NATIONALISM

and
THE BALKANS

Edited By
Abidin TEMİZER

Lyon 2020
 Editor • Assoc. Prof. Abidin Temizer, Ph.D.
Published by Livre de Lyon • © 2020, Lyon

ISBN • 978-2-490773-54-1

© copyright
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
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Livre de Lyon
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 CONTENTS
Preface…………………………………………………...I
Contents………………………………………………..III
Referee Board…………………………………………..V

Božidar Jezernik
The Clash Between Mıllet and Natıon in The Balkan
Penınsula………………………………………………..1

Abidin Termizer
Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš's Efforts to Nationalize
Montenegro and His Obstacles……………...................33

Tuğrul Özcan
The Nascency of Bulgarian National Identity from
Autonomy to Independence (1878-1908)……………....45

Wojciech SZCZEPAŃSKI
Local Conflicts Between Albanians and Serbs in The
European Part of Turkey at The Turn of The 19th and 20th
Century-The Basis of Political Aspirations………………79

Hasan Babacan
Malisor Rebellion and the Attitude of the Ottoman
Empire…..….…………………………………………..99

Cristian Sandache
The Yugoslav Space and The Issue of The Relations
Between Croatia and Serbia (1918-1945). Some
Sequences ….…………………………………………117
NIKOLA I PETROVIĆ-NJEGOŠ'S EFFORTS
TO NATIONALIZE MONTENEGRO AND HIS
OBSTACLES
Abidin TEMİZER

The national awakening ideology emerged in

Montenegro in the late 19th century. Nikola I
Petrović-Njegoš, who remained on the throne for 58
years (1860 - 1918) and was the main architect of the
Montenegrin national identity movement, brought
independence to Montenegro and transformed the
country from Principality to Kingdom in 1910. In his
efforts to nationalize Montenegro, Nikola I opposed
the country's Croats, Serbs, and Muslims (Bosniak -
Albanian), who were main national groups in the
country together with the Montenegrins.
There are a few questions to come to mind in
Nikola I's efforts to build a national social structure in
Montenegro. The first of these questions is, with the
words of Siniša Maleševič and Gordana Uzelac,
"Was Nikola I, building a nation-state without a
nation?1 " In fact, considering the demographic
structure of the period, the thing Nikola I did was
nothing different. More than half of Montenegro's
population consisted of Muslims, Croats, Serbs, or
Catholic Albanians. For example, as of 1879, 86.6%
of Podgorica's population consisted of Muslims. In


(Assoc. Prof. Ph.D.); Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University,
Faculty Arts and Sciences Department of History, Burdur,
Turkey. E-mail: abitem@gmail.com
1
Siniša Maleševič and Gordana Uzelac, “A Nation-state without
the nation? The trajectories of nation-formation in Montenegro”,
Nations and Nationalism, 13 (4), 2007, p.695-716.
34 | Nikola I Efforts to Nationalize Montenegro

1881, 30.9% of Bar's population was Muslim and

24.6% were Catholics of Albanian origin. Just before
Ulcinj joined the borders of Montenegro, its entire
population consisted of Albanians.2 The situation was
not different in many other cities in the country.
Nikola I wanted to adapt the citizens of other nations
or religions /sects that constituted more than half of
the country's population to the national state that he
wanted to build after independence. With this in
mind, he started his assimilation and oppression
policy right after 1878. The aim of Nikola I in his
assimilation policy was to push non-Montenegrin
groups into being more like Montenegrins. The aim
of the oppression exerted by Nikola I was to force the
people that he could not assimilate to migrate and
thereby proportionally increase the Montenegrin
population.
In fact, Nikola I was referred to as the most
religiously tolerant leader in the Balkans before
Montenegro gained independence. The declaration he
published in June 1876, “Announcement to the People
of Herzegovina" is the most important proof of this
tolerance. In this call, Nikola I talked about equality,
justice, tolerance, and security of life for Muslims.3.
This tolerant behavior of Nikola I changed after
independence. In particular, he caused some
problems to Muslims on religious, national, and
economic issues and many Muslims to migrate.

2
Michael Palairet, Balkan Ekonomileri, 1800–1914,
Kalkınmasız, Sabancı Üniversitesi Yayınları, İstanbul 2000, p.
35, 206.
3
Šerbo Rastoder, Bošnjaci/Muslimani Crne Gore İzmedu
Prošlosti i Sadašnjosti, Almanah, Podgorica 2010, p.14.
 Abidin Temizer | 35

Armed groups encouraged by the Montenegrin

government began raiding Muslim villages.
Moreover, as in Montenegro, these attacks extended
to the Sanjak region, which was not yet included in
the borders of Montenegro, but would be included
after the Balkan Wars. The attacks in Gusinje, Plav,4
Plejo Polje, Kolasin5, and in Berane6 between 1887-
1892 are just a few examples. The attacks in Ulcinj
and Tuzi7 also were a result of Nikola I's policy.
Nikola I attached importance to education within
the framework of assimilation policy and used
educational institutions as a tool to achieve its
national goals. With a law enacted in 1879, Nikola I
made attending public schools mandatory for all
children. Therefore, madrasahs, where Muslims
could receive religious education, were banned.
Religious education that Muslims should receive at
school was forbidden by Nikola I and classes by
Christian teachers and in the Montenegrin language
were made compulsory.8 In 1906, the schooling
policy that he started immediately after independence
built 112 primary schools in the country and two
secondary schools, one in Cetinje and the other in
Podgorica. On the other hand, he tried to meet the
higher education needs of the country at the

4
Directorate of State Archives Ottoman Archives (İstanbul)
(BOA), Y. E.E, 46/65, Date: 27/N/1304 (21 April 1887); BOA.
İ. DH, 7758, Date: 9/C/1303 (15 March 1886).
5
BOA. Y. PRK. ASK, 32/37, Date: 26/N/1303 (30 April 1886)
6
BOA, İ. DH, 1268/99717, Date: 8/Ş/1309 (07 March 1892);
BOA. Y. PRK. DH, 7/44, Date:25/N/1311 (01 April 1894).
7
BOA. Y. PRK. DH, 7/44, Date:25/N/1311 (1 April 1894).
8
Bajro Agović, Od Mekteba Do Medrese, Mešihat İslamske
Zajednice u Crnoj Gori, Podgorica 2012, p.70.
36 | Nikola I Efforts to Nationalize Montenegro

University of Belgrade, which generally supported

the Serbian-Montenegro connection at a new
political, ideological, and democratic level.9 This
movement initiated by Nikola I and called the
education modernization movement increased the
marginalization in society.
Tens of thousands of Muslims had to migrate due
to other oppression and assimilation policies
(Muslims' nationality problems, compulsory military
law, religious and economic issues), along with
education in Montenegrin schools.10
At this point, it is necessary to ask the second
question that comes to mind in Nikola I's efforts to
establish a national social structure in Montenegro.
The answer to the question “Why did Nikola I gave
up tolerance since 1878?” will help us interpret what
happened in Montenegro.
There are, of course, many answers to this
question. However, it is possible to find the answer,
which will cover all these, in the problem of
other/marginalization in history. Prior to
independence, in 1860, Nikola I became a leader in
such geography where almost all people were
Christians. Moreover, since Montenegro is located

9
Zuzana Poláčková; Pieter van Duin, “Montenegro Old and
New: History, Politics, Culture, and the People”, Studia Politica
Slovaca, V.6, Issue.1, 2013, p.70.
10
Abidin Temizer ““Karadağ’da Öteki Sorunu: Müslümanlar
(1878-1913)”, History Studies, Volume 5 Issue 3, p. 223-240,
May 2013.”, p.227-231; Bajro Agović, ibid, p.70; Abidin
Temizer ““Karadağ’da Öteki Sorunu: Müslümanlar (1878-
1913)”, History Studies, Volume 5 Issue 3, p. 223-240, May
2013.”, p.227-231.
 Abidin Temizer | 37

within the Ottoman borders, the few Muslims living

in Montenegro were the primary element of
Montenegro as well. In this period, Montenegro
aspires to gain its independence and tries all kinds of
ways. However, the Muslim population, which
increased with as new lands were gained after
independence, contradicts the national state idea that
Nikola I wants to establish. In fact Nikola I, studied
in England, where the Muslims of the West were
marginalized as well as in France, where the
foundations of orientalism were laid. Returning to his
country and then declaring his independence, Nikola
I met a community that was not his own with the
expansion of his borders. In other words, he faced
what he often heard in the West, the other. Moreover,
this community called the others who were Muslims.
There were two options to overcome this problem that
may prevent the national state that Nikola I wanted to
establish. The first was to assimilate the Muslims (for
Nikola I the others), and the second was to force
migration if they could not be assimilated. Nikola I
tried to reach his goal by resorting to both options
between 1878-191811.
Another question that should be asked in the face
of the changing policy of Nikola I is the question of
"which is the nationalism model that affected Nikola
I and was against the Croatians, Serbs, and Muslims
in Montenegro and caused the reaction of the
Ottoman Empire and Serbia".

11
Abidin Temizer, “ibid.", s.223-224; Šerbo Rastoder,
"Karadağ'dan Müslüman Göçleri, 1878'den Günümüze Kısa Bir
Tarih Denemesi", Muhacirlerin İzinde, Derleyen: Hayri
Kolaşinli, Lotus Yayınları, Ankara 2004, p.85-98.
38 | Nikola I Efforts to Nationalize Montenegro

Unlike the French liberal nationalism model that

was distant to religion and came before it, the
conservative German nationalism model, which was
defined by Hans Kohn in the 1950s and 60s, and
examined in detail later by Elia Kedouri and Liah
Greenfeld12 became a concept of nationalism that was
accepted especially in the Balkans by bringing
together the concepts of religion and nation. The
German national state model, which became more
prominent in the late 19th century, was modeled in
many countries, especially in Balkan countries such
as Greece, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria.13
However, the disadvantage of Nikola I was the
demographic structure of his country.
Prince Nikola I's liberal approach, which
previously embraced all people in Montenegro14 and
then transformed into a single nation, a single flag and
a single understanding of religion idea show that it
abandoned the liberal French model and adopted the
German national state model, which became the
dominant understanding of nationalism at the end of
the 19th century. The German national state's aim of
establishing a homogenous national state through the
education system, understanding, and the display of
cultural differences as a threat to national unity, as

12
Hans Kohn, The Idea of Nationalism: A Study in Its Origins
and Background, Transaction Publishers, 2005; Elie Kedourie,
Nationalism, Wiley-Blackwell, 1993; Liah Greenfeld,
Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity, Harvard University
Press, 1993.
13
Fotis Mavromatidis and Jeremy Leaman, German Influence in
the Western Balkans: Hegemony by Design or by Default?”,
DEBATTE, Volume 16, Number 1, Aprıl 2008, p.5-26.
14
BOA., HR. SYS, Dosya No: 839, Gömlek No:2.
 Abidin Temizer | 39

well as the elimination of these differences through

assimilation is in accordance with the French national
state model. As seen in other Balkan national states,
Prince Nikola I used aspects of both models that he
found to be politically useful.
When Nikola I declared his Kingdom in 1910 and
gave more weight to the construction of the national
state he dreamed of, his policy caused Serbia's
reaction15 because Nikola I's attempt to establish a
national identity in Montenegro coincided with
Serbia's ethnic policy. According to Serbia,
Montenegrins were ethnic Serbs living in
Montenegro. 16
The Ottoman Empire frequently intervened and
tried to protect the rights of Muslims in the face of the
policies created for Muslims in Montenegro.
However, despite all precautions and aid, Muslims
had to migrate from Montenegro due to pressure and
massacres. The migrations brought along some
problems. First of all, the lands and houses in
Montenegro left by the Muslims who had to migrate
caused problems between the parties. Memories left
by Muslims and lost lives were also reflected in the
present day as issues to be questioned.17
The obstacles to Nikola I's establishment of a
national state were not only Muslims, the Ottoman
State, and Serbia. The community and mentality

15
Siniša Maleševič and Gordana Uzelac, “ibid.”, p.700
16
Srđa Pavlović, “Who are Montenegrins? Statehood, identity,
and civic society”, Montenegro in Transition Problems of
Identity and Statehood, Florian Bieber (ed.), Nomos
Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden 2003, p.84.
17
Abidin Temizer, "ibid", p.237-238..
40 | Nikola I Efforts to Nationalize Montenegro

structure in Montenegro also prevented Nikola I.

Even the biggest obstacle to his dream was this
feature of Montenegro because of the family structure
of Montenegrins, which Nikola I tries to apply to
other nations', has also prevented Nikola I from time
to time. The tribal (family, clan / familija, bratstvo)
structuring seen in Montenegrin society has made the
national homogenization process even more difficult.
Despite the efforts of Nikola I and many nationalists,
the formation of Montenegrin identity has not been
achieved from tribal structuring.18
Conclusion
Since Nikola I wanted to establish a national state
in Montenegro, he followed an assimilation and
intimidation policy on others living within the
borders of his country, Muslims and Catholics. They
left these people with two choices: they will either fit
into the national state system that Nikola I wants to
build or they will migrate.
For this purpose, Nikola I interfered the lives of
people he saw as others, from education to their
economies, and forced them to migrate if they cannot
be assimilated.
The policies he applied, demonstrated that Nikola
I took the German national state model as an example.
In his policy, he stood against Muslims, Catholic
Albanians, and Croats. Since his policy coincided
with Serbia's policy, Serbia was also faced with the
reaction of the Ottoman State due to the pressure it
exerted on Muslims.

18
Srđa Pavlović, “ibid.”, p.85-88.
 Abidin Temizer | 41

Nikola I continued his policies to establish a

national state until 1918 when he was deposed.
However, he could not reach his goal.

Bibliography
Directorate of State Archives Ottoman Archives
(İstanbul) (BOA)
BOA. Y. E.E, 46/65, Tarih: 27/N/1304 (21 Nisan
1887); BOA. İ. DH, 7758, Tarih: 9/C/1303 (15
Mart 1886).
BOA. Y. PRK. ASK, 32/37, Tarih: 26/N/1303 (30
Nisan 1886)
BOA, İ. DH, 1268/99717, Tarih: 8/Ş/1309 (07 Mart
1892); BOA. Y. PRK. DH, 7/44,
Tarih:25/N/1311 (01 Nisan 1894).
BOA. Y. PRK. DH, 7/44, Tarih:25/N/1311 ( 1 Nisan
1894).
BOA, HR. SYS, Dosya No: 839, Gömlek No:2.
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Agović, Bajro, Od Mekteba Do Medrese, Mešihat
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Greenfeld, Liah, Nationalism: Five Roads to
Modernity, Harvard University Press, 1993.
Kedourie, Elie, Nationalism, Wiley-Blackwell, 1993.
Kohn, Hans, The Idea of Nationalism: A Study in Its
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Maleševič, Siniša and Uzelac, Gordana, “A Nation-
42 | Nikola I Efforts to Nationalize Montenegro

state without the nation? The trajectories of nation-

formation in Montenegro”, Nations and
Nationalism, 13 (4), 2007, pp. 695–716.
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 Abidin Temizer | 43

Abstract
In this study, the national state model that the
King of Montenegro Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš
wanted to create was discussed. In this context,
the policy pursued by Nikola I was analyzed, and
the reasons for its failure were emphasized.
As a source, documents and literature in the
Directorate of State Archives Ottoman Archives
were used.
Keywords: Montenegro, nationalism, Nikola I
Petrović-Njegoš, identity