MONTENEGRO
The Slavic colonization of the Balkan peninsula occurred
in two waves. The Montenegrins came in the first wave, in the 6th century, from
the region between the Baltic Sea and the present-day city of Hanover, Germany.
The Serbs and Croats came in the second wave in the 7th century.
In the Baltic, the Montenegrins' ancestors lived in an area called Slavia. Those
tribes longed for the warmer waters of the Mediterranean Sea and settled in
the Roman province of Prevalis, where they found several urban Roman settlements.
The thousand-year history of the Montenegrin state begins in the ninth century with the emergence of Duklja, a vassal state of Byzantium. In those formative years, Duklja was ruled by the Vojislavljevic dynasty, the first Montenegrin dynasty. In 1042, at the end of his 25-year rule, King Vojislav won a decisive battle against Byzantium, and Duklja became independent.
Since the arrivals of Turks in the Europe, Montenegrins fought countless battles with them. The Ottoman Empire was never able to conquer Montenegro entirely.
The reign of Nicholas I saw the doubling of Montenegro's territory and international recognition of her independence (1878), the country's first constitution, the ruler's elevation to the rank of King, and further territorial gains following the Balkan Wars. First Montenegrin stamps were issued in 1852 while country was still principality under Turkish suzerainty (example).
In World War I, Montenegro fought alongside the allied armies. At that time, King Nicholas I became increasingly surrounded by advisors and politicians who were plotting the subsequent annexation of Montenegro by Serbia. During the war Austria occupied Montenegro. Austrian military stamps were overprinted for use in the country during the occupation (example). The government fled to Bordeaux, France, where overprinted French stamps were used for a time.
In 1918, the Serbian king, exploited the chaotic conditions
following the end of World War I and his army occupied Montenegro. Following
the occupation by Serbian troops, the Montenegrin kingdom was abolished and
annexed to Serbia and King Nicholas was banned from returning to Montenegro.
All symbols of Montenegrin sovereignty were forbidden therefore Serbian stamps
came into use.
In 1921 they were replaced with stamps of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
(later renamed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia).
During World War 2 Montenegro was re-established as
an Italian protectorate and used own stamps. First overprinted Yugoslav and
Italian stamps were used and later Post office designed and issued special stamps
for the protectorate (example).
After the capitulation of Italy Montenegro was occupied by Germany. New authority
overprinted issues of Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Italian administration (PIC).
After the liberation by the partisans provisional issues were briefly used in Montenegro. That were overprinted stamps of Montenegro province (example).
In 1945 Montenegro become one of the republics of Yugoslavia. After the break up of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Montenegro and Serbia remained united in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. At the referendum in 1992, 60% of the electors voted in favor of remaining a part of Yugoslavia.
But when the leading Montenegrin political party, Socialist
party, lost the elections, political parties which stood for independence seized
the power and introduced several measures towards reaching their goal (for example
introducing German Mark (now Euro) as a legal currency in Montenegro instead
of Yugoslav Dinar). But referendum on independence had been postponed because
of pressures from European Union.
Since the introduction of new currency Montenegro Post has been issuing its
own Obligatory stamps. Click
here to see some of them.
On March 14th, 2002 Serbian and Montenegrin governments formed new country named Serbia and Montenegro. Both entities had semi-independent status. A possible referendum on Montenegran independence was postponed for a minimum of three years.
The status of the union between Montenegro and Serbia
was decided by a referendum on May 21, 2006. A total of 419,240 votes were cast,
representing 86.5% of the total electorate. 55.5% were for independence and
44.5% votes were against. According to the electoral commission, the 55% threshold
(needed to validate the referendum under rules set by the European Union) was
passed by only 2,300 votes. Serbia, the member-states of the European Union,
and the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have all recognized
Montenegro's independence.
On June 3, 2006, the Parliament of Montenegro declared the independence of Montenegro,
formally confirming the result of the referendum on independence. Stamps of
the new country can be seen here.
RELATED LINKS:
-Montenegro Government in Exile