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Description: | obverse design: King Nikita of Montenegro, head, right profile, wearing brimless cap. To the left of the head the word
"NIKITA". At the base of the design a dove, facing left, with outstretched wings and holding in its beak a small scroll bearing the
inscription "S M FRANZ JOS.I."
obverse text: "DIE FRIEDENSTAVBE ERST ABGESANTD" (upper edge)
reverse design: raven, flying from left to right, holding a crown in its claws. At the base of design a horizontally positioned scabbard
and partly drawn sword, the scabbard being gripped by a left hand and the hilt of the sword held by a right hand. In the background a range
of mountains. Below the sword the date "13.JANVAR 1916"
reverse text: "VERLIESS DER RABE DRAVF SEIN LAND"
In this 1916 satirical piece Goetz pours scorn on the self-styled (since 1910) 'King' Nikita (or Nikola) of Montenegro,
who with his family fled to Italy during the Austro-Hungarian invasion of his country in January 1916. The obverse text is translated as
'Dove of peace sent first', and the reverse text as 'The raven then left its country'. Montenegro declared war on Austria-Hungary on 8
August 1914 and against Germany on the folowing day. Montenegro's small ill-equipped army offered limited support to Serbian operations in
1914 and also covered the retreat of the Serbian Army across the Albanian Alps during November and December 1915. Following the fall of the
Montenegrin capital, Cetinje, on 13 January 1916 Austro-Hungarian forces remained in occupation until the end of the war. Although Nikita
spent his years in exile plotting his return he never regained the Montenegrin throne. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | satirical Nikita King King of Montenegro First World War Flight of & 13/1/1916 Montenegrin Home Front & Nikita of Montenegro | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Goetz, Karl | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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