ravaged the tribes and instigating a system of justice in its place. Although harsh and sometimes cruel, Šćepan was able to impose a kind of social order on a tribal society that was rather primitive compared to the rest of Europe. However, Šćepan Mali was murdered in August 1773 and a year later, in the same month, Mehmed Pasha Bushati attacked the Kuči and Bjelopavlići, but was decisively defeated with the help of the Montenegrins, after which the vizier and his Albanian troops withdrew to Scutari. The brief period of civil order brought by Šćepan's reign did not overpower the tribal norms that prevailed in Montenegrin society. However, the false tsar had laid the foundations that would lead the tribes to unite, under the rule of Petar I Petrović and his successors. Petar I came to power in 1784 and, after several appeals () to the tribal chiefs, managed to successfully unite the tribes of Old Montenegro against the Ottomans at the Assembly of Cetinje, in 1787. In the same year, Montenegro began to attract the attention of Russia and Austria, who were seeking the support of the Balkan Christians against the Ottoman Empire. In 1789, Jovan Radonjić, the governor of Montenegro, wrote for the second time to the Russian empress, Catherine II: Now, all of us Serbs from Montenegro, Herzegovina, Banjani, Drobnjaci, Kuči, Piperi, Bjelopavlići, Zeta, Klimenti, Vasojevići, Bratonožići, Peć, Kosovo, Prizren, Arbania, Macedonia belong to your Excellency and pray that you, as our kind mother, send over Prince Sofronije Jugović-Marković. In the following years, Catherine and the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II offered financial support, military advisors and volunteers to bolster the Montenegrin war effort against the Ottomans. On July 11, 1796, the Montenegrins inflicted a crucial defeat on the Ottomans at the battle of Martinići. A few months later, an assembly of tribal leaders gathered in Cetinje and swore an oath to the unity of Montenegro, called the Stega (“fastening”), with the aim of uniting the tribes of Old Montenegro and the Brda. This act was adopted on the eve of the battle of Krusi, on 4 October 1796, where the Montenegrins defeated the Ottoman army of Kara Mahmud Pasha, who was killed during the confrontation. Following the battle, Montenegro gained part of the territory of the Brda, north-east of Cetinje, except for tribal areas of the Rovčani, Moračani and Vasojevići. 19th century After the First Serbian Uprising