Royal Montenegrin Army
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The Royal Montenegrin Army (in Serbian/Montenegrin: Војска Краљевине Црне Горе; Vojska Kraljevine Crne Gore) or the Army of Kingdom of Montenegro, was the army of Kingdom of Montenegro.
Creation of the army[edit]
The creation of Royal Montenegrin Army succeeded on 28 August 1910, during the proclamation of Kingdom of Montenegro, becoming to Nicholas I of Montenegro as king and commander-in-chief of the new army, to the Prime Minister of Kingdom of Montenegro as commander and the Minister of Defence of Kingdom of Montenegro as the Division General of the Army. It will pass a year and Montenegro will join with Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, founding the Balkan League, a military alliance to finish the Ottoman dominion on the Balkans.[citation needed]
Montenegro on Balkan Wars[edit]
First Balkan War[edit]
The Kingdom of Montenegro was the first country to declare war to the Ottoman Empire, attacking the Ottoman city of Novi Pazar to liberate to the christians subjected by the Ottomans. The Montenegrin Army was controlled under the Nicholas and, commanded by the Prince Danilo and Peter, both Nicholas I of Montenegro's sons, and the generals Janko Vukotič and Mitar Martinović. Although Montenegro was the smallest country of the Balkan Peninsula, his military power was incredible:
| Prince Danilo of Montenegro (supreme command) Prince Peter of Montenegro (command) Primorje Division (Mitar Martinović)
Zeta Division (Danilo of Montenegro)
East Division (Janko Vukotić)
|
Montenegro did not have a professional army, being the smallest European army[7] of all the wars it had experienced and apart from its scarce resources, such as guns, machine guns, artillery pieces and cannons, most of its citizens were soldiers or army officers, but good, although it had few men, its casualties were not very serious, losing less than 50% of his men, in the First Balkan War, where 2,836 men were killed, 6,602 wounded and 406 died of disease.[citation needed]
Second Balkan War[edit]
Montenegro gained the eastern part of Kosovo, Metohija, except the area of Prizren, gained by Serbia, but didn't get Shkodër[8] after eight months of siege. Bulgaria accused Serbia of conquest territories non-propose in the treaty, then Bulgaria declared war on Serbia, starting the Second Balkan War. Montenegro will join Serbia, sending 12,800 men below, under the command of Nicholas and Prince Danilo and the general Janko Vukotić. Bulgaria will surrendered in less than a month, only lose 1% of his men, 1,201 casualties; 241 killed and 961 wounded.[citation needed]
Montenegro on WW1[edit]
On 28 July 1914, the heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne, the archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie Chotek were assassinated by the Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip. Austria-Hungary send an ultimatum to Serbia telling him that he carried out the attack, but refuse, then Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia, protector of all Slavs, principally to Serbia and Montenegro, declared war on Austria-Hungary in defence of Serbia. Germany, ally of Austria-Hungary, declared war to Russia, and France, ally of Russia, declared war to Germany, starting World War 1.[citation needed]
Nicholas decided to maintain the neutrality because his country was recovering after the Balkan Wars and he isn't prepared to affront Austria-Hungary, a superpower with 10 times more men in the army and very equipped and trained, and 100 times more in its population. But the Serbian population of Montenegro supported Serbia and wanted Nicholas to enter the war. Montenegro would enter the war on 6 August 1914.[citation needed]
Montenegro on Serbian campaign of 1914[edit]
Montenegro mobilized 45–50,000 men of his army, with 62 batteries, 14 land cannons and 62 machine guns. Together with 427,597 men of the Royal Serbian Army, they added 465–470,597 men versus 500,000 men of the Austro-Hungarian Army, being defeated in December 1914 with the half of the army lose. Serbia also suffered making 3/4 of the men lose and Montenegro did lose below 1%[9] of the army.[citation needed]
Militarization on Serbian campaign of 1914[edit]
| Type | Austria-Hungary | Serbia + Montenegro
(total) |
|---|---|---|
| Battalion | 329 | 209 |
| Battery | 200 | 122 + 62 (184) |
| Squadron | 51 | 44 |
| Engineering companies | 50 | 30 |
| Land cannon | 1243 | 718 + 14 (732) |
| Machine guns | 490 | 315 + 62 (377) |
| Total soldiers | 500.000 | 420.597 + 45–50.000 (465-470.597) |
References[edit]
- ^ The Royal Monteengrin Army has disbanded on 25 January 1916, after the Austro-Hungarian conquest of Kingdom of Montenegro in Montenegrin campaign, after the Austro-Hungarian Army captured to the whole army and Janko Vukotić, Chief of Staff of the Montenegrin High Command, making them prisoners
- ^ Since Nicholas went to exile in France, he gave all powers of Royal Montenegrin Army to Janko Vukotić, becoming Chief of Staff of the Montenegrin High Command
- ^ Eldest son of Nicholas I of Montenegro
- ^ All the nottable commanders were Prime Minister (except Radomir Vešović) or politicians (except Krsto Popović) and Minister of Defence of Kingdom of Montenegro
- ^ Commander-in-chief
- ^ Principaly, almost all Ministers of Defence of Kingdom of Montenegro were Prime Ministers of Kingdom of Montenegro (except for Radomir Vešović)
- ^ Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Andorra did not have or even had an army, although Luxembourg now has less than 1,000 soldiers, the army of the Kingdom of Montenegro had the smallest army in all of Europe since its creation in 1910.
- ^ Shkodër was important to Montenegro during the First Balkan War because of its strategic location and its value as an economic and cultural center. The city was located near the border between Montenegro and the Ottoman Empire, making it a key point for controlling the region and ensuring access to important trade routes. Furthermore, Skhodër had a cultural and symbolic meaning for Montenegro, as it was a part of its history and traditions. Shkhodër was captured by Montenegro during the war, which allowed it to expand its territory and increase its influence in the region.
- ^ 1,700 men were killed or wounded