ABSTRACT
The history of Montenegro can be variously interpreted to either affirm or negate the country's basically Serbian character. However, by 1482, Serbia, Bosnia, Hercegovina, and Albania had all been subjugated by the Turks, leaving Montenegro entirely surrounded by its Ottoman enemies. The threat of Islam had endowed the Church with considerable influence, and Montenegro continued to be governed by its vladike until 1851. In 1912, Montenegro joined Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece in the First Balkan War against Turkey, and, with the Ottoman defeat, acquired territory in the Sandzak of Novi Pazar, thus establishing a common border with Serbia. During the period between the two World Wars, Montenegro remained firmly under the control of the pro Serbian faction which ruthlessly repressed all opposition. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Montenegrins were drawn increasingly into the sphere of European affairs.
