Initiated by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia on 13 July 1941, it was suppressed within six weeks, but continued at a much lower intensity until Battle of Pljevlja on 1 December 1941.

The communists managed the organisation and provided political commissars, while the insurgent military forces were led by former officers.

The main insurgent commanders included the former officers Colonel Bajo Stanišić [clarification needed] and Major Đorđije Lašić,[clarification needed] with Captain Pavle Đurišić emerging as one of the principal leaders after he distinguished himself during the successful attack he led on Berane alongside communist forces.

The counter-offensive by more than 70,000 Italian troops, commanded by General Alessandro Pirzio Biroli, was assisted by Sandžak Muslim militia and Albanian irregular forces from border areas between Montenegro and Albania, and suppressed the uprising within six weeks.

In the second half of December 1941, nationalist military officers Đurišić and Lašić began a mobilization of armed units separate from the Partisans.

Due to the collapse of the Yugoslav Army, the general population of Montenegro had easy access to large amounts of military arms and ammunition.

Grievances mainly related to the expulsion of Montenegrin people from the Kosovo region and Vojvodina, as well as the influx of refugees from other parts of Yugoslavia.

The Montenegrins also hated the Italians because they had annexed important food-producing territories around Kosovo and a salt-producing facility at Ulcinj to Albania.

But the event that triggered the uprising was the proclamation of a restored Kingdom of Montenegro headed by an Italian regent and led by Montenegrin separatist Sekula Drljević and his supporters, known as "Greens" (zelenaši).

Large numbers of non-communists joined the uprising, including many former Royal Yugoslav Army officers, some pro-communist but most having strong nationalist sentiments.

[16] On 15 July in Košćele, near Rijeka Crnojevića, two detachments of 80 insurgents (from Ljubotinj and Upper Ceklin) ambushed a convoy of trucks transporting Italian II Border guard battalion from Podgorica.

[18] On 17 July, amidst the worst of the fighting during the successful attack he led on Berane, then-Captain Pavle Đurišić distinguished himself,[19][20] and emerged as one of the main commanders of the uprising.

They attacked stations in municipalities of Bare and Buđevo, and local commander Stjepan Jakovljević asked for reinforcements from multiple sources.

He along with district representative held conference in Sjenica for joint fight between Ustaše and armed Muslims against uprisers, who were mostly Serbs, using pre-existing religious intolerance for their own benefit.

[26] Within three weeks from the start of the uprising, Italian troops were forced to retreat to their strongholds in Pljevlja, Nikšić, Cetinje, and Podgorica.

"[31] On 25 July 1941, Benito Mussolini appointed Biroli, former governor of Asmara, with complete civil and military powers in Montenegro.

[40] Transfer of two Italian divisions (Tarro and Cacciatori delle Alpi) to the Eastern Front was cancelled and they were directed against the insurgents in Montenegro.

[17] In one of his reports written in August 1941, Biroli explained that the Division Venezia advanced from Podgorica to Kolašin and Andrijevica.

[39] Biroli issued the orders to crush the revolt, but directed his forces to avoid "acts of revenge and useless cruelty".

[45] Đilas and Partisans conducted a brief reign of terror and soon realized that such policy made it harder for them to find supplies and safe hideouts and to recruit new forces.

[3] On 22 October 1941 Tito dismissed Milovan Đilas from the command of Partisan forces in Montenegro because of his mistakes during the uprising, including his "Leftist Errors".

[50][51] Following their defeat in the Battle of Pljevlja, partisans terrorized people, plundered villages and executed captured Italians, party "sectarians" and "perverts".

[53] A split developed between the insurgents was a result of their defeats inflicted by the Italians and realization by some of them that the uprising was led by the communists.

[54] Partisans were determined to carry on with the communist revolution while nationalists recognized that the uprising had been defeated and wanted to stop fighting.

[10] Subsequently, the nationalists, including Đurišić who was popular in his own Vasojević clan of northern Montenegro, withdrew into the hinterland.

[58] There were two main reasons for the expansion of the conflict between the two groups of insurgents: a major defeat of Partisan forces during their attack on the Italian garrison in Pljevlja and terror conducted by communists, the so-called "Left Deviations".

[60] In early November 1941[61] Tito dismissed Milovan Đilas from the command of Partisan forces in Montenegro because of his mistakes during the uprising, including his "Leftist Errors".

[64] On 20 December 1941, Draža Mihailović, a prominent Chetnik leader later supported by the Yugoslav government-in-exile, appointed Đurišić as the commander of all regular and reserve troops in central and eastern Montenegro and parts of the Sandžak.