History
The history of today's Montenegro began in the VII century with formation of an ancient Slavic state of Dukla, whose centre was in the Roman town of Dioclea, within the present capital of Montenegro, Podgorica. That region, located in a compact isolated area in the basin of Lake Skadar, surrounded by mountain chains, was fated to become a base for further socio-political development of the state of Montenegro. Since the XI century, its name was gradually changed to Zeta, derived, presumably, from an Old Slavic word of zhnets, a reaper.In 1439, Zeta acquired its today's name of Montenegro or Crna Gora, translated from the Venetian dialect of the Italian language as Black Mountain. King Ivan Crnojevic transferred the capital to the city of Cetinje.
Montenegro did not take part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, but the Treaty of San Stefano gave it the frontier areas and an access to the sea with the ports of Bar and Ulcinj. The Congress of Berlin held 1878 resulted in recognition of independence of Montenegro by the western countries, but left it only one port, Bar.
Montenegro entered World War I right after its declaration and was at war together with Serbia on the side of the Allies, thereafter capitulated and was occupied by Austro-Hungarian troops. Upon liberation in 1918, the Skupstina, the Serb Parliament, held in Podgorica adopted a programme of affiliation with the Yugoslavian Kingdom.
From the late November 1918 to the early October 1929, Montenegro was a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (KSCS); from October 3, 1929 to July 12, 1941 a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (KY).
During World War II, Montenegro was occupied first by Italy and then by Germany; from 1943 to 1944, the country was occupied by Germans.
The 70s saw a significant movement towards decentralisation and democratisation; Yugoslavia was involved in a bloody civil war, resulting in separation of Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 90s.
In 1992, Montenegro together with Serbia formed a new state of the Federal Republic Yugoslavia. However, the FRY existed for slightly more than 10 years because of disagreements and was liquidated in February 4, 2003.
The same day saw formation of the State Community of Serbia and Montenegro. It existed for three years, and on May 21, 2006, the referendum of the people of Montenegro re-established independence of the country.
In June 2006, Montenegro joined the OSCE and the UNO. September 10, 2006 saw the first parliamentary elections after independence had been gained.