Principality of Montenegro
Principality of Montenegro Књажевина Црна Горa Knjaževina Crna Gora | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1852–1910 | |||||||||
.svg) .svg) Flag during the reign of
Nikola I Petrović (below) | |||||||||
| Anthem: Убавој нам Црној Гори Nikola I | |||||||||
| President of the Ministerial Council[1] | |||||||||
• 1905–1906 (first) | Lazar Mijušković[2] | ||||||||
• 1907–1910 (last) | Lazar Tomanović | ||||||||
| Legislature | None (rule by decree) (until 1905) Popular Assembly (from 1905) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 13 March 1852 | |||||||||
| 1 May 1858 | |||||||||
| 18 July 1876 | |||||||||
| 13 July 1878 | |||||||||
| 19 December 1905 | |||||||||
| 28 August 1910 | |||||||||
| Currency | Montenegrin Perper (1906–1910) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Montenegro | ||||||||
The Principality of Montenegro (
The capital was Cetinje and the Montenegrin perper was used as the state currency from 1906. The territory corresponded to the central area of modern-day Montenegro. It officially was a constitutional monarchy.
Name
In Danilo I's Code, dated to 1855, he explicitly states that he is the "knjaz and gospodar of Crna Gora and Brda" (Serbian: књаз и господар Црне Горе и Брда / knjaz i gospodar Crne Gore i Brda; "prince and lord of Montenegro and Brda", "duke and lord of Montenegro and Brda").[3] In 1870, Nikola had the title of "knjaz of Crna Gora and Brda" (књаз Црне Горе и Брда / knjaz Crne Gore i Brda; "prince of Montenegro and Brda", "duke of Montenegro and Brda"), while two years later, the state was called "Knjaževina of Crna Gora" (Књажевина Црна Гора / Knjaževina Crna Gora; "Principality of Montenegro", "Duchy of Montenegro").[4]
History
Reign of Danilo
The Principality was formed on 13 March 1852 when
Reign of Nikola
After the assassination of Danilo I on 13 August 1860,
The political skills of Abdul Hamid and Nikola I played a major role on the mutually amicable relations.
Government
Rulers
- Danilo I (13 March 1852 – 13 August 1860)
- Nikola I(13 August 1860 – 28 August 1910)
Flags
The historical war flags were the krstaš-barjak, plain flags with crosses in the centre. The Montenegrin war flag used in the
Constitution of 1855
Danilo I used the Law of Petar I Petrović-Njegoš, as an inspiration for his own "General Law of the Land" from 1855, also called "Danilo I's Code" (zakonik Danila prvog). Danilo's Code was based on Montenegrin traditions and customs and it is considered to be the first national constitution in Montenegrin history. It also stated rules, protected privacy and banned warring on the Austrian Coast (Bay of Kotor). It also stated: Although there is no other nationality in this land except Serb nationality and no other religion except Eastern Orthodoxy, each foreigner and each person of different faith can live here and enjoy the same freedom and the same domestic right as Montenegrin or Highlander.
Constitution of 1905
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At the beginning of the 20th century, political differences were starting to culminate. The country was now enlarged territorially and saw almost four decades of peace; unusual for a country seemingly constantly at war during its time under Ottoman rule.
Prince Nikola I was the longest reigning of all the Balkan dynasties, and by many perceived as the most experienced diplomat and politician. On the other hand, there was a growing population of dissatisfied young people, educated mainly abroad, who saw his rule as absolutistic and autocratic. Gathered in Belgrade, where they had support from certain political parties, they were demanding the reorganisation of government administration, constitutionalisation and the introduction of parliament.
The opposition grew as their demands were supported by certain number of old military leaders and various clans' representatives. These primitive forms of nobility were mainly old and conservative, but due to their own personal antagonisms towards the prince or because of their own political ambitions, they sided with those demanding modernisation.
For years, Nikola I and his defenders argued that Montenegrin society was not sufficiently evolved to understand the significance of constitutional monarchy. Moreover, they argued that the introduction of parliamentarism and political parties would again stir up the old feuds between clans and destabilise hard won unity.
Neighboring
Finally,
Montenegro is now a constitutional hereditary monarchy. Legislative power is vested in parliament as well as in the prince. The prince is the supreme commander of the armed forces, representing the state in foreign affairs. He declares war and signs the peace and alliances and also informs parliament on the matter; he has the right to appoint government officials; he is the protector of all the recognised religions in the country and he has the right of abolition and amnesty. He calls up meetings of parliament in regular and irregular sessions, opens up and closes the sessions personally, by speech from the throne or by ministry council with his decree. He has the right to dissolve parliament as well as to postpone parliamentary sessions. The dissolution decree must be countersigned by all ministers. Every adult male citizen has the right to be elected as MP, who hasn't been convicted and was not under any form of investigation, no matter the amount of taxes he pays. Active officers, NCO's and soldiers in the army did not have the right to vote. Passive suffrage is available to every citizen older than 30, who permanently resides in Montenegro, enjoys full civil rights and pays at least 15 krones of taxes. Administrative officials cannot be elected to parliament. The elections were direct, and despite the fact that the method of voting was not regulated by constitution, it was usually done publicly. The deputies were elected for a four-year term. Aside from the elected MP's, there were 14 parliament seats for the so-called virile deputies (by the position they take in the government or society). These included the Metropolitan of Montenegro, the Archbishop of Bar and Primate of Serbia, the Montenegrin Mufti, the president and the members of the State Council, the president of the High Court, the president of the Main Control and three brigadiers named by the prince himself.
No law can be passed, repealed, changed or reviewed without the acceptance of parliament. However, the initiative for the law to be passed or for the existing one to be changed can come from government to parliament or vice versa, but formal legislative projects can be made by government only. The role and the position of parliament was quite damaged by this fact. Parliament had the right to pass the budget, but for doing so it could not ask for the conditions that were not related to it. In other words, rejection of the budget cannot be used to dissolve a government, so, if parliament was to repeal the budget, the prince could extend the validness of the last year's budget to the following year. This particular example shows that the constitution did not complete the task of limiting the ruler's power. Finally, no new tax can be imposed without the agreeance of parliament.
The prince is the one who appoints and dismisses the ministers. The Ministry Council stands as the head of country's bureaucracy and is subordinated directly to the prince. For their official actions, the ministers can be held responsible by either parliament or the prince. A minister can be charged for treason, for acting against the constitution, for corruption, for damaging the state out of his own interest and if his actions are against the law in the cases set by the Law of Ministerial Responsibility. A minister can be charged by government, parliament or prince and his statute of limitations is set at five years.
State Council, composed of six members, appointed by the prince, provides the role of supreme administrative court, reviews government's legal initiatives and has jurisdiction over some subjects of financial nature. There are also high courts and municipal courts. The courts are independent in providing justice. The judges cannot be transferred without legal standpoint. The constitution also introduced local self-management through municipal courts, municipal committees and municipal assemblies. It also provided civil rights and freedom, law equality, courts jurisdiction, abolition of death penalty for purely political reasons, excluding the attempt on the life of prince or the members of the royal family. The aforementioned abolition was also not valid in cases where aside from political quilt, some other criminal action was done, as well as in cases punished by death according to military law. Right to personal property, the freedom of press and the right of assembly were also guaranteed. The constitution was followed by Penal Law (1906), Penal Procedure Law, Commerce and Obligations Law and the Lawyer's Management Law (1910).[10]
Despite all its flaws and restrictions, the Montenegrin Constitution of 1905 was an important introduction of modern liberal tendencies in European societies and of human rights and freedoms in a small patrimonial Balkan country.
Demographic history
| History of Montenegro |
|---|
 |
| Prehistory |
| Middle Ages and early modern |
| Modern and contemporary |
| Topics |
- Bernard Schwartz estimated in 1882 that the Principality had 160,000 inhabitants, although a more usual estimate is that it was around 230,000 inhabitants.[11]
- In 1900, according to international sources, the Principality of Montenegro had 311,564 inhabitants. By religion, it had 293,527 Roman Catholics (3%). 71,528 (23%) were literate.[11]
- In 1907, it had been estimated that there were around 282,000 inhabitants in Montenegro, the majority of Orthodox faith.
- In 1909 the first official census was undertaken by the authorities. According to it, there was a total of 317,856 inhabitants, although the real number was close to 220,000 inhabitants. The mother tongue by 95%, while Albanian was spoken by most of the rest. By religion, there were 94% Orthodox Christians, the rest being mostly Muslims and smaller numbers of Roman Catholics.[citation needed]
Subdivisions
The Principality of Montenegro was divided into 10 administrative divisions, called
- Katunska nahija (Катунска нахија)
- Riječka nahija (Ријечка нахија)
- Crmnička nahija (Црмничка нахија)
- Primorska nahija (Приморска нахија)
- Lješanska nahija (Љешанска нахија)
- Zetska nahija(Зетска нахија)
- Brdska nahija(Брдска нахија)
- Vasojevićka nahija (Васојевићка нахија)
- Moračka nahija (Морачка нахија)
- Nikšićka nahija (Никшићка нахија)
Church
The
References
- Head of the Senate of Montenegro and the Highlands(1852–1879); President of the State Council (1879–1905); President of the Ministerial Council (1905–1910)
- Prime minister of Principality of Montenegro
- ^ Stvaranje, 7–12. Obod. 1984. p. 1422.
Црне Горе и Брда историјска стварност коЈа се не може занема- рити, што се види из назива Законика Данила I, донесеног 1855. године који гласи: "ЗАКОНИК ДАНИЛА I КЊАЗА И ГОСПОДАРА СЛОБОДНЕ ЦРНЕ ГОРЕ И БРДА".
- ^ Čedomir Popov (2000). Istorija srpske državnosti: Srbija i Crna Gora : novovekovne srpske države. Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti. p. 254.
- ^ ISBN 9789751625274
- ^ Ivanović (2006), Problematika autokefalije Mitropolije Crnogorsko-primorske,
Крсташ-барјак, познатији као вучедолска застава, је у ствари косовски крсташ-барјак, који су преживјели косовски витезови донијели у Црну Гору послије боја на Косову.
- ^ Nenadović, Ljubomir P. (1929). O Crnogorcima: pisma sa Cetinja 1878. godine, Volume 212 (in Serbian). Štamparija "Sv. Sava,". p. 187.
- ^ Grbovi, zastave i himne u istoriji Crne Gore. p. 66.
У члану 39. стоји: "Народне су боје: црвена плаветна и бијела". Ова уставна одредба може се сматрати првим законским утемељењем црногорске државне (народне) заставе. Претхо- дним планом (38) прописан је државни грб ...
- ^ Ivanović, ... симболи буду засновани на тим традицијама. Државна застава Црне Горе кроз историју је била српска тробојница, што је ре- гулисано и Уставом Књажевине Црне Горе, у члану 39: "Народне боје су црвена, плаветна и бијела ..., p. 92
- ^ http://www.montenegrina.net/pages/pages1/istorija/dokumenti/Ustav%20Crne%20Gore%20iz%201905.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica 1911:
In 1882 the population of Montenegro was estimated as low as 160,000 by Schwartz. A more usual estimate is 230,000. According, however, to information officially furnished at Cettigne (Cetinje), the total number of inhabitants in 1900 was 311,564, of whom 293,527 belonged to the Orthodox Church. 12,493 were Muslim and 5544 were Roman Catholics; 71,528
Sources
- Ђуро Поповић; Јован Рогановић (1899). "ЗЕМЉОПИС КЊАЖЕВИНЕ ЦРНЕ ГОРЕ за УЧЕНИКЕ III РАЗРЕДА ОСНОВНЕ ШКОЛЕ". К. Ц. Школска Комисија.
External links
