History
The first settlers which inhabited a present-day Montenegro were the Illyrians, the Celts and the Romans. They were followed by the Slavic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries. In the 9th century, the first state originated on this territory called Zeta. A Serbian realm achieved the independence of Byzantium in 1217 under the rule of the Nemanjic dynasty. It existed only a short time, when the Serbian troops were defeated by the Turkish during the Battle of Kosovo field. In 1459 Serbia became part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1876 Montenegro on the side of Serbia entered the war against Turkey and after the victory, gained the important territories of the Adriatic coast. After World War I (1918), the country was annexed to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro). In 1941 Yugoslavia became a German ally. The nation opposed to the regime of that time, overthrew it and the country was attacked by the Germans. Montenegro was annexed to Italy.
Yugoslavia preserved her independence also after World War II. The leadership of the country was assumed by Josip Broz Tito. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia became republics and Jugoslavia became a federation. In 1991, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia emancipated from Yugoslavia. In 1992, their example was followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina and this fact caused that the country lost many sources of her income and the hatred grew into the bloody civil war. Croatia's and Slovenia's independence was recognized by the European Union. Bosnia and Hertzegovina remained part of Yugoslavia and the war in Montenegro began. After the referendum in 1992, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia arose- thanks to the federation of Montenegro with Serbia. The peace between Croatia, Bosnia and Hertzegovina and Yugoslavia was declared in 1995. On February 4, 2003 Yugoslavia was renamed to Serbia and Montenegro. On June 3, 2006 the Parliament of Montenegro declared the independence of Montenegro; the state of Serbia formally existed until June 5 when Serbia assumed the succession.
