According to historians Dragoljub Živojinović and Čedomir Antić, the draft law on the Petrović dynasty, on which the parliament in Podgorica should soon declare, and which mentions that Serbia annexed Montenegro in 1918, is a gross rewriting of history for political reasons.
"That is not true. Because even before 1918 there was a strongly emphasized national comitis movement in Montenegro, which advocated unification with the Kingdom of Serbia," claims Dragoljub Živojinović, corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
In addition, the Serbian army was under the command of the Eastern Army and General Franche d'Eperre decided on its movements.
Therefore, her entry into Montenegro was a consequence of the order of the commander of the Eastern Army, and not only for Montenegro, claims Živojinović.
Prince Nikola Petrović wanted to join Montenegro to Serbia, and in return he wanted to receive a certain material benefit, says Antić.
"They now want to deny and reject any validity and value, constitutionality, legitimacy of that great Podgorica National Assembly, and it was precisely the representative character of that assembly that was actually the best explanation of the mood of the then majority, the great majority of the population of Montenegro who declared themselves as Serbs and who definitely confirmed it with the declaration," says Živojinović.
Everything is political now
The whole thing is now political, claims Živojinović, adding that the annexation qualification is a gross falsification of history and has nothing to do with science.
Historian Čedomir Antić, who qualifies the proposal for a new law on the Petrović dynasty as a continuation of extreme politics, which, he says, is paradoxically led by two socialist parties from Montenegro, is even more harsh in his view that this is a gross falsification of historical facts.
"They are simply continuing the trend of dividing the citizens of Montenegro and dividing the nation that used to be one. And these are the citizens of Montenegro, three-quarters of whom declared themselves as Serbs until 1945," says Antic.
Members of the Podgorica Assembly and its most numerous party demanded that it be called the Serbian National Assembly of Montenegro
The historian also explains that the first Montenegrin assembly, which after a long struggle of democratic forces in Montenegro was finally made possible by the Constitution of 1905, and that its members and its most numerous party asked to be called the Serbian National Assembly of Montenegro.
"I remind you that in 1912 and especially in 1913, when the two countries got a common border, the process of unification was irreversible. If the First World War hadn't happened in 1914, Montenegro and Serbia would have already had a common government at that time, and left through mutual unification. Finally, two dynasties were born," says Antić.
That is one argument, says Antić, and as another, he states that Montenegro capitulated and objectively did not even exist since 1916, it had a refugee government, whose prime ministers were dismissed because they declared that they wanted Montenegro to join Serbia.
Finally, Antić adds, Montenegro was annexed to Serbia by a national assembly, namely the one from 1918, which is also mentioned by Academician Živojinović.
"I would say that the leaders of the current regime in Montenegro do not understand that by separating a part of the citizens of Montenegro, which in this third is the most numerous but not the majority, from its history of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, they are essentially canceling it and erasing its history." concludes Antić.
The proposed legal act states that "for the sake of the historical and moral rehabilitation of the Petrović Njegoš dynasty, this law regulates issues of importance for the status of the descendants of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty, which was dethroned contrary to the Constitution of the Principality of Montenegro, by the act of violent annexation of the state from 1918 ".
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