Onamo, 'namo!

''Onamo 'namo!'' ( sr-Cyrl, Онамо, 'намо!, lit=There, Over There!) is a patriotic song written by Prince Nicholas of Montenegro and first published in the Novi Sad-based Serbian-language literary journal ''Danica'' ("Morning Star") in 1867. Its melody can be attributed either to the Slovene composer Davorin Jenko or the Czech chaplain František Wimmer, the conductor of the Royal Montenegrin Army's military band.

The song's lyrics call for the liberation of Serb-inhabited lands from the Ottoman Empire, making reference to the medieval Serbian capital of Prizren, the Visoki Dečani monastery and the 14th-century Battle of Kosovo. Following its publication, it became popular among the Serb population of the Balkans, and came to be popularly referred to as the "Serbian ''Marseillaise''". It was for a time considered a candidate to become the national anthem of both Serbia and Montenegro, but was rejected out of fear that its lyrics might provoke the Ottomans, and was later banned in both the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary for promoting pan-Serb sentiment. In 1870, the Montenegrin government opted for ''Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori'' ("To Our Beautiful Montenegro") as the country's national anthem, and in 1882, Serbia settled on ''Bože pravde'' ("God of Justice").

In 1918, Montenegro became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed Yugoslavia) and Nicholas was forced into exile. ''Onamo, 'namo!'' was proposed as the anthem of the nascent Republic of Montenegro in 1992, and after the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, as the national anthem of the newly formed state union. Following Montenegro's decision to leave the state union in 2006, ''Onamo, 'namo!'' was proposed as the newly independent country's national anthem. Due to its pan-Serb themes and the fact that Montenegro is not explicitly mentioned in its lyrics, the Montenegrin government instead decided to adopt ''Oj, svijetla majska zoro'' ("Oh, Beautiful Dawn of May").

Composition and themes

Nicholas I (, sr-Cyrl, Никола I), of the house of Petrović-Njegoš, acceded to the throne of the Principality of Montenegro in 1860, following the assassination of his uncle Prince Danilo, Montenegro's first secular ruler. Over the preceding centuries, Montenegro had been one of the few polities in Southeastern Europe that managed to remain essentially independent of the Ottoman Empire. A theocracy for much of its existence, it was ruled by a series of prince-bishops until Danilo's ascent in 1851. Upon coming to power, Nicholas waged numerous wars against the Ottomans, greatly expanding his country's territory. Like his predecessors, he considered himself a Serb and was generally supportive of the Serbian national cause. In addition to being a statesman, he was also an accomplished poet, playwright and orator.

The lyrics to ''Onamo, 'namo!'' were first published in 1867 in the Serbian-language literary journal ''Danica'' ("Morning Star"), based in Novi Sad, which at the time was part of the Austrian Empire. By some accounts, the song's melody can be attributed to the Slovene composer Davorin Jenko. According to other sources, the melody was composed by a Montenegrin chaplain of Czech descent named František Wimmer, and is said to have been based on that of a contemporary song extolling the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. Wimmer was the conductor of the Royal Montenegrin Army's military band, which had been established in Podgorica in 1889.

''Onamo, 'namo!'' is a pan-Serb anthem whose lyrics call for the re-establishment of the medieval Serbian state, which had been consumed by the Ottoman Empire over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries. Its lyrics call for the liberation of all Serb-inhabited lands, a goal that Nicholas frequently referenced to foreign diplomats in the Montenegrin capital Cetinje, and describe Nicholas' desire to set foot in Serbia's medieval capital, Prizren, then the seat of the eponymous Ottoman administrative unit known as the Sanjak of Prizren. The lyrics also reference Miloš Obilić, the Serbian knight who was reputed to have slain Sultan Murad at the Battle of Kosovo in June 1389, as well as Jug Bogdan and the nine Jugović brothers, who were said to have perished in the battle. The Visoki Dečani monastery, in western Kosovo, is also referenced.

File:Manastir Visoki Dečani (Манастир Високи Дечани) - by Pudelek..jpg, Visoki Dečani
File:Miloš Obilić, by Aleksandar Dobrić, 1861.jpg, Miloš Obilić
File:Jug Bogdan and sons.jpg, Jug Bogdan and the nine Jugović brothers

Legacy

''Onamo, 'namo!'' cemented Nicholas' reputation as an accomplished poet among his subjects, as well as the Serb population of the Balkans more broadly. "The people accepted this poem as their battle song," the historian Olga Zirojević writes, "as a call to liberate those Serbian people still under Turkish occupation, as a great national duty which had to be accomplished." At the height of its popularity, it was widely referred to as the "Serbian ''Marseillaise''". Despite the widespread misconception that it once served as Montenegro's national anthem, this was never the case. Two years before its publication, ''Danica'' had published the lyrics to several candidates for the Serbian national anthem, none of which were accepted by the Serbian government. Since the lyrics of ''Onamo 'namo!'' called for the separation of Kosovo from the Ottoman Empire, the Serbian authorities decided against adopting it for fear of provoking the Ottomans. For similar reasons, the Montenegrin government was reluctant to officially adopt it as Montenegro's national anthem, and in 1870, instead selected ''Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori'' ("To Our Beautiful Montenegro"). In 1882, the Serbian government settled on ''Bože pravde'' ("God of Justice"). Nevertheless, ''Onamo, 'namo!'' became highly popular among the Serb population of the Balkans, and was sung on many official and unofficial occasions. For this reason, it was banned in the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary.

In the early 20th century, a variation of the song titled ''Ovamo, 'vamo!'' (''Here, o'er Here!'') became popular among Bosnian Serbs; it called for Serbia and Montenegro to free Bosnia and Herzegovina from Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian domination. In 1910, the Montenegrin People's Assembly voted unanimously to elevate Montenegro to the status of a kingdom and Nicholas to the title of king. During the First Balkan War of 1912–1913, the Royal Serbian Army managed to capture Prizren before the Royal Montenegrin Army. Prior to the war, Nicholas had been hoping to incorporate the town into Montenegro, and the references he made to it in ''Onamo, 'namo!'' imbued this goal with additional significance. During World War I, Montenegro and Serbia fought side by side against the Central Powers, and were both occupied by Austria-Hungary for several years. After the Central Powers' collapse in 1918, Montenegro was annexed by Serbia, then ruled by Nicholas' son-in-law, King Peter. In short order, both states were incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, governed by Serbia's ruling Karađorđević dynasty. Nicholas was exiled to France, where he died in 1921. In 1992, ''Onamo, 'namo!'' was one of three compositions proposed by the Montenegrin authorities to become the Republic of Montenegro's new national anthem, alongside ''Oj, svijetla majska zoro'' ("Oh, Bright Dawn of May") and ''Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori''. At the time, Montenegro was one of two republics that formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was created following the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991–1992. In 2003, after the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro, ''Onamo, 'namo!'' was proposed as the national anthem of the newly formed state union.

Following Montenegro's decision to leave the state union after an independence referendum in 2006, the song was proposed as the newly independent country's national anthem by the predominantly Serb opposition. This was met with hostility from pro-independence politicians since it does not contain any explicit references to Montenegro in its lyrics, neither as an entity separate from Serbia nor even as a distinct region. The song's references to "Serb lands" and the Battle of Kosovo also disqualified it in the eyes of Montenegro's pro-independence ruling party, the Democratic Party of Socialists.Morrison 2018, p. 113 According to the scholars Aleksandar Pavković and Christopher Kelen: "The government of Montenegro was looking for a song that would implicitly or explicitly justify the separation of its singers, Montenegrins, from the Serbs." ''Oj, svijetla majska zoro'', whose lyrics had been rearranged by the Montenegrin separatist and World War II fascist collaborator Sekula Drljević, was chosen as the national anthem instead, to the displeasure of many Montenegrin Serbs, who according to the scholar Kenneth Morrison, lamented its "fascistic connotations".

Lyrics

Source:

Footnotes

References

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1867 songs
Montenegrin songs
Patriotic songs
Political controversies in Yugoslavia
Serbian songs
Serbian patriotic songs
Songs about Serbia
Serbian Cyrillic texts