exile ? Stop telling us that water isn't wet.
Controversial is the key word to your effort and attempt to shed some light on just one highly complex piece of a much bigger picture in post Yugoslavia Geopolitics. Fact is much of your information and data is coming from neoliberal western media agencies and therefore come with an inbuilt narrative trying to preset and claim by default that those "alternative facts" are undisputed, voted and agreed upon and considered done deal. They are not. Montenegro is just another example where the local institutions try to wing a deal with the foreign agents aiming for the short term benefit. These referendums, votings and backroom style negotiations were not backed by the people and in most cases unfortunately were forged even against their politicial will. This is one of the reasons why many on these new balkan countries are referred to as failed states, since they lack any real democratic support and are not sustainable without foreign intervention, support and yes, neo colonial type of post democracy administratons, which of course nobody wishes to talk about.
Care to point out what facts were wrong? That it was a principality and then a kingdom? That it joined Serbia shortly before it became part of the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes? That the Kingdom became Yugoslavia in 1929? Perhaps I was wrong about the origins of the SFRY, or its transformation into FRY? Maybe I got the information about the dates and results of the referendum wrong? Please tell me what was incorrect. In fact, I suspect you didn’t actually even watch the video. Instead, you just fancied having a bit of a rant about “neo-liberalism”? 😉
You did not read my posting with an attempt to understand but to reply. Nowhere did I say that your information was incorrect. My point was that the overall portrayal, the spin was one sided with an easy offering for manufacturing consent. The information is an oversimplified narrative of an much complexer issue that is the breaking up process of former Yougoslavia. You can attempt to cherry pick particular Reuters, CNN talking points or headlines but to use them (lots of those were rebutted or extended with withdrawn additional facts) in a closing analysis state building fashion is adventerous at best.
James, Montenegro wasnt annexed by Serbia. People of Montenegro are Serbs and history of Montenegro is Serbian.
Thanks a lot. For all sorts of reasons, I actually know the close links between the countries extremely well. :-) But this doesn’t change the fact that Montenegro was annexed. It wasn’t a union of equals to make a new joint country. Montenegro was incorporated by Serbia. This is annexation. By the way, people in annexed territory may well approve of the move - and even see it as their historic destiny - but it doesn’t change what it is.
Serbia did Montenegro, which had already liberated, occupied, and annexed, abolished the allied country, banned its people, abolished the illegally and illegitimately autocephalous Montenegrin Orthodox Church, during the frictional operations of 1919, by 1929, 10,000 Montenegrins were killed in camps, 4,000 were imprisoned. women and children, 300 Montenegrin families were completely exterminated, so that women and children were burned alive in houses, 300 Montenegrin villages were razed to the ground, 6,000 Montenegrin homes were burned, and 1/3 of the population was displaced by terror and famine. In order for Montenegrins to be Serbs, they must have the same history, the same traditions and belong to the same culture. Montenegro is not Serbian, when it was from 1918 to 1941, it did not exist.
@Bomber Harris This, of course, is true, although there are those who declare themselves as Serbs, which is a consequence of the occupation of 1918-1941.
@@formica4266 You are Milofascist!
@@JamesKerLindsay Parliament of Montenegro voted for unification with Serbia in 1918. Annexation is something entirely different and it's always by definition an unilateral decision.
Montenegro was not annexed by Serbia in 1918, but its assembly decided to unite with Serbia.
And it decided to break off in 2006
No one asked all citizens of Montenegro at the time if they wanted to join Serbia!!! Even at that moment, the still legal government of Montenegro in exile was not consulted! The unconditional annexation of Montenegro to Serbia was decided by Serbian bayonets!!!
for someone who makes a video about historical events. you should also know history and teach it. just one piece of information for you in Montenegro live serbs just like in serbia.@@walker2943
Not true.
i think that 5% is fake just so can reach treshhold
Next will be UYGURS East Turkistan and TIBET!!!!
5:46 That was a clear abuse of authority. When someone is put in charge on the merit of neutrality, they abused it and harmed one of the parties. That is why I take it with a grain of salt when someone uses the terms such as 'international observers, executors, judges etc.'. The Montenegrin head of the state was clearly manipulating the outcome to benefit himself personally, and the whole 'international community' supported him with 'neutrality'. Different rules apply to different people based on how useful they are to the 'international community'.
Mr. Ker Lindsay are you watching the shameful scenes unfolding presently in Montenegro. Are you watching with your own eyes how Greater Serbian politics are destroying the sovereignty of Montenegro. What should Montenegro do about it? Are Serbs still the victims like in your other videos or are they the aggressors who haven't moved forward?
Have you watched my other videos? I have received no end of abuse from Serbs about my video on Bosnia. The same for my videos on Kosovo. I am sorry you are upset about how I portrayed Croatia’s behaviour over Operation Storm (a video in which I explicitly noted Serbian war crimes), but it is how I and many others see it. Trying to paint me as some sort of apologist for Milošević is not fair.
@@JamesKerLindsay I haven't attacked you or said anything disrespectful towards you. In your video question and answer you said you enjoy lively debate. So in my posts I've tried to presents facts and questions. Perhaps some parts may have sounded stronger as the topics are sensitive but I haven't been disrespectful. I did notice you say you have received abuse and that's why I tried to present my comments in a better way so not to be grouped in same way. I'm trying to bring up the point that the greater Serbian politics of the 90s are still very present today. Which is no surprise when you have one of Milošević/Seseljs radical Serb party right hand man from the 90s Vučić still in power today. The scenes in Bosnia and Montenegro attest to that. Do not be surprised if military conflict breaks out in Montenegro within the next 3-5 years (almost happened 5 year ago when Russian special services tried to assassinate the prime minister at the time). I hope Nato and EU are paying attention this time around. But how do you perceive the situation and is Montenegrin sovereignty in doubt?
Sorry, but please read your initial comment again. It clearly suggested that I was some sort of apologist. You may not have meant to say this, but that is exactly how it came across. I do enjoy lively debate. And I so engage far more than any other channel I know. But trying to start a discussion by accusing someone of holding views they don’t have is really not the best way to do it!
@@JamesKerLindsay Fair enough, thank you for explaining that and coming off more objective even thought I've disagreed with you. It wasn't clear at first and I respect your difference of opinion. I have left multiple questions in different comments that haven't been addressed which is you may have come across the wrong way. Perhaps you avoided on purpose but it is a international relations analysis channel and people are allowed to leave comments provided they arent abusive.
Thank you. I’m sorry if I haven’t responded to some of your comments. I do try to address as many as I can. But, again, and with hundreds of comments each day, it is hard to reply to them all. In addition, I really don’t respond well to attempts to engage in debate by calling me some sort of apologist for any particular side in a conflict. I get this a lot. (Mainly Ethiopians, Moroccans, Bulgarians, Serbs and Croats.) Having received as much abuse as I gave, I now ignore a lot of those types of comments - deleting the most offensive and blocking people who really cross the line. I make these videos in good faith. I have views. But I am not a liar or paid agent - as some seem to suggest. As a top, if you genuinely want a debate, it is always best to open discussion by acknowledging an honest attempt to present a situation, but then suggest that certain things can be read in another way.
As a man from the west you wouldn't understand Montenegro's history for what it actually is. Montenegro is of serb origin, neither you or no anybody else can change that.
You know nothing about me or my background. I actually understand this far better than you realise, both professionally and personally! Don’t make assumptions about ‘Westerners’ in future!
Another Serbian nationalist who denies Montenegrin identity from abroad. Today's Montenegrins are descendants of Illyrians and Slavs and no one else.
I only see "my grand grandfather betrayed his country so the serbs wouldn't kill hiss family" in your statement.
Montenegro wanted to join Union, it wasn't anexated
Thanks. It’s debatable. While sone argue it wanted to join, others argue that in reality it was a fixed process.
@@JamesKerLindsay to me brexit looks fixed.
No one asked all citizens of Montenegro at the time if they wanted to join Serbia!!! Even at that moment, the still legal government of Montenegro in exile was not consulted! The unconditional annexation of Montenegro to Serbia was decided by Serbian bayonets!!!
Montenegro is Serbian Sparta
Montenegro was not annexed by Serbia in 1918. Serbian people of Montenegro decided to unite montenegrin statehood with Serbia. Aslo, you did not mention that official language in Kindgom and principality of Montenegro was Serbian language. During that time, the official program in schools included Serbian language and Serbian history. The name of the country was Montenegro, but over the 90% of their citizens were ethnically Serbs. The flag of Montenegro was the Serbian people's flag, the king Nikola made a song which glorifies Serbian history and Serbian heroes. Schools were celebrating the Saint Sava (Serbian archbishop). Without mentioning that, this video is poor. Have in mind that Boka Kotorska (region that include Budva, Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi) was never part of principality and kingdom of Montenegro and always was inhabited by Serbian people.
Montenegrians are Serbs...
Yes and no. It depends who you ask.
@@JamesKerLindsay But origins...
@@JamesKerLindsay Also Montenegrians dont have history...their history is made by Serbs.
Again, it depends who you ask. And having the same roots doesn’t mean you are the same. Many Australians have British roots, but most would argue that they are now Australians, not British living in Australia.
@@JamesKerLindsay Also Montenegro always had Serbian leaders... First flag was Serbian. Also, when 30k people lived there, all was Serbian nationality, 0% Montenegrians.
Montenegro Aka mini Serbia.
Montenegro volvete a unir con Serbia, que sin ellos, al igual que Kosovo, no son nada y esa nación todo les dio y nada les faltó.
Wtf are you talking about... They didn't exist for 500 years because if ottomans, we helped them until they betrayed us and invade us and kill us on the streets.