Austria came now to be fully recognised.
After the Napoleonic wars, Austria had retained Cattaro and Spizza,
and trouble now broke out over some land near Budua. The Montenegrins
fell upon the Austrians, and fierce conflicts ensued, but Peter, who
had gained an extraordinary hold over his subjects, forbade them to
continue. Hostilities, however, continued in a desultory fashion for
some time.

Peter was followed by Danilo II., a weak ruler, but his reign is
famous for two events--the cession of the spiritual authority of the
Prince-Bishop to an Archbishop and the "Great Charter" of Montenegro.
Danilo's reforms, however, led the Turk again to attack his invincible
foe, only again to end in great disaster. But in the Crimean War
Montenegro, greatly to the disgust of the people, did not participate,
and in the Congress which followed Danilo was offered a Turkish title
and the hated Turkish protectorate. His willingness to accept this led
to the formation of a strong opposition party who demanded war.
Fortune was on their side, and the Turks invaded Montenegro. The
command fell to Mirko, who from his former exploits had gained the
name of the "Sword of Montenegro." A battle was fought at Grahovo,
which will ever live in memory as the Montenegrin Marathon. The Turks
were completely crushed by a small force of Montenegrins, and peace
followed. His brief reign was brought to a close at Cattaro, in 1861,
by an assassin's bullet, and Nicolas, his nephew, reigned in his
stead.

War broke out again on the Hercegovinian insurrection of the following
year, the results of which were disastrous in a high degree to
Montenegro. Even the famous Mirko, the father of Prince Nicolas, after
sixty battles, could do no more, and the Convention of Scutari (1862)
brought the war to a close. It was settled that Mirko, as the
firebrand, must leave the country, and various other clauses appear in
the Convention, few of which seem to have been strictly adhered to. It
needed another war to settle the Turco-Montenegrin border.

The land now enjoyed the blessings of peace for fourteen years, which
included a severe famine and an outbreak of cholera. Help was now,
however, forthcoming from all sides in the shape of corn and money. In
1869 it was with great difficulty that the Prince could restrain his
warlike subjects from aiding the revolted Krivosejans. The Emperor of
Austria fully recognised the harm which Montenegro could have done
him, and sign