Onamo, 'namo!

Onamo 'namo! (Онамо, 'намо!) 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").