Canadian Slavonic Papers

Balkan Anschluss: The Annexation of Montenegro and the Creation of the Common South
Slavic State by Srdja Pavlovi
Review by: Melissa Bokovoy
Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes, Vol. 51, No. 4 (December 2009), pp.
579-580
Published by: Canadian Association of Slavists
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40871486 .
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Book Reviews 579

theorizes
thepractical
importanceofresearchontrans-border intheBlackSea
relationships
region.
Overall,thiscollectionprovidesa comprehensive butpolemicalaccountof what
Transnistria
was, is, and could be. Clearlythe authorsdo not share a common
understandingofthisparticular
"frozenconflict"
andprospectsforitsresolution.
But,as
theeditormentions,
itis indeedregretful
nottohave"a voicefromRomania"(p. 5), and,I
wouldadd,fromRussiatoo,includedinthisdiscussion.
EduardBaidaus,University
ofAlberta

Srdja Pavlovic.BalkanAnschluss:TheAnnexationofMontenegroandtheCreationof
theCommonSouthSlavicState.WestLafayette, IN: PurdueUniversity
Press,2008.2 15
pp. Illustrations. Index.$34.95,paper.
Bibliography.

SrdjaPavlovicjoinsa generation ofscholarswhohavesoughtto rethink andrewrite the

historyofthetwoYugoslavias.InBalkanAnschluss:TheAnnexation ofMontenegro and
theCreationoftheCommon SouthSlavicState,Pavloviclaysouta provocative argument
concerning theincorporation of Montenegro intotheKingdomof Serbs,Croats,and
Slovenesthatassertsthefollowing: "AttheendofWorldWarI, Montenegro wasannexed
bySerbia"(p. 2) andwiththeacquiescenceoftheEntente powers.He portrays thisact,
whichninety yearsofhistoriography havedepictedas a "union,"as thefinalstageinthe
century-long attempt by Serbia'spoliticalelitesand monarchs to unseatthePetrovic
dynastyand incorporate Montenegro intothe Serbianstate.Despitethese initially
polemical statements,Pavlovicdelivers a measured andwell-argued monograph explaining
howGreatPowerpolitics, competing dynastic aspirations,thecapitulationofMontenegro
to Austria-Hungary duringWorldWar I, Serbianterritorial ambitionsand military
superiority, and divisionsamong Montenegrin politicalelites contributed to the
incorporation oftheKingdomofMontenegro intothenewlyformed southSlavicstate.
Pavlovicpointsout thatMontenegrin politicalelites pursuedtwo options,an
independent Montenegro ora Montenegro joinedwithSerbia.Thislatter positioncameto
dominate Montenegrin before1914andoften
politics debatesrevolved around theissuesof
underwhatconditions wouldMontenegro join Serbia.A unionofthetwostateswould
mean thatone of the dynasties,eitherthe Montenegrin Petrovicsor the Serbian
Karadjordjevics, wouldhavetorelinquish thethrone andthatthepolitical,economic, and
cultural
institutionsandstructures ofeachstatewouldhavetobe altered. Pavlovicprovides
excellentinsight intohowNikolaI andhispoliticalcliqueembraced unification
as longas
the"Petrovicfamilyoccupythethroneof sucha 'revived'empire"(p. 59). The author
continually assertsthatNikola'sprimary interestwas preservation of his dynasty and
impliesthatthissingular focus,especiallyprevalent during Nikola'sexileinFranceafter
Montenegro capitulatedto Austria-Hungary in late 1915,resultedin a loss of political
supportamongthedynasty's domestic andinternational allies.
Inexileduring WorldWarI, Montenegrin politicianswerespiltbetween twogroups:
theunionists or thosewho favouredunification withSerbiaundertheKaradjordjevic
dynasty,andthosewhosupported an independent Montenegro ora unifiedSerbianand
Montenegrin stateunderthePetrovic dynasty. Pavlovicclearlydescribes whytheunionists
gainedmomentum during1917 and 1918. First,therewerea numberof Montenegrin
politicianswho doubtedNikolaF s democratic credentials and insteadbelievedthata
unifiedsouthSlavic state,headedby Serbia,would"providethebestguarantees for

CanadianSlavonic canadienne
Papers/Revue desslavistes
Vol.LI,No.4,December
2009

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580 Book Reviews

building a democratic structure, freedom, andequality"(p. 121).Secondly,as a resultof

thisbelief,the"Montenegrin Committee forUnification ofMontenegro withSerbiaand
OtherYugoslavLands"was established bya number offormer government the
ministers,
mostsignificant beingAndrijaRadovicandJankoSpasojevic,andaidedbytheSerbian
government. Thirdly, thefoundation ofthisCommittee coincided withthegrowing support
intheEntente capitals forthe creationof a largesouth Slavic state(p. 138)andfewifany
foreigndiplomatsor Montenegrins in exile acceptedthe possibility of retaining an
independent Montenegro. TheauthorpointsoutthattheMontenegrins themselvesnever
hada chanceto expresstheiropinionsthrough a plebisciteandthatthehastilyelected
assembly ofMontenegrins inNovember 1918onlyrepresented theinterests ofthosewhom
he characterizes as pro-Serbian andanti-Petrovic.
Thefinalchapter focusesonthePodgorica Assembly, itsresolution whichstatedthat
Montenegro be "unitedinonesinglestateundertheKaradjordjevic dynasty, andso united
theyenter thecommonfatherland ofthethree-named people:Serbs,Croats, andSlovenes"
(p. 156),andthe"relatively popularbutpoorlyorganized groupofMontenegrins opposed
[to] themanner in which Montenegro was being annexed by Serbia"(p. 163).Detailing
howsupporters ofKingNikolawereprevented fromstanding forelection, intimidatedby
theexistence ofSerbiantroopsinthecountry, andtriedto startan armedinsurrection in
early1919,theauthor states,"oneis tempted todescribewhathappened as theoccupation
of Montenegro rather thanas a voluntary unification"(p. 162). Pavlovicdoes providea
plausibleargument for"annexation" sincehe doessetouttodemonstrate thathowunion
was achievedwoulddetermine whether ornotitwas "unification" or"annexation" (p. 2).
After1918,Serbiawas able to assertitsvisionforunification and imposeitspolitical
structures and philosophy (centralism vs. federalism) overtheobjectionsof all of the
Kingdom'sotherpoliticalelitesandpopulations.
Yetwas thisin factan "occupation" oran Anschluss, as Pavlovic'stitlesuggests?I
wouldsaynot.Pavlovicwantsthereadertoassociatethesehistorical circumstanceswith
thoseof theAnschlusswhengoose-stepping Germansoldiersmarchedtriumphantly
through Austriain 1938afterGermany'sinvasionandincorporation ofAustriaintothe
ThirdReich.Argument by analogyis an effective tool if thetwoeventshave certain
buttheauthor
characteristics, providesno suchevidenceofthesimilarities betweenthese
twodiscrete historical eventsandtheanalogyis misleading. Instead, hecouldhaveturned
tootherexampleswithin theKingdom itselfortosimilar issuessurrounding thecreationof
theothersuccessorstatesafterWorldWarI.
ofNewMexico
MelissaBokovoy,University

PeterJ. Potichnyj.My Journey:LitopysUPA. Series"Eventsand People,"Book 4.

TorontoandLViv:LitopysUPA,2008. 124pp. Index.Maps.$10.00,paper.

PeterPotichnyjis knownin SlavicandespeciallyUkrainian studiescirclesinCanadaas

editoror co-editor Ukrainian-Jewish
of collectionsof articleson Ukrainian-Polish, and
Ukrainian-Russianrelations,andforhisdecades-long workontheUkrainian underground
andUkrainian Insurgent Army(UPA) oftheWorldWarII andpost-war period.Inthisarea
he has co-editedan English-language volumeon thepoliticalthought of theUkrainian
underground andhasservedas a longstanding editorwithLitopysUPA,whichinseveral
seriesofpublications,has issuedover70 volumes,forthemostpartdocuments, butalso
memoirs, briefbiographies, andotherstudies.In 2001 he wrotea history ofPawlokoma
(Pavlokoma), whichtodayis an ethnically Polishvillageinsouth-east Poland.

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