Montenegro is a small country (about the size of Connecticut) in southeastern Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. Crna Gora is the name in Montenegrin the country; both names mean "Black Mountain." (shallot tells me that "the name "Black mountain" is due to the fact the mountains of the area have always been covered in black pines (pinus negra).)" Podgorica is the current capital. It had (as of 1991) about 620,000 inhabitants, 62% of whom are ethnically Montenegrin, along with Serbs (9%), Albanians (7%), Muslims (15%), Croats (1%) and others (based on the 1991 census). Most of its people are Orthodox Christian but there is also a large Muslim population and some Roman Catholics.
The Montenegrins originally came from near the Baltic Sea in approximately the 6th century A.D. A wave of migration brought them south to the Adriatic coast, at that time inhabited by Roman settlements and Illyrians (ancestors of modern Albanians). The population became Christian due to exposure to the Roman settlements, and eventually the state of Duklja, or Doclea, emerged as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire. In 1042, King Vojislav won independence from Byzantium for his territory, which spread over modern Montenegro and Herzegovina and parts of Albania. However, in the twelfth century, the predominant type of Christianity in the area shifted from Roman Catholic to Byzantine-led Orthodox, especially after Duklja was conquered by its own former vassal Raska, which would evolve into Serbia.
Around 1360, a new dynasty asserted its independence from the crumbling Serbian kingdom. The new state, Zeta, was really just the southern part of the former Duklja. However, it was of great importance to Venice for its seacoast and also to the expanding Ottoman Empire. In 1455 ruler Stefan Crnojevic recognized Venice as its nominal ruler, but in practice Zeta was still independent. The capital of Zeta was moved into the highlands to protect it from Turkish armies in 1482, and in Montenegrin history this is considered the "beginning of the history of Montenegro and its capital, Cetinje." (Montenegro.org) Despite being pressed by the Ottomans, it was during this time that the first printing press in southern Europe was brought to Zeta and the region's first books printed.
From 1516 to 1697, Montenegro was ruled by Vladikas (elected bishops), and this government managed to keep Montenegro from being taken over by the Ottomans and even expanded their territory. From 1697 to 1851, one family, the Petrovic dynasty, kept the office of Vladika, passing the office from uncle to nephew. In 1806, aided by Russian forces, Montenegro even repelled Napoleon Bonaparte's armies. However, the peace treaty allowed Russia to grant the Gulf of Kotor to France (and seven years later to Austria).
Petar II Petrovic Njegos who ruled from 1830-1851, generally considered, in shallot's phrasing, "the most important vladika." His popular acclamation over another heir/nephew of Petar I (who was studying abroad and uninterested in the position anyway) was a triumph of Russian influence over Austrian in Montenegro, and Njegos was ordained in the presence of Russian Tsar Nicholas I. He was a reformer, creating the country's first formal central government, made up of a Senate of heads of the twelve most influential Montenegrin tribes; the Guardia who judged disputes and helped the Senate administer their laws; and the Perjanici, essentially a police force. (His rule also introduced and forcibly collected the first taxes in the country to support this central government.) He built elementary schools, roads, and artesian wells, as well as fighting off the Austrians and the Turks and encouraging the southern Slavs to unite against their shared enemies. He was also a poet and philosopher; his most famous work, "The Mountain Wreath" (Gorski Vijenac) became a vernacular literary monument for Montenegrins. "There is hardly any Montenegrin who could not quote a proverb or passages from the Mountain Wreath." (Montenet.org) However, Njegos died before he could go through with all of his plans, such as coining Montenegrin money to make trade easier.
The political manoeuvering of larger countries continued to be a great influence on Montenegro; Danilo, the heir to the position of Vladika in 1852, used Russian influence to become a secular Prince of Montenegro rather than a religious leader. It was under Danilo's rule in 1858 that the greater powers of Europe formally recognized the Ottoman/Montenegrin borders, essentially recognizing Montenegro as independent. However, Danilo gradually moved toward supporting France, and was assassinated in 1860 by a Montenegrin who probably had Austrian backing.
Danilo's successor Nikola had twelve children and was thus able to make marital alliances with rulers all over Europe. He was also able to continue holding off the constantly-attacking Turks and gaining territory, as well as modernizing his country internally with education, technology, and governmental updates. In 1910 Montenegro was declared a constitutional monarchy.
During World War I, politicans who favored neighboring Serbia came to ascendance in Montenegro, and as a gesture of trust Nikola allowed Montenegrin troops to be put under its ally Serbia's high command. However, Austria occupied Montenegro and its royal family had to flee to Italy, and after the war Serbia occupied Montenegro before its own government could recover. At the Podgorica Assembly on November 11, 1918, a formal unification was announced. Despite foreign opposition to the Serbian takeover (including that of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his support of ethnic self-determination), the annexation continued. Nikola trusted the support of the greater powers, but Montenegro was low on their list of concerns, and there was no outside support of the Montenegrins' "Christmas Uprising" (which started on January 7, 1919, which was Orthodox Christmas) or three years' continued guerilla resistance to the Serb occupation. 'Even the people who were in favor of unification of what they called "Serb people into a single Serb state" were dismayed at the way the unification proceeded.' (MonteNet)
This united state soon became part of the greater union of the south Slavs, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During World War II, Yugoslavia was taken over by the Axis powers and the Montenegro area was administered by Italy. While Montenegrin nationalists supported the Italians, both Communists and non-communist supporters of union with Serbia opposed the Italians, and later the area's remoteness made it a good hiding place for the Communist forces of Marshal Josip Broz Tito as the struggled to take over Yugoslavia. Tito would elevate Montenegro to the status of a separate republic from Serbia under his rule, which earned him and the Communist party much Montenegrin loyalty. However, many Montenegrin Communists ended up on the Stalinist side years later when Tito broke with the Soviet version of Communism in favor of his own way of doing things.
When the Yugoslav Federation disintegrated at the end of the 1980s, Montenegrin elections returned the League of Communists to power, and they and Serbia remained in federation while the other Yugoslav republics became separate states. Later the League was replaced by a coalition of mildly socialist parties during the 1990s, and these parties along with the liberal parties advocated Montenegro's independence.
There were other indications of nationalist feeling, such as the great ceremony marking the return of King Nikola's remains to Cetinje. (Not meaning to imply that there is a desire to return to the monarchy, merely that Montenegrins remained proud of their country's independent history.)
Montenegro eventually declared independence from Serbia on June 3, 2006.
Sources:
http://www.montenegro.org/
http://www.njegos.org/
http://www.montenet.org/
the very helpful users avalyn and shallot
the writeups in Yugoslavia