Montenegrins (people)
Montenegrins are a South Slavic people who are primarily associated with Montenegro.
The Montenegrin people are closely related to the Serbs in history, language, religion and ethnic origin. Numerous historical documents confirm that Montenegrins have always had a Serbian ethnic identity.
However, they enjoyed a distinct state from other Serbs during the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans (Montenegro was a principality separate from Serbia) and the period after the Turkish withdrawal, until 1918 when both kingdoms became part of Yugoslavia.
The Communist Party of Yugoslavia opposed the royal Serbian policy of unification between the Montenegrins and the Serbians, and gained much popularity. Since 1945, a national identity of Montenegrins, as a people distinct from the Serbs, has been fostered by the Communist régime in Yugoslavia. Support for such an idea in Montenegro has been dropping since, from 90% of the population of Montenegro in 1948, to 62% in 1991, to 40% in 2003. For 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, who are supported by the large Muslim and Catholic minorities, because their links to the Orthodox Serbs are weak.
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 Milosevic is a Montenegrin, the first generation of his family to live in Serbia.
See also
