Middle Ages Slavs settled in the Balkans during the sixth and seventh centuries. According to , there existed three
Serb polities on the territory of modern Montenegro:
Duklja, roughly corresponding to the southern half;
Travunia, the west; and the
Principality of Serbia, the north. Duklja emerged as an independent state during the 11th century, initially held by the
Vojislavljević dynasty; it was conquered and incorporated into the state of the
Nemanjić dynasty.
De Administrando Imperio does not mention which Slavic people lived in Duklja, but the state was considered to be one of the first
Serb states, alongside Raška formed chiefly under the
Vlastimirović and
Vojislavljević dynasties respectively. After two centuries of
Nemanjić dynasty rule, southern Montenegro (
Zeta) came under the rule of the
Balšić noble family in the 14th century, followed later by the
Crnojević noble family. By the 15th century, Zeta was more often referred to as
Crna Gora (
Venetian: ''''). The Crnojevići were driven out from Zeta by the Ottomans and forced to retreat above the
Bay of Kotor, where they built a monastery and a royal court in
Cetinje, the future royal capital of Montenegro, before eventually fleeing to Venice.
Modern era Annexation of the
Kingdom of Montenegro on 13 November 1918 gained international recognition at the Conference of Ambassadors in
Paris, held on 13 July 1922. Although Montenegrins comprised one of the smallest ethnic groups in the state (2.5% in 1971), they were the most overrepresented ethnic group in the Yugoslav bureaucracy, military, and communist party organs. In the
Yugoslav People's Army, 19% of general officers and 30% of colonels were ethnic Montenegrins. Among party elites, Montenegrins made up 16% to 21% of senior officials throughout the existence of communist Yugoslavia, and comprised a similar portion of the state's diplomatic corps. Montenegrins were over-represented among Yugoslavia's elite, largely due to the pre-war strength of the
Communist Party of Montenegro, the high proportion of Montenegrins among Partisan commanders and Central Committee members during the war, and a historically militaristic culture. During this period, ethnic Montenegrins also held about 15% of government jobs in Yugoslavia. ==Language==