Nikola I Petrovic Njegoš

Born Oct. 7, 1841, in Njegu-si; died Mar. 1, 1921, in Nice. Prince of Montenegro from 1860 to 1910 and king of Montenegro from 1910 to 1918. Of the Njegoš dynasty.

During the reign of Nikola I, Montenegro took part in the liberation wars against Turkey (1862, 1876–78, 1912), in the Second Balkan War (1913), and in World War I until the occupation of Montenegro by Austria-Hungary in 1916. Nikola supported the anti-Turkish uprising in Herzegovina in 1875–78. Although his foreign policy was generally oriented toward Russia, he also took advantage of the conflicts between Russia and other European states. Nikola’s domestic policy was aimed at strengthening the autocracy, but under pressure from social movements he introduced a constitution in 1905.

In January 1916, after the defeat of the Montenegrin Army, Nikola fled to France. During his last years he opposed the union of Montenegro and Serbia. Nikola wrote several lyric and narrative poems and plays.