With their arrival and with the formation of their state, the Slavs have radically changed the existing state and the demographic composition of the Prevalis province. Doclea was built on a geographically and historically compact area, encompassing the broader basin of Lake Skadar surrounded by chains of mountains.

This region was to be the territorial basis for all later stages in the autonomous socio-political and state oganisation of the Montenegrins, and it is the centuries-long struggle for preservation of the autonomy that has become the most recognisable feature of this people's historic existence.

The initial developmental stages of the Doclean state are characterized by the continuous struggle with the Byzantium for full autonomy and independence. Upon settling in the Balkans the Slavs accept Christianity, followed by their association and intermingling - ethnical, cultural and political - with the native Roman, Illyrian and other non-Slavic population.

Direct sources of data on Duklja and its rulers are scarce until the reign of knez (duke) Vladimir (late 10th century). The legend of knez Vladimir and his martyr's death is preserved in the "Chronicle of the Doclean priest" (Ljetopis popa Dukljanina) from 12th century, as well as in the (folk)lore and present-day religious customs. During the reign of Vojislav, Vladimir's nephew, Duklja (since then called Zeta - the name that gradually replaced the former in Byzantine sources) has won a great victory over the Byzantine army near Bar in 1042, which was followed by Duklja's further rising. That made the Byzantine emperor to enter into alliance and friendship with Mihailo, Vojislav's son. Thus Zeta (by late 12th century the name was derived from the Slavic word for "harvester" or "reaper" brought from the Elbe river region (former East Germany)), the first of the Balkan states, was acknowledged the state sovereignty and independence by Byzantium.

In 1077, Mihailo received the royal insignia (as rex Sclavorum) from Pope Gregory VII with which Zeta was recognized as a kingdom.

His successor Bodin (1082-1101) played an important role in the uprisings against Byzantium in the Balkans, so in the period of his reign the influence and territories of Duklja spread to the neighboring states Rascia (Raska), Bosnia, Bulgaria...

After the death of the last ruler of the Vojislavljevic dynasty, Byzantium regained its control, and in 1185 Zeta was subjected by the Serbian state of Raska. According to the chronicles of the Serbian dynasty of the Nemanjics, all coastal towns except Kotor were then destroyed.

The Nemanjics have not changed the system of their previous independent statehood since it had developed into a distinct tradition. In the times of the Nemanjics, the construction of the road network from the coast to Serbia, together with the development of trade and handcrafts, enabled a significant progress and prosperity of the coastal towns. Kotor played a particularly important role in the trading between the inland countries and the south of Italy.

In the second half of 14th century Zeta becomes independent from the central rule of the Serbian state and continues to exist as an independent feudal state, first under the the Balsics and later under the Crnojevics dynasties. The Balsics made substantial territorial gains through continuous fights with their neighbors - Albanian, Bosnian and Serbian feudal lords, as well as with the increasingly powerful Venice and Turkey.

With the ascend of the Crnojevics, Zeta - Montenegro (the name given after the dark, coniferous forests upon the move of the Zetans towards the massif of Mt. Lovcen, to Cetinje) as of that time - was constituted as a state whose social system was a mixture of feudal and tribal elements. In that period Turkish attacks became more frequent and fiercer, so that the territory of the Montenegrin state was reducing and the population retreating towards the region of Mt Lovcen. Ivan Crnojevic chose Cetinje to be the new state centre, where he had his palace and a monastery built and which in 1482 became the capital of the reduced Montenegro; it was to be the statehood and spiritual centre of the Montenegrins in their aspirations for liberation over the next five centuries. Under the sponsorship of Ivan's son Djuradj, the first printing house among the South Slavs started operating in Cetinje; in 1493 it produced five Cyrillic-type service books.

After a short period of Djuradj's rule, Montenegro fell under the Turkish domination in 1496.

Since 1513 Montenegro was organized as a separate territorial and administrative unit within the Ottoman Empire with a considerable degree of autonomy as regarded the local government, the judiciary and the compulsory military service. This position of Montenegro lasted until the Candian War (1645-69) after which the territory around Mt. Lovcen regained its full independence.

The roles of secular leaders and the state rulers were assumed by the Cetinje vladikas (prince-bishops), the Opsti crnogorski zbor (Pan-Montenegrin Convention) and the Zbor glavara (Council of clan chiefs) - as the bodies of state administration, while the governing on the lower levels was in the hands of clan assemblies. With the year 1697, when the Montenegrin Convention elected vladika Danilo I - the first ruler of the Petrovic dynasty, began the organized struggle for a political and religious unity of the country, often broken with the conflicts among its clans and with the islamisation of the population.

The battle at Carev Laz in 1712 against the army of Bosnian vizier Ahmed-pasha is the event that was recorded in the popular memory as one of the grandest victories in the history of the Montenegrin warfare.

With the consolidation of power of vladika Petar I Petrovic (1784-1830) - to many opinions the greatest personality in the Montenegrin history - Montenegro was set on a faster lane to securing its independence. Particularly after the great victories over the superior Turkish armies in 1796, every Turkish influence was curbed and Montenegro became de facto an independent, autonomous state. It was also the merit of Petar I that Montenegro has overcome a long-lasting internal crisis: he united the Montenegrin clans; then he achieved a greater influence on and established better connections with the people on the coast under Austrian occupation; and in his time legislation was passed that provided for the departure from the traditional, clan-based organization of the society and for laying the foundations of a modern state and modern administration.

Petar II Petrovic Njegos (Nyegosh, 1830-1851), great poet-philosopher, was the last Montenegrin ruler to combine the secular and ecclesiastical powers. In his twenty-year long rule, he continued to develop the Montenegrin state successfully by setting up bodies of judicial, administrative and military powers. On his trips he met numerous European statesmen and other dignitaries and prominent individuals and in doing that spread the good name of Montenegro throughout Europe. The border settlements that he managed to reach, particularly the one with Austria in 1841, have led to the implicit recognition of Montenegro by the great powers as a truly independent state with the recognized borders and territory.

His successor Danilo Petrovic (1851-1860) was the first secular ruler of Montenegro since the times of Ivan Crnojevic. During his reign a significant part of former Montenegrin lands was liberated.

Prince Danilo attributed more importance to turning towards the West which, after the great military victory over the Turks at Grahovac in 1858 and the fixing of the state borders of Montenegro recognised by the representatives of the great powers at the Constantinople Conference in 1858, resulted in the formal recognition of Montenegrin sovereignty.

Nikola Petrovic (1860-1918) succeeded to the throne at the time when the "Eastern question" again came to the foreground of the European politics.

When in the Eastern Crisis 1875-1878 Montenegro won the magnificent battles against the Ottoman troups at Vucji Do and Fundina, some of the aims of its politics were achieved: full international recognition in the Congress of Berlin; return of Bar and Ulcinj which meant the access to the sea; and the towns of Podgorica, Niksic and Kolasin were back to within the borders of the Montenegrin state. Montenegro has thus expanded in terms of territory and population, and improved economically. And in this expansion the state and its army have demonstrated great tolerance towards the local population, so many people of Muslim and Albanian origin remained to live in Montenegro with full civil rights and many of their prominent members were appointed to important positions in the state and army.

The struggle of the small Montenegrin people, that was the only in the Balkans to successfully oppose the centuries-long pressure of the powerful Ottoman Empire, won the sympathies and support of the entire Europe. This, among other things, helped Montenegro to proclaim kingdom in 1910.

Montenegro entered World War I immediately after it had been declared and fought on the side of Serbia and the allies.

Following the capitulation before the Austria-Hungary in 1916, king Nikola Petrovic and the Government were driven into exile to Italy and then to France, from where they have never managed to either take place as a partner in negotiations and peace conferences, or to impose their project of a federal state and union of Yugoslav peoples on the basis of their equality. Montenegro was incorporated into Serbia thus losing its statehood, its army and its dynasty. Despite its being a winner-state and the war-time ally, Montenegro could not fight the plans and interests of Serbia and some of the Great Powers, and for the first time in its ten centuries long history the name of Montenegro was wiped off the political map of Europe.

The growing general welfare-based discontent and dissatisfaction of certain peoples with their position in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was tried to be quieted down by a change in the territorial and administrative organization - the creation of banovinas (governorships). However, this change was inadequate and the political conflicts have became fiercer.

Immediately after World War II broke out, the country fell apart under the assault og Germany and Italy, and close to 10% of the population of Montenegro suffered loss of life from their occupational armies, from nationalistic and fascist units formed locally, as well as in revolutionary and ideological clashes during the liberation struggle.

The freedom-loving tradition of the Montenegrins was greatly demonstrated in World War II, primarily in the popular armed uprising against the occupying powers on 13 July 1941 offered an enormous contribution to the antifascist struggle in Yugoslavia. During the war, the antifascist movement restored the state and legal status of Montenegro: it became one of the six equal republics in the new Yugoslav federation.

The character of the internal system has made the constitutional and legal capacities of the republics, including Montenegro, in the early post-war period more formal than actual. This was followed by certain changes and processes towards decentralization and democratization resulting in strengthening the position of the republics which was being accompanied by inconsistencies and conflicts between the tendencies towards federalism and unitarism. All these changes, however, have not affected the domination of a single party over all the forms of the society's life and the arbitrating role of the charismatic party and state leader Josip Broz Tito.

After Tito's death, the inability and/or the lack of readiness of the republican leaderships to set on the path of political reforms - and thus resolve the question of the preservation or dissolution of the federation in a democratic manner - lead to the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in a bloody war outcome in early 1990s.

As of 1992, Montenegro acceded together with Serbia to the joint state - Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.