of modern-day Croatia, all of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of modern-day Serbia into an "Italian-German quasi-protectorate". NDH authorities, led by the Ustaše Militia, subsequently implemented genocidal policies against the Serb, Jewish and Romani population living within the borders of the new state. The creation of an Axis puppet-state known as the Kingdom of Montenegro was proclaimed on 12 July 1941. The state was to be headed by an Italian regent and led by Drljević and his supporters. By 13 July, this proclamation prompted the outbreak of an anti-Italian uprising in Montenegro led by local communists (Partisans) and Serb nationalists (Chetniks). Having assumed power the previous day, Drljević established the Provisional Administrative Committee of Montenegro, a collaborationist entity which was a territorial component of the Italian Empire. He also organized his followers to fight against Montenegrin Chetniks and the Yugoslav Partisans. In September, he was dismissed from office by the Italians. Believing his life was endangered by the revolt, they sent him to an internment camp in Italy. The idea of an independent Montenegro was abandoned, and the Italians opted for a military governorate. Several months later, Drljević escaped and smuggled himself into the German-controlled area of the NDH. With the surrender of Italy in September 1943, he moved back to Zemun. In the summer of 1944 Drljević relocated to Zagreb, where he created a Montenegrin State Council in the NDH with the assistance of the Germans and Croats. He also published a pamphlet in Zagreb titled Who are the Serbs? (). In it, he blamed supposedly "aggressive" Serb policies for all past and modern problems in the Balkans, presented ethnic Serbs as a "degenerate race" and pointed out their similarities with Jews. Following the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, Drljević had become a proponent of the theory that Montenegrins were an ethnic group distinct from Serbs. As early as 1921, he had stated that Serbian and Montenegrin "mentalities" were diametrically opposed. He stated: "The mentalities of Serbians and Montenegrins are irreconcilable. The visage of the former was speckled with [Ottoman] slavery; liberty gave the latter a new visage." It was not until 1941 that Drljević advanced the notion that Montenegrins were not Slavs at all, but Dinaric people descended from the ancient Illyrians. He wrote:Races are communities of blood, whereas people are creatures of history. With their language, the Montenegrin people belong to the Slavic linguistic community. By their