Papović: Grahovac is Montenegrin

The Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) submitted an author's text by its member, historian Dragutin Papović - "The Duklja (Zeta) State of Queen Jelena".

We transmit the text in its entirety:

"The Church of Serbia is trying to build a so-called memorial center on Grahovac dedicated to the heroes of the Battle of Grahovac (April 29 - May 1 according to the old calendar, May 11-13 according to the new calendar) in 1858. The essence of this intention is to try to steal this historical heritage from Montenegro and Montenegrins and attribute it to Serbia and Serbs. After the intervention of the majority of Grahovac residents and the NGO Center for Civil Rights, the competent inspection stopped the works because they endanger the protected environment of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord (St. Savior), which has been a cultural asset since 1961. Even if this temple is not a protected cultural asset, the Church of Serbia has neither the right nor the reason to appropriate the Battle of Grahovac, its heritage and the memory of it.

All the important sources about the Battle of Grahovac have long been known in historiography. On the occasion of the centenary of the battle in 1958, historian Andrija V. Lainović published a book (collection of sources) "Victory at Grahovac 1858 in the writings of contemporaries". Numerous sources that Lainović diligently collected testify to the Montenegrin motives and goals of the battle and its international context. The Battle of Grahovac was fought exclusively for the state goals of Montenegro, and the victory was won by the Montenegrins. The battle was the result of the state policy of Prince Danilo, which he presented in a letter to the Great Powers, participants in the Paris Congress, in May 1856. The prince then announced the state demands of Montenegro in 4 points: 1. That the independence of Montenegro be recognized through diplomatic channels, 2. That the borders of Montenegro be expanded towards Herzegovina and Albania, 3. That the Montenegrin border towards Turkey be established as it was established towards Austria, and 4. That Bar, which is on its border and on the sea, be ceded to Montenegro. The prince stated that Montenegrin independence was unquestionable and that Montenegro was seeking those lands that once belonged to it "and for which it shed its blood, as well as for its independence". In addition, the prince pointed out that the Great Powers had committed a wrong in 1814 when they "forced the Montenegrin people to cede the Kotor coast to Austria".

Danilo's letter does not mention the liberation and unification of Serbs, but only a request for international recognition of Montenegrin independence and the expansion of the state's territory. This particularly referred to the Montenegrin territories that were within the Turkish province of Herzegovina. In his letter to the Great Powers, the Prince pointed out that during the previous Montenegrin-Turkish wars, "Montenegrins [had] owned Grahovo, Župa [Nikšićka], Banjane, Piva, Drobnjak, Kruševice, Zupce and Vasojevići up to the Tara and Lim rivers". For the Prince, there was no so-called Old Herzegovina or a separate Herzegovinian identity. In April 1858, the Prince stated to the envoy of the Turkish Government (Porta) Kemal-effendi that it was necessary to reach an agreement that would end border conflicts towards Montenegro and "towards the Turkish provinces of Herzegovina and Albania". For the prince, Herzegovina was a Turkish province containing part of Montenegrin territory that belonged to it on the basis of historical and state law, as well as on the basis that the Orthodox from this province were for Montenegro. Their leaders accepted Montenegrin caps, flags and ranks.

The prince tried to achieve Montenegrin demands through diplomacy with the Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire. He failed in this, so he decided to do it through war. Given the great influence of the Orthodox in the Turkish province of Herzegovina, the prince called on them to revolt, which was raised in 1857. The Montenegrin army, together with the rebels from Grahovo and Banjan, controlled Grahovo, which Turkey considered unacceptable. Given that by mid-April 1858, efforts to resolve the dispute through diplomacy had failed, the Porte decided to intervene militarily and on May 8, it stated: "Turkey has decided to preserve its right and not to give in to a small people of 140.000 souls. The Montenegrins... have descended into the plain, occupied territory that does not belong to them, are trying to incite an uprising in Herzegovina and are engaging in various conflicts... The Imperial government... has firmly decided to drive them [the Montenegrins] into their rocks."

The Turkish army under the command of Husein Pasha marched on Montenegro and in early May 1858 arrived at Grahovac, a plateau above the Grahovo field. The Turkish corps, according to estimates, had between 4 and 6 thousand regular soldiers (niza) and as many volunteers (bašibozuk), armed with modern rifles. The Turkish army included a cavalry detachment and an artillery unit with 6 (or 8) cannons. At that time, there were about 200 Montenegrins in Grahovo under the command of the Rijeka senator and duke Petar Filipov Vujović, the Cuk duke Ilija Zvicer and the Čeklić duke priest Pero Matanović, as well as 300 Banjani and Grahovljani commanded by the Grahovo captain Pajo Jezdov Kovačević and the Banjski captain Jovan Vasiljev Baćović. On May 9, Prince Danilo ordered his brother and Senate President Duke Mirko to gather all the fighters from the Katun and Rijeka nahijas and a detachment of the Guard to defend Grahovo. According to one testimony, the prince said at the farewell of the army from Cetinje: "Duke Mirko, I hand over to you the main command of the Montenegrin army in the defense of Grahovo, lead it in the name of God, to the battlefield, and personally show that the House of Petrović does not spare its blood for the cross of honor, freedom and Montenegro."

Upon arriving in Grahovac, Husein Pasha sent a letter to Duke Petar Vujović asking him why the Montenegrin army was gathering in Turkish Grahovo and hinting that the Sultan would give him rich gifts if he withdrew. Duke Petar replied: "I came here by order of my master, to guard the Montenegrin border. Let the Pasha keep the Sultan's gifts for himself, because Montenegrins do not surrender." By May 11, about 7.000 Montenegrins had gathered in Grahovo, including about 700 people from Grahovac and Banjan, whom the prince considered part of Montenegro. An Austrian agent who was following the events from nearby Dragalj heard "the Montenegrins declaring that they would never leave the region that was conquered with Montenegrin blood" and that Montenegrins and the raja were fighting against the Turks. In contemporary Austrian sources, Herzegovinian Christians were mostly called raja. Prince Danilo, in a letter, says of them that "Christian Turkish subjects rebelled in Herzegovina."

The battle began on 11 May and ended on 13 May on Spasovdan, when the Turkish army was defeated. The British consul in Trebinje, Churchill, wrote on 13 May: "The losses are enormous. Kadri Pasha has been killed and a large number of officers. The remnants of the Turkish battalions are entering Trebinje in disarray at this moment. Husein Pasha is in Klobuk... the cannons have fallen into the hands of the Montenegrins." The Austrian district chief from Dubrovnik stated on 14 May: "The Montenegrins and the rebels yesterday morning beat the Turkish Grahovac corps to the ground and broke it... they assure us that only two of the nine regular Turkish camps barely returned to Trebinje, and that for the most part without weapons." The French consul in Shkodra, Écar, reported on May 14: "In this defeat, Kadri Pasha and Colonel Osman Bey were beheaded, and one lieutenant colonel, all the battalion commanders and most of the officers were killed... The Montenegrins showed indescribable courage, boldness and endurance in this battle, which amazed the Turks." According to estimates, the Turkish army had between 2.500 and 5.000 dead, as stated by Prince Danilo. The Prince pointed out that the Montenegrins had around 200 dead and 300 wounded, but there were probably more. Among the dead Montenegrins were: the commander of the Guard, voivode priest Đuro Kusovac, the Montenegrin alaybarjaktar Mašo Mijatov Kustudija, the serdar of the Rijeka nahija Đurica M. Đurašković, priest Luka Jovović from Markovina and the perjanik Risto Manojlović from Golija.

The victory at Grahovac was won under Montenegrin flags, not Serbian tricolors. Serdar Rade Turov Plamenac states about this in his Memoirs: "Almost before this war, Prince Danilo ordered the Guard banners to be made with a white double-headed eagle in the middle on a red field, and so did the banner of the entire Montenegrin army, and he placed the Montenegrin standard-bearer, Maša Mijatov Kustudija from Njeguš, behind it, and on St. George's Day, all the standard-bearers were called and handed over the banners, which I, with the help of my superiors, had hoisted onto a spear. And this time I want to say... I found him [Maša Mijatov Kustudija] a few days after the battle [at Grahovac] in the tavern of the innkeeper Jevto Vuletin, where his wife was holding him leaning on her arms due to the severe wounds he had received in the battle under the Montenegrin flag, so the soldiers brought him to Jevto, and since they did not accept him in the tavern, they placed him in the tavern under the tavern, where he died in his wife's arms." Besides such a real Maša, the Custody of Montenegro had no need to invent Pavle Orlović.

The victory at Grahovac opened the way for the Montenegrin army to Herzegovina. On 22 May, Prince Danilo told the French consul Écar: "The army [after the victory at Grahovac] wanted to extend its conquest to Klobuk, Gacko, a rich and unprotected country. There it would meet with sympathy without any resistance. My troops, those from the east and from Drobnjak, wanted the same and could march into Christian land and conquer half of Herzegovina without firing a shot". However, due to French intervention, the prince stopped the army's advance through Herzegovina. The French geographer Guillaume Lejeune, who visited Montenegro in June 1858, wrote: "The rebellious Herzegovina loudly called out to the Montenegrins... The Montenegrins could, as victors, reach the border of Bosnia without firing a shot. They could seize Herzegovina as a pledge, because the Christians there were calling them." The prince's secretary and eyewitness to the battle, Henri Delary, published a book about Montenegro in 1862 in which he wrote: "After the defeat of Husien-Dahim-pasha, the Montenegrins could have come to Herzegovina, because they would not have encountered any resistance there." French Vice Admiral Girin de la Gravier stated: "Klobuk would inevitably have fallen into the hands of Prince Danilo and his army would have reached Mostar, after the victory at Grahovo, if we had not intervened and detained Prince Danilo." The intervention of the Great Powers, and above all France, also stopped the mobilization of the Turkish army for a new attack on Montenegro. A conference of ambassadors was convened in Constantinople to resolve the Montenegrin question. The conference established the Montenegrin-Turkish border according to which the following territories were assigned to Montenegro, or rather confirmed: Grahovo, Rudine, Župa Nikšićka, Lukovo, part of Drobnjak, Uskoci, Gornje Lipovo, Gornji Vasojevići and part of Kuče.

Montenegro received an internationally recognized border, which was in fact a confirmation of its state independence and was the greatest political gain from the Grahovac triumph. On November 16, 1858, Prince Danilo stated in a letter to the French Emperor Napoleon III: "The subsequent existence of Montenegro has been recognized by the foreign states that make up the present-day European system: its independence has been in fact established and secured, and in this way my wish and that of my people has been fulfilled." The prince's words confirm that the Battle of Grahovac and the policy of Montenegro at that time were not conducted for the liberation and unification of Serbs, but for the independence and recognition of territories that had previously belonged to Montenegro. This was the Montenegrin goal even after the Battle of Grahovac and the demarcation with Turkey. The best expert on the personality and politics of Prince Danilo and the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty in general, historian Živko Andrijašević, says about this: "Prince Danilo, as a ruler and statesman, was given the greatest strength by the idea to which he was fanatically dedicated. He had the idea of ​​a "new" Montenegro (a Montenegro that needed to be created) and he worked on the realization of that idea until the last day of his reign." A few months before the assassination in Kotor, Prince Danilo emphasized in a letter to Emperor Napoleon III on April 15, 1860: "We have only one aspiration left, and that is that the real independence, which we have enjoyed for three centuries, be recognized." This is Prince Danilo's political legacy.

In memory of the battle and the Grahovac heroes, Prince Nikola ordered the construction of the Church of St. Saviour on Grahovac in 1864, within three days, the duration of the battle. The prince's endowment was built as a temple of the Montenegrin Church, and at that time the Serbian Orthodox Church did not even exist. On the centennial anniversary of the battle, a memorial plaque was erected with the inscription "Montenegro and its freedom are a monument to your heroism". Therefore, the Church of Serbia and the Greater Serbian Bashibozuk have no right to appropriate the Battle of Grahovac or to excavate the Grahovac site with excavators. Grahovac belongs exclusively to Montenegrin history, and because of the victims who fell there in the fight for freedom and independence of Montenegro, it is a place of the greatest respect for every Montenegrin. It is primarily the right and duty of the state of Montenegro and Montenegrins to preserve, promote and enhance the memory of Grahovac and its heroes in a worthy manner," writes Papović in the author's text.