Montenegro as perceived by a British diplomat: The Hugh Rose's report of 1852

The following article deals with the image of Montenegro, a little country from the south-east European periphery, as perceived by a member of the nineteenth century British political elite. The history of this petty entity, less populated than an average English city, became especially important on the eve of the Holly Places Crises (of Palestine, 1853). A single dispute over the Montenegro-Ottoman border threatened to turn into European war, just a year before the Crimean War commenced. In regard the Montenegrin question, the always sensitive European "balance of power" was upset with the appearance of the unexpected alliance between Russia and Austria. The unique interest of the British Empire then started, for a short period of time, to be tied in with this almost unknown principality. The attitude of British diplomacy to Montenegro, image of the principality reconstructed in the Colonel Hugh Rose's report and its sources, could contribute not only to the advance the history of British foreign relations, but also to the development of the history of Montenegro. Studija o Memoaru o Crnoj Gori, poteklom iz pera uticajnog britanskog oficira i diplomate Hjua Rouza, predstavlja prilog istoriji slike koja je o Crnoj Gori postojala medju politickim elitama Zapadne Evrope. Pritom, ona donosi i doprinos proucavanju izvora za istoriju ove zemlje. Cinjenica da je Crna Gora pocetkom 1853. po prvi put u svojoj istoriji dosla u prvi plan slozenih odnosa Velikih sila, ucinila je ovu oblast, njenu proslost, pravni status i utemeljena ili zeljena prava, znacajnim i zanimljivim za armiju evropskih politicara, diplomata, ali i naucnika. Iako, lisen naucne nepristrasnosti i do kraja ostrascen, Rouzov Memoar predstavio je jedno tumacenje crnogorske istorije zasnovano na izvorima koji su za istoriografiju ostali u izvesnoj meri nepoznati i donekle zanemareni.