Nicholas I of Montenegro (7 October 1841-1 March 1921) was the Prince and King of Montenegro from 13 August 1860 to 26 November 1918, succeeding Danilo I of Montenegro. In 1910, Prince Nicholas created the Kingdom of Montenegro, but this kingdom would fail to acquire new lands during the Balkan Wars, would be occupied by Austria-Hungary from 1916 to 1918 during World War I, and would be annexed into the Kingdom of Serbia in November 1918 while Nicholas was still in exile.
Biography[]
Nikola Petrovic-Njegos was born in Njegusi, Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro on 7 October 1841, the son of Mirko Petrovic-Njegos and the nephew of Danilo I of Montenegro. In 1860, he succeeded his heirless uncle as Prince of Montenegro, and he carried out a series of military, administrative, and educational reforms. Between 1862 and 1878, the country was embroiled in a series of wars with the Ottoman Empire, and he enlisted the sympathies of the Russian Empire. In 1876, he enhanced his military reputation by declaring war on the Ottomans to assist the Bulgarians in achieving their independence from the Turks. During the war, Montenegro conquered Niksic, Bar, and Ulcinj, and Montenegro acquired a seaboard on the Adriatic Sea. In 1883, he developed cordial relations with the Ottoman Sultan. In 1905, Nicholas gave the country its first constitution, creating a constitutional monarchy. On 28 August 1910, he assumed the title of King, and he was gazetted Field-Marshal in the Imperial Russian Army, an honor shared only with the Duke of Wellington. During the Balkan Wars, he aimed to drive the Ottomans completely out of Europe, and he wished for Serb unity, although he was opposed to the Karadordevic dynasty. In January 1916, during World War I, Montenegro was occupied by Austria-Hungary as the result of its alliance with the Kingdom of Serbia against the Central Powers. Nicholas went into exile in France in 1918, and a Serb-dominated meeting in Podgorica voted to depose Nicholas and join Serbia, leading to the creation of Yugoslavia. Nicholas continued to claim the throne of Montenegro until his death in Antibes in 1921.