Montenegrins
- The word Montenegrins may also refer to all residents of Montenegro, regardless of nationality.
Montenegrins are South Slavs who are primarily associated with Montenegro. The matter of Montenegrin nationhood is a controversial issue primarily among the Serbs.
With regard to history, language, religion and ethnic origin, Montenegrins are most closely related to the Serbs, although there are links with the other South Slavs, too. Numerous historical documents confirm that Montenegrins have felt that they have Serbian ethnic identity.
The origins of Montenegrin national independence are traced to the distinct state that the people of Montenegro enjoyed during the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans. Montenegro was an autonomous principality (one separate from Serbia) for several centuries, and in the period after the Turkish withdrawal, it was a fully independent kingdom.
The 19th century national romanticism among the South Slavs caused an increasing unification between these peoples, most so between the Montenegrins and the Serbians, which became increasingly considered as two parts of a single Serbian nation.
Montenegro and Serbia remained separate until 1918, when both kingdoms became part of Yugoslavia. The royal Yugoslav government made the national unification of the Montenegrins and the Serbians into a policy, although this unconditional merger — or forceful annexation — under the crown of the Serbian dynasty, was seen by some of the Montenegrins as an imposition. A number of them rose up in arms in a struggle better known as the Christmas Rebellion.
The Communist Party of Yugoslavia opposed the Yugoslav monarchy and this unification/annexation policy. Their main argument behind this move was Montenegrin state tradition, despite the fact that joint states of the medieval Serbs existed prior to the Montenegrin state and that the borders of the 20th century Montenegro weren't part of the old Montenegrin state. Nevertheless, this caused it to gain much popularity. During the subsequent Axis occupation in World War II, many Montenegrin citizens took up arms to fight in the Partisans led by Josip Broz Tito of the Communist party.
When the Communist Yugoslavia was formed in 1945, the régime sanctioned and fostered a national identity of Montenegrins, i.e. as a people distinct from the Serbs. The number of people who registered as Montenegrins in Montenegro was at 90% in 1948, but it has been dropping since, to 62% in 1991, and to 40% in 2003. For a detailed overview of these trends, see Demographic history of Montenegro.
After the fall of Communism, the idea has been taken over by independence-minded Montenegrins. Since the mid-1990s and a de facto defeat of Serbian nationalist ideas in the Yugoslav wars, the Montenegrins elected a new leadership that distanced itself from the policies of the Serbian authoritarian president Slobodan Milošević. At the same time, Milošević remained a figure of inspiration for many of the pro-Serb parties in Montenegro, which continued as a strong political force. Montenegro has since been rather polarized over this issue.
The population of Montenegro is presently divided between the group composed of the Montenegrins by nationality, the Montenegro Muslims and the Montenegro Catholics; and the group composed of the Montenegro Serbs. The former group forms a slim majority over the latter.
The Muslim and Catholic minorities support the idea of Montenegrin nationality likely due to their own efforts of self-determination, and because their links to the Orthodox Serbs are weak. For example, it is estimated that almost a half of those opting for the Montenegrin language as their mother tongue on the 2003 census are religious minorities. Some of the notable people who support Montenegrin independence and by extension don't support a national/ethnic rapprochement of the Serbs and the Montenegrins, include Šerbo Rastoder (a Slavic Muslim from Berane declared as a Bosniak), don Branko Sbutega (a Roman Catholic priest from Kotor declared as a Croat), Esad Kočan (a Slavic Muslim).
A number of Montenegrins live in Serbia, and still maintain Montenegrin lore, family ties and tribal affiliation; they could not have been said not to be Montenegrins, yet at censa they declare themselves mostly as Serbs. Some have risen to high cultural, economic and political positions and are widely known as Serbs while few know that they are Montenegrins; for example, even Slobodan Milošević is a Montenegrin, the first generation of his family to live in Serbia.