Serbs and Montenegrins in the Greek War of Independence Several people of Serb and Montenegrin descent participated in the Greek War of Independence ( 1821 – 1829 ) on the side of the Greek rebels . Background : Greeks and Serbs in the early 19th century . During the first decades of the 19th century , the First Serbian Uprising and the secret preparations for a Greek revolution coincided . The news of the Serbian revolt of 1804 were received with great joy by the Greeks , who viewed it as a paradigm for a Greek national revolution . The ground for a common action had been prepared already from the end of 18th century , when the Greek intellectual and revolutionary Rigas Feraios , inspired by the French Revolution , envisioned a common revolution of all the Balkan nations against the Ottoman Empire and the formation of a Balkan federation . Military cooperation between the two nations was forged in the semi - autonomous Danubian Principalities , which were governed mostly by Phanariote Greek voivode s . There are indications that communication and cooperation between Serbs and Greeks of the Greek mainland had also been established early . For example , in 1806 the French consul in Thessaloniki reported that “ the Turks are very furious against the Greeks because of their communications with the Serbs ” . Several distinguished Serbs had been accepted as members ( “ brothers ” ) in the " Filiki Eteria " , the secret organization that prepared the Greek Revolution , although it was officially enlisting only ethnic Greeks . Symbolic of the Greek - Serbian brotherhood was the traditional ritual brotherhood between Giorgakis Olympios and the Serb revolutionary leader Karađorđe Velko Petrovic in the ranks of the " Eteria " . Olympios had fought with Karađorđe in Serbia and was married to the widow of " hajduk " Veljko Petrović ( Trikoupis , p . 24 ) . On the other hand , many eminent Greeks in Wallachia and Russia , politicians , merchants etc . assisted the Serbian Revolution in many ways . For example , Constantine Ypsilantis , father of the " Eteria " leader Alexandros Ypsilantis , had , as voivode of Wallachia , helped the revolutionaries of Karađorđe , while Ioannis Kapodistrias as Russian Minister of External Affairs offered diplomatic support to the Serbian cause in international meetings like the Congress of Vienna . Apart from R . Feraios , other leading Greek revolutionaries conceived a common Greek - Serbian - Montenegrin revolution , but due to diverging political strategies of the two nations this did not happen . The " Eteria " had suggested collaboration to Miloš Obrenović I , Prince of Serbia , but the latter preferred political arbitrations rather than a military confrontation with the Ottoman Empire . Consequently , the Greco - Serbian military cooperation was limited . From the Greek side there were isolated acts , like the attempt of the Greek " armatolos " Nikotsaras , captain of few hundred fighters , to march in 1807 from Greece to Serbia in order to join the army of Karađorđe . Serbs in the Greek Revolution . The first Serbian presence in the Greek Revolution occurred during the revolt ' s outbreak in Wallachia ( 1821 ) . The political and military leader of the revolution , Alexandros Ypsilantis , apart from Greeks and other ethnicities , had a number of Serbian fighters under his command , known collectively as “ Arvanites ” . Some of the notable “ Arvanites ” were : Captains Milenko Stoikovic , Petar Dobrniak , Chatzi Prontan Gregorievic , Mlanten Milovanovic and Archimandrite Servos , head of 300 Greeks and Serbians , who was killed in the battle . All the above were the leaders of mixed units of Greeks and Serbians . After the failure of revolution in Wallachia , many of them moved south to Greece to continue fighting against Ottoman forces . Other Serbs were already in Greece enlisted in the Ottoman army , who defected to the Greek side after the outbreak of the revolution . A group of 105 Serbs under the Serbian philhellene Anastasi Dmitrevic moved to Greece with the beginning of the Revolution and participated in many battles till the end of the Revolution . Several of those men were killed in battle . Other Serbian leaders who participated in the Revolution of 1821 were : Some fighters from Montenegro were known as “ Mavrovouniotis ” ( Greek for “ Montenegrin ” ) , such as Joannos Slavanos Mavrovouniotis , Joannos Montenegrinos ( participated in the siege of Tripolitsa ) , Gregory Jurovic Mavrovouniotis and Vasos Mavrovouniotis from Belopavlic . The latter came from Smyrna to Greece in 1820 and became the leader of a group of Montenegrins , many of them being his brothers and relatives . A notable Montenegrin philhellene was General De Wintz , who had also fought under Napoleon . He attempted to assemble a unit of 2 , 000 European volunteers or mercenaries to fight in Greece and Cyprus but he did not manage to get any financial assistance . Another group of 25 Serbs under the leadership of the Greek George Kontopoulos is known for their participation in the sieges of Messolonghi . At the beginning of the revolution the Serbian units were ethnically homogeneous , but gradually , a mutual trust and a sense of brotherhood with the Greeks was developed . Thus , after 1823 Greeks enlisted in Serbian units and vice versa . Most of these troops were irregulars , with the exception of a corps of 250 Greeks and Serbs led by the Serbian Stefanos or Stefos Nivitsa , part of a tactical army under the commandment of the French philhellene Charles Nicolas Fabvier ( Loukatos , pp 105 – 107 ) . After 1824 many Serbs ascended the hierarchy of the Greek army , such as the generals Chatzi Christos Dagovic and Vasos Mavrovouniotis , the battalion commanders ( chiliarch s ) Stefos and Anastasi Dmitrevic , vice - chiliarch Jovo Mavrovouniotis , Captains Ioannis and Nikolaos Radovic from Montenegro and the Serbians Nikolzo , Kotzo , Helias , Spyros , Sterios Pitolites ( from Bitola ) and Karagiorgos . Many changed their original name for the safety of their relatives or for other reasons . Thus , in the archives are mentioned with their Christian name and the epithet “ Servos ” or “ Serbes ” ( Serb ) , “ Mavrovouniotis ” ( Montenegrin ) , “ Bosnakos ” ( Bosnian ) or the name of their home - town ( e . g . Katzos “ Monastirlis ” i . e . from Monasterion / Bitola ) . Greeks confused some of them with Bulgarians and eventually named them “ Voulgari ” in various documents . Most were under the age of 25 at the beginning of the Revolution . The Montenegrins originated mostly from the city of Belopavlic and the Serbs from Monasterion ( Bitola ) , Belgrade , Nivitsa , Niš and Skopje . Some the Serbians remained in Greece after the Revolution and became fully hellenized , like Chatzi Christos Dagovic and Vasos Mavrovouniotis .