Šćepan Mali (Serbian Cyrillic: Шћепан Мали pronounced [ɕt͡ɕɛ̂paːn mâːli]; c. 1739 – 22 September 1773), translated as Stephen the Little,[4][a] was the first and only "tsar" of Montenegro, ruling the country as an absolute monarch from 1768 until his death.

During the last few years of his reign, Šćepan legislated numerous reforms, creating a court of Montenegrin clan leaders to dispense justice, introducing the death penalty and strengthening the central government.

Peter III of Russia briefly ruled the Russian Empire between 5 January and 9 July 1762, and died shortly after abdicating, probably killed in a plot orchestrated by his wife and successor Catherine the Great.

[10] One recent theory, first advocated independently by Rastislav Petrović (2001) and Dušan J. Martinović (2002), is that Šćepan was Jovan Stefanović Baljević, otherwise remembered for being the first Montenegrin to defend a doctoral dissertation.

[9] While in church during prayers for the Russian imperial family, it was said that Šćepan shed tears and turned to face the wall in sorrow at the mention of Peter's son, Paul.

[8] As these rumours circulated, Šćepan issued a proclamation to the people of Montenegro, urging them to end their internecine feuds, to adhere to their Orthodox Christian ideals, to prepare for war against external enemies and to expect bountiful rewards.

[13] Without ever openly confirming or denying the truth of this claim, Šćepan had managed to seize power in Montenegro, unite the people and depose the country's legitimate ruler, all in the space of a few months.

[13] Šćepan respected the rights of local chiefs, who maintained order, and introduced some socio-political reforms, notably separating religious and secular power and thus undermining the priesthood's traditional claim to authority.

On 17 November, the very next day, Obreskov received word from Prince-Bishop Sava, who was unsure whether Šćepan was Peter III or not and feared the wrath of Catherine the Great in either case.

[16] Annoyed with Sava's suggestion that Peter III could be alive in Montenegro, Obreskov added that "I am astonished that Your Eminence has not been informed of this till now, and that you, together with your unenlightened people, could have so fallen into error as to believe this impostor and vagabond".

He implored Empress Catherine to inform him if she received any reports of Šćepan stepping on Ottoman soil, and if this happened, send him instructions to cover such a possibility.

The emissaries were all detained at the Austrian border and the Russian Embassy did not hear from then until February,[20] when desperate letters from two of them, Grigorije Drekalovic and Archimandrite Avakum Milakovic, reached Vienna.

Disguised as a Greek merchant, Milakovic left Vienna on 13 August 1768 but he too proved unable to get through the Venetian blockade and he learned that Montenegro was at war with the Ottoman Empire.

[25] On 5 August 1769, Prince Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgorukov was sent from Italy by Alexis Orlov, one of Catherine's most prominent generals, to Montenegro in order to expose Šćepan and prepare the Montenegrins for the arrival of additional Russian forces.

[25] After a difficult journey constantly under the watch of Venetian informants, Dolgorukov and his party arrived in Montenegro a few days later, where they were provided with carrying aid and supplies by the locals.

Russian sources describe him as young, about thirty years old, with a pale and smooth face, bright black and combed back curly hair, falling loosely behind his ears, and as being of medium height.

Two key figures were notably absent: Prince-Bishop Sava, who faked being ill in order to avoid a potentially harmful situation, and Šćepan, who pondered how to proceed.

At Cetinje, the Russians implored the Montenegrins to abandon the impostor Šćepan, who they exposed as a fraud, and instead declare loyalty to the real ruler of Russia, Catherine the Great.

[3] Šćepan spent several hours outside the monastery, telling the crowds his own version of his story, and though Dolgorukov repeatedly ordered the Montenegrin nobles to capture him, no one listened.

The imprisonment of Šćepan left Dolgorukov, since he was a representative of the respected Russian Empire, as the de facto leader of Montenegro, a role he found himself ill-prepared to perform.

[27] Without Šćepan's leadership, the Montenegrin clans soon began feuding with each other again and raiding each other's lands, despite the Ottomans making threatening military preparations at the country's borders.

Dolgorukov also realised that his life was in danger; the Ottomans had placed a prize on his head, which he believed the Montenegrins might find attractive, and there were several Venetian plots to poison him.

[1] With Dolgorukov gone and the Montenegrins feeling abandoned by the Russians, his return to rule was welcomed by the people, who had grown accustomed to obeying him, and he would reign for another five years, until his death.

[30] Alexis Orlov, though disappointed in the Montenegrins for their poor reception of Dolgorukov, promised to send aid, but never did, possibly the main reason for the lack of a campaign.

At Vir, close to Lake Skadar, Šcepan ordered the construction of a building which was meant to serve as the headquarters of the Russian army, once they arrived to aid them against the Ottomans.

A Venetian report from October 1771 read that: "He has been promising them for some time that a Russian fleet would come with soldiers and supplies to support the campaign which he pretends to be preparing against Turkish Albania, but their expectations have thus far been disappointed, and this is perhaps the cause of his not being any longer in the same high repute with them".

[15] He is also noteworthy for bringing peace and order to the country and for the creation of a court of tribal leaders, effectively solving inter-tribal disputes without the need for fighting and bloodshed.

[38] Titled the Der Montenegrinerhäuptling ("The Montenegrin Chief"), it imagined Šćepan as a Venetian officer by the name Stefano Piccolo (which means "Stephen the Little") who travelled to Montenegro to fulfill his dream of becoming an emperor.

Though his punishments for stealing and plunder were harsh, Karadžić wrote that the people obeyed Šćepan in everything and that they had chosen to forget that the war with the Ottoman Empire, which nearly destroyed Montenegro, had been started because of him.

Both films incorporate fantasy elements, including demons, and put a lot of focus on Šćepan's internal struggles, painting him as a misunderstood idealist and making him, and not the Montenegrin people he fooled, into a victim.