Ilija Plamenac
Ilija Plamenac | |
---|---|
1st Minister of Defence of Principality of Montenegro | |
In office 20 March 1879 – 19 December 1905 | |
Monarch | Nicholas I |
Prime Minister | Božo Petrović-Njegoš |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Janko Vukotić |
1st Mayor of Podgorica | |
In office 1879–1886 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Luka Nenezić |
Personal details | |
Born | 16 July 1821 Boljevići, Crmnica, Montenegro |
Died | 6 March 1916[1] (aged 95) |
Occupation | Military leader, politician |
Signature | |
Ilija Plamenac (
Early life and ancestry
Ilija Plamenac was born in 1821 in Boljevići, in the region of Crmnica in Monetengro. His father Mihailo Plamenac was a priest.[2]
Ilija gained basic literacy in Boljevići, before continuing his elementary education in
As a young man, Plamenac was ordained in 1843. After serving as a priest for nearly a decade, he became a tribal captain under the rule of Prince Danilo in 1851.[2]
Ilija was related to
Military command
Battles of Murići and Krnjice (1861–1862)
In the run-up to the
The Ottoman government responded immediately, and ordered the mobilization of around 3,000 men with the intent to recapture the occupied areas. Plamenac was ordered to retreat from Murići and Šestani, and leave a smaller force in the villages of Krnjice and Seoca. The Ottomans responded with an ultimatum, demanding the Montenegrin forces retreat from the two villages and threatening war. Prince Nikola acquiesced to their demands, with the condition of a general amnesty for all those from the villages involved in the attack on Skadarska Krajina. Having received confirmation of the amnesty, he ordered Plamenac to retreat with his forces in February 1862.[8]
The local populace mostly retreated from Krnjice fearing reprisals. However, a group of men from Krnjice under the command of captain Kola Petrov Lukić barricaded themselves in Gornje Krnjice. An Ottoman unit led by Hasan Hot attacked Petrov's forces. A unit from Crmnica led by Plamenac, as well as a detachment of several thousand Montenegrins led by Petar Vujović went to the aid of Petrov's men. The Battle of Krnjice ended in a victory for Montenegro and was used as casus belli by the Ottomans leading to the Montenegrin–Ottoman War of 1862 which raged from April to August. During the war, Ilija Plamenac was stationed near the border with Skadarska Krajina in a unit led by vojvoda Mašo Đurović.[8]
Senator and diplomat
After the war, Prince Nikola appointed Plamenac to the Administrative Senate of Montenegro and the Highlands. He was to replace his uncle, Turo Stevov Plamenac, who had died in the Battle of Meterizi in August 1862. Simultaneously, Ilija became a vojvoda.[9]
Plamenac was designated to lead a diplomatic mission to Constantinople in 1866. His goal was to negotiate property laws, the occupation of several de jure Montenegrin villages, and the building of forts near Montenegro after the Montenegrin-Ottoman war of 1862. Plamenac arrived in Constantinople in mid 1866, and handed a memorandum on Montenegrin-Ottoman territorial issues to Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, the Foreign Minister.[10]
Disheartened with the time Âli Pasha kept him waiting, Plamenac spoke to the
Plamenac travelled to Saint Petersburg and Berlin[13] in 1869 with Prince Nikola, Belgrade in January 1871 and Vienna in 1874. Most of these travels concerned procuring military equipment, since his task as Senator was the reorganization and modernization of the army of Montenegro.[14]
Montenegrin–Ottoman War of 1876–1878
At the beginning of the
Countering movements by the Ottoman army, Plamenac stationed his troops in the village of Fundina in
In early June 1877 the Ottoman advance was halted at the
In the aftermath of the war, Plamenac became commander of the Littoral and Skadarska Krajina, two regions acquired by Montenegro following the Congress of Berlin. The troops under Plamenac and Božo Petrović-Njegoš took Spuž, Velje Brdo, Malo Brdo and Podgorica in 1879. Plamenac became the first Mayor of Podgorica. After negotiations with the authorities of the Sanjak of Scutari, Plamenac took the regions of the Gruda and Hoti in late 1880.[15]
Political career
In 1879, with the formation of the new Government of Montenegro, the Ministry and the State Council, Plamenac served as the Minister of Defence of the Principality of Montenegro. He served in the Cabinet of Božo Petrović-Njegoš from 1879 to 1905, and as the first Mayor of Podgorica from 1879 to 1886.[16]
With the advent of parliamentarianism and more capable Western-schooled political elites, Plamenac became increasingly sidelined. His place in government was a mostly symbolic position. He was replaced after the entry into force of the liberal Constitution of Montenegro in 1905. After this, he would go on to write his memoirs, mostly centered on refuting claims of cowardice and poor leadership in the Battle of Fundina laid out against him by his former compatriot Marko Miljanov.[4]
Honours
Ilija Plamenac received the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie Third Class from Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha following their successful negotiations in 1866.[17] He received the Russian Order of Saint Anna Second Class during his trip to Saint Petersburg with Prince Nikola in 1869, and Order of St. George Fourth Class on 12 April 1877.[18] Upon visiting Prussia in 1869, Plamenac received the Order of the Crown Second Class.[19] He was also awarded the Serbian Order of the Cross of Takovo and Medal for Bravery as well as other Italian, Bulgarian, French and Austrian orders.[20]
References
- ^ a b "Vojvoda Ilija Plamenac bio je prvi upravitelj Podgorice". Portal Analitika (in Montenegrin). 6 March 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d Plamenac 2004, p. 7.
- ^ a b c d Plamenac 2004, pp. 11–15.
- ^ a b Plamenac 2004, p. 16.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 39.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, pp. 41–44.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 245.
- ^ a b Plamenac 2004, p. 8.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 9.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, pp. 70–72.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, pp. 76–80.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 10.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 177.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 11.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 15.
- ^ M. L. (16 January 2007). "Od Plamenca do Mugoše: Gradonačelnici Podgorice od 1879. do danas". Pobjeda. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 82.
- ^ Георгиевская страница : Кавалеры Военного ордена 4-го класса
- ^ Plamenac 2004, p. 173.
- ^ Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 86.
Sources
- Plamenac, Ilija (2004). Andrijašević, Živko; Burzanović, Slavko (eds.). Memoari (in Montenegrin). Podgorica: CID; Udruženje Crmničana "Crmnica". ISBN 978-86-495-0282-6.
External links
- Media related to Ilija Plamenac at Wikimedia Commons