Podgorica Assembly in the context of "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes"

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⭐ Core Definition: Podgorica Assembly

The Great People's Assembly of the Serb People in Montenegro (Serbo-Croatian: Велика народна скупштина српског народа у Црној Гори, romanizedVelika narodna skupština srpskog naroda u Crnoj Gori), commonly known as the Podgorica Assembly (Подгоричка скупштина, Podgorička skupština), was an ad hoc popular assembly convened in November 1918, after the end of World War I in the Kingdom of Montenegro. The committee convened the assembly with the aim of facilitating an unconditional union of Montenegro and Serbia and removing Nikola I of Montenegro from the throne. The assembly was organised by a committee supported by and coordinating with the government of the Kingdom of Serbia. The unification was successful and preceded the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as a unified state of South Slavs by mere days. The unification was justified by Serbian irredentists by the need to create a single Serbian state for all Serbs, including Montenegro, where a part of the population believed that Montenegro belonged to the Serbian nation and supported the unification.

Nikola I criticised the Podgorica Assembly's elections and resolutions, arguing both were illegitimate and unlawful while his government was in exile in France. Opponents of the unconditional union, known as the Greens for the colour of paper used for pro-independence candidates, supported either full independence of Montenegro or a federation or a confederation with Serbia and other South Slavs where Montenegro would be an equal partner.

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Podgorica Assembly in the context of Kingdom of Montenegro

The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe, present-day Montenegro, during the tumultuous period of time on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Officially it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolutist in practice. On 28 November 1918, following the end of World War I, with the Montenegrin government still in exile, the Podgorica Assembly proclaimed unification with the Kingdom of Serbia, which itself was merged into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes three days later, on 1 December 1918. This unification with Serbia lasted, through various successor states, for almost 88 years, ending in 2006.

During this period, Montenegro remained largely rural and traditional. The constitution, adopted in 1905, provided a basic framework for governance and recognized some civil rights, such as freedom of religion and the press, but the political system remained heavily centered on the king. King Nikola maintained tight control over political life, and the state operated with only limited parliamentary influence. The society was patriarchal and conservative, with significant influence from the church and tribal customs, and few advancements in terms of modernization or civil institutions.

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