Thursday, December 2, 2010

Montenegrin king deposed

December 2, 1918


King Nicholas of Montenegro has been deposed by the Montenegrin National Assembly, according a dispatch received in London from Prague, and published by the New York Times.
The report was sent from Prague by the Czechoslovak Press Bureau via Copenhagen.   The Skupshtina voted to remove Nicholas from the throne last Friday and "declared for a union of Montenegro with Serbia under King Peter."
Nicholas' family was included in the "act of deposition.
Nicholas I was born in 1841.  He succeeded to the throne on August 14, 1860.  He held the title Prince of Montenegro until August 1910, when on the 50th anniversary of his accession, he was proclaimed king by the National Assembly.
He is the father of three sons and five daughters.  His second daughter, Anastasia, is married to Grand Duke Nicholas, former commander of the Russian armies, and his third daughter, Elena, is the wife of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy. 
In December 1915, the king, his family, and his Government, fled the country when it was "overrun by Austro-Germans.  He established a residence in France.  The Montenegrin government is based in Neuilly-sur-Seine.  On November 8, the King was interviewed by the Associated Press.  He "declared himself in favor of a union of Montenegro" with the new state of Yugoslavia, "with each component State independent as to religion, education and territorial integrity."
Nicholas' eldest daughter, Princess Zorka, who died in 1890, was the wife of King Peter of  Serbia, thus linking the two families through marriage.

No comments: