This is a Gasser M1880 "Montenegrin" revolver, as used by Montenegrin citizens for self defense. It also would have been used during cross border raids, the Balkan Wars, and WWI. These or other revolvers were also common in the highly armed, neighboring Albania. King Nikola of Montenegro purportedly held significant shares of the Gasser company when he decreed that all Montenegrin men should be armed with a Gasser revolver.
However, the background of the edict runs deeper than just Nikola's greed. Montenegro was (like Albania) subject to blood feuds, and the society was clan-based. If you would dishonor a man from another clan, they would try to kill you or a male relative, even over 50 years later. Dishonor included killing, striking, severe insults, or a wife leaving her husband. Law in Albania came from the Canon of Lek, and included exceptions to revenge: if you were with a woman or guest, in your own home, or under an oath of temporary peace between tribes, the avengers would not be allowed to attack. The blood could also be paid off with money. Individuals would often flee from Montenegro to Albania and vice-versa to avoid retribution, which was then taken on their relatives.
In addition to blood feuds, most of Montenegro was never taken over by the Ottomans, so an independent-minded and martial culture persisted. Guerrilla bands were everywhere, and border raids were common. Merciless and horrific deaths happened all the time.
King Nikola, in the era of rising nationalism, tried to eliminate blood feuds and make allegiance owed to him. Feuds did lessen under his reign, and into the Yugoslav era guerrilla bands disappeared. But even today, blood feuds persist. Some men, even from childhood, spend their whole lives at home to avoid being killed.
The "crown NI" on top of the barrel shows this is the Montenegrin M1880 model, besides the overall profile. The nickel finish is likely original. This one is Belgian, and a number of small companies built them there, besides Gasser in Austria.
This excerpt from Milovan Djilas' book Land Without Justice gives a good sense of the brutality of Montenegro during the time these were used:
"Once, after the war, [Sekula\ met a Moslem on the road from Bijelo Polje to Mojkovac. They had never seen or heard of each other before. That particular road was always dangerous, thickly wooded, and perfect for ambushes. The Moslem was happy that he was in the company of a Montenegrin. Sekula, too, felt more secure being with a Turk, just in case Turkish guerrillas should be around. The Moslem was obviously a peace-loving family man. On the way they offered one another tobacco and chatted in friendly fashion. Traveling together through the wild, the men grew close to one another. Sekula later declared that he felt no hatred, no hatred whatever for this man. The fellow would have been just like anyone else, said Sekula, if he had not been a Turk. This inability to feel hatred made him feel guilty. And yet, as he said, Turks are people, too; since they were traveling together, let us go in peace, he thought, owing nothing to one another.
It was a summer day, and the heat was overpowering. However, because the whole region was covered by a thick forest and the road skirted a little stream, it was cool and pleasant. The two travelers sat, finally, to have a bite to eat and to rest in the fresh coolness by the brook. Sekula boasted to the Moslem of what a fine pistol he had, and showed it to him. The Moslem looked at it, praised the weapon, and asked Sekula if it was loaded. Sekula replied that it was--and at that moment it occurred to him that he could kill the Turk simply by moving a finger. Still, he had made no firm resolve to do this. He pointed the pistol at the Moslem, straight between his eyes, and said, 'Yes, it is loaded, and I could kill you now.' Blinking before the muzzle and laughing, the Moslem begged Sekula to turn the gun away, because it could go off. Sekula realized quite clearly, in a flash, that he must kill his fellow traveler. He simply would not be able to bear the shame and the pangs of conscience if he let this Turk go now. And he fired, as though by accident, between the smiling eyes of that man.
When Sekula told about all this. he claimed that not until the very moment he had pointed the pistol in jest at the Moslem's forehead did he have any intention of killing him. And then, his finger seemed to pull by itself. Something erupted inside, something with which he was born and which he was utterly incapable of holding back."*
*. I quote Land Without Justice by Milovan Djilas, Harcourt Brace and Company, 1958, pg 211-212.
However, the background of the edict runs deeper than just Nikola's greed. Montenegro was (like Albania) subject to blood feuds, and the society was clan-based. If you would dishonor a man from another clan, they would try to kill you or a male relative, even over 50 years later. Dishonor included killing, striking, severe insults, or a wife leaving her husband. Law in Albania came from the Canon of Lek, and included exceptions to revenge: if you were with a woman or guest, in your own home, or under an oath of temporary peace between tribes, the avengers would not be allowed to attack. The blood could also be paid off with money. Individuals would often flee from Montenegro to Albania and vice-versa to avoid retribution, which was then taken on their relatives.
In addition to blood feuds, most of Montenegro was never taken over by the Ottomans, so an independent-minded and martial culture persisted. Guerrilla bands were everywhere, and border raids were common. Merciless and horrific deaths happened all the time.
King Nikola, in the era of rising nationalism, tried to eliminate blood feuds and make allegiance owed to him. Feuds did lessen under his reign, and into the Yugoslav era guerrilla bands disappeared. But even today, blood feuds persist. Some men, even from childhood, spend their whole lives at home to avoid being killed.
The "crown NI" on top of the barrel shows this is the Montenegrin M1880 model, besides the overall profile. The nickel finish is likely original. This one is Belgian, and a number of small companies built them there, besides Gasser in Austria.
This excerpt from Milovan Djilas' book Land Without Justice gives a good sense of the brutality of Montenegro during the time these were used:
"Once, after the war, [Sekula\ met a Moslem on the road from Bijelo Polje to Mojkovac. They had never seen or heard of each other before. That particular road was always dangerous, thickly wooded, and perfect for ambushes. The Moslem was happy that he was in the company of a Montenegrin. Sekula, too, felt more secure being with a Turk, just in case Turkish guerrillas should be around. The Moslem was obviously a peace-loving family man. On the way they offered one another tobacco and chatted in friendly fashion. Traveling together through the wild, the men grew close to one another. Sekula later declared that he felt no hatred, no hatred whatever for this man. The fellow would have been just like anyone else, said Sekula, if he had not been a Turk. This inability to feel hatred made him feel guilty. And yet, as he said, Turks are people, too; since they were traveling together, let us go in peace, he thought, owing nothing to one another.
It was a summer day, and the heat was overpowering. However, because the whole region was covered by a thick forest and the road skirted a little stream, it was cool and pleasant. The two travelers sat, finally, to have a bite to eat and to rest in the fresh coolness by the brook. Sekula boasted to the Moslem of what a fine pistol he had, and showed it to him. The Moslem looked at it, praised the weapon, and asked Sekula if it was loaded. Sekula replied that it was--and at that moment it occurred to him that he could kill the Turk simply by moving a finger. Still, he had made no firm resolve to do this. He pointed the pistol at the Moslem, straight between his eyes, and said, 'Yes, it is loaded, and I could kill you now.' Blinking before the muzzle and laughing, the Moslem begged Sekula to turn the gun away, because it could go off. Sekula realized quite clearly, in a flash, that he must kill his fellow traveler. He simply would not be able to bear the shame and the pangs of conscience if he let this Turk go now. And he fired, as though by accident, between the smiling eyes of that man.
When Sekula told about all this. he claimed that not until the very moment he had pointed the pistol in jest at the Moslem's forehead did he have any intention of killing him. And then, his finger seemed to pull by itself. Something erupted inside, something with which he was born and which he was utterly incapable of holding back."*
*. I quote Land Without Justice by Milovan Djilas, Harcourt Brace and Company, 1958, pg 211-212.