The Australian led from start to finish, surviving four Safety Cars, and was followed home by team-mate Sebastian Vettel to give Red Bull their second straight one-two finish. Renault's Robert Kubica, who was passed by Vettel prior to the first corner having started from second on the grid, completed the podium in third, ahead of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton.
Webber and Vettel are now tied for the lead in the Drivers' standings on 78 points and Red Bull hold a 20-point advantage over Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship.
Report: Robert Kubica made a poor start to the Monaco Grand Prix to allow a Red Bull one-two around the first lap of the 78-lap race.
Starting from second on the grid, his highest position since the Canadian Grand Prix of 2008, the Renault driver arrowed his car across the track and attempted to cut across Sebastian Vettel.
But Vettel managed to squeeze up the inside from his third place and settle in behind Red Bull team-mate and pole man Mark Webber.
The rest of the field managed to get through the first corner, but coming through the tunnel Nico Hulkenberg in his Williams ploughed into a concrete barrier.
The German then slid along the wall for around 100 metres before emerging into the daylight with a shattered front left of his car, forcing the safety car into play.
As the remaining 23 cars followed behind, World Champion Jenson Button became the second casualty of the race with what appeared to be a rare Mercedes engine failure at the start of lap three.
The McLaren star had also made a poor start, dropping to 11th from eighth when he was forced to pull over at Sainte Devote with smoke billowing from his car.
Behind the top three of Webber, Vettel and Kubica came Felipe Massa in his Ferrari, the second McLaren of Lewis Hamilton and Rubens Barrichello in his Williams, the Brazilian up to sixth from ninth.
Once the safety car pulled in, Fernando Alonso then set about trying to make amends for his crash in final practice yesterday which ruled him out of qualifying and led to him starting from the pit lane in his Ferrari.
On laps 11, 12, 15 and 16 he pulled off superb overtaking manoeuvres on Virgin Racing's Lucas di Grassi, the Lotus of Jarno Trulli, then the second Virgin and Lotus of Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen out of the tunnel heading into the chicane to move up to 16th.
Hamilton took a gamble and made his first stop at the end of lap 17, dropping him into traffic, but hopefully to eventually elevate him through the field and to cover Alonso's charge.
Two laps later Massa, Barrichello, Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi in his Force India all took on fresh rubber, followed soon after by Kubica, Vettel and Webber.
After 25 laps Webber held a 0.9secs lead over Rosberg, who had yet to pit, followed by Vettel, Kubica and the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi, who was also biding his time before making his first stop.
In fifth place was Massa, then Hamilton and Alonso, testament to his team's tactics as he had pitted at the end of lap one when the safety car was out and was making good use of his harder tyres.
Pedro de la Rosa retired in the pits shortly beforehand with wisps of smoke coming from his Sauber, swiftly followed by Glock with a suspected suspension problem.
With team owner Sir Richard Branson looking on, it proved to be a grim day for the billionaire entrepreneur as Di Grassi then pulled up on lap 27.
That was when Rosberg finally made his stop, but it failed to work for the German as he ended up down in eighth, whilst Kobayashi joined the growing list of casualties as he too retired.
On lap 31 Barrichello became the seventh retirement, losing his car heading up the hill through Beau Rivage, the Williams careering backwards into a metal barrier due to a rear tyre or wheel problem.
Like a rubber ball he then rebounded across the track and hit the opposite barrier before coming to rest in the middle of the circuit facing the wrong way, and minus his front and rear wing.
In an understandble pit of pique Barrichello then tossed his steering wheel out of the cockpit of his car and onto the track where it was hit by a passing rival.
Naturally, it brought the safety car into play for the second time in the race, bunching up the field before it pulled aside after two laps.
After half distance of 39 laps Webber held a 2.5secs cushion over Vettel, with Kubica a second down, followed by Massa and Hamilton, who then received an order to slow down in corners to preserve his brakes.
In bizarre circumstances the safety car made a third appearance on lap 44 due to a loose drain cover at turn three, Massanet, highlighting the unpredictability of racing on public roads.
After another two laps behind the silver Mercedes, the field was again allowed to race, and for the fourth time Webber pulled away.
After 60 laps, with 18 remaining, he found himself 5.2secs clear of Vettel, who had Kubica just a second behind him, with gaps then to Massa, Hamilton and Alonso, who was being tailed by Schumacher.
Rosberg was running in eighth, with the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Liuzzi completing the top 10.
Kovalainen and Senna joined the list of retirements as both new team drivers pulled into the pits and called it quits, parking their cars in their respective garages.
With laps running out it looked as if that was it, all hold stations, however, Trulli decided to change the order as he hit the side of Chandhok's HRT car and was launched over the top of it.
Both came to a halt at strange angles with Trulli's car sitting partly on Chandhok's. The two drivers emerged unhurt but brought out the final safety car.
With just 12 runners heading towards the chequered flag, the safety car lifted metres before the end, allowing Webber to cross the line and take a much-deserved victory in Monaco.
Vettel was second ahead of Kubica, Massa and Hamilton.
However, there will be an investigation post-race after Schumacher took sixth place off Alonso at the final corner. Rosberg was eighth ahead of Sutil and Liuzzi.
Results:
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h50:00.000
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 0.448
3. Kubica Renault + 1.600
4. Massa Ferrari + 2.600
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 4.300
6. Schumacher Mercedes + 5.700
7. Alonso Ferrari + 6.300
8. Rosberg Mercedes + 6.600
9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 6.900
10. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 7.300
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 8.100
12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 9.100
13. Petrov Renault + 4 laps
Did Not Finish
Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 71
Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 71
Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 59
Senna HRT-Cosworth 59
Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 28
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 27
Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 26
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 23
De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 22
Button McLaren-Mercedes 3
Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1
Source: Planet-F1
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