Drenica-Dukagjin Uprisings

The Drenica-Dukagjin Uprisings were a series of Albanian uprisings in the Kosovo regions of Drenica and Dukagjin from 1919 to 1924. The uprisings began after the end of the First World War when Kosovo remained part of the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Parts of the Albanian population which resisted Yugoslav rule formed the Kachak movement under the leadership of the Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo and conducted guerilla attacks. A 1919 revolt in Drenica involving 10,000 people was quelled by the Yugoslav army, but uprisings continued in the following years.

Drenica-Dukagjin Uprisings
Date6 May 1919 - December 1924
Location
Kosovo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Result

Initial Albanian Victory

Eventual Yugoslav Victory

Belligerents
Kosovo Albanians
Committee of Kosovo
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Hoxha Kadri
Azem Galica †
Shote Galica
Sadik Rama
Elez Isufi
Prenk Pervizi		 Alexander I
Units involved
Kachaks Royal Yugoslavian Army
Strength
At least 10,000 Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown
Approximately 12,000 Albanian civilians killed between 1918 and 1921

In response to the rebellions, Yugoslav authorities retaliated by conducting operations against the rebels and the civilian population. During this period, many atrocities were reported against the Albanian population, which included massacres, destruction of villages and looting. It is estimated that approximately 12,000 Kosovo Albanians were killed from 1918 to 1921. By 1924, military confrontations between Albanians and Serbs ended as the Kachak movement was effectively suppressed.

Background
Main articles: Albanian National Awakening, Massacres of Albanians in the Balkan Wars, Massacres of Albanians in World War I, Kachaks, and Yugoslav colonization of Kosovo

Before the creation of the Independent State of Albania, Kosovo had been a center of Albanian Nationalism. In 1878 the League of Prizren was formed, a political-military organization of Albanian leaders which tried to defend Albanian inhabited lands. It was also the center of the Albanian revolt of 1910 and 1912. Despite having a 70% majority Albanian population, it had a 30% Non-Albanian(Mostly Serb) Minority,[1] who wished to join the Kingdom of Serbia.

Many Albanians in Kosovo and Albania resisted being incorporated in the often changing Yugoslav regimes, knowing that the new Yugoslav forces were the same Serbo-Montengrin troops who had committed massacres of defenseless civilians. Albanians viewed peaceful co-existence as unattainable given the terror and violence they experienced.[2][3]

After World War I, Serbia suffered greatly from Austro-Hungarian occupation and Kosovo saw clashes between Albanians and Serbs. In 1918, the Allies of World War I rewarded Serbia for its effort with the formation of a Serbian-centralized Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes which kept Kosovo as part of Serbia. The conditions for Kosovar Albanians deteriorated as Serbian authorities implemented assimilation tactics such as closing down Albanian language schools while encouraging Albanians to emigrate. The Kingdom promoted the settlement of Serb and Slav settlers to Kosovo, thus beginning the Yugoslav colonization of Kosovo.[2]

Parts of the Albanian population that resisted Serbian rule in Kosovo began military maneuvers and formed the Kachak movement. Under the political leadership of Hasan Prishtina and Bajram Curri, the movement based itself in Shkodër and was led by the Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo organization formed on 1 May 1918.[4][5] Among their demands were the re-opening of Albanian language schools, recognition of Albanian as a co-official language and autonomy,[4] with the goal of uniting Kosovo with Albania.[6]

Events

On 6 May 1919 the Committee called for a general uprising in Kosovo. This led to a large-scale revolt in Drenica involving around 10,000 people under Azem Galica which was quelled by the Yugoslav army.[7] Despite the revolt being crushed, its brutal oppression would start several other Uprisings throughout 1920-1921.

The Kachaks engaged in uprisings, targeting Serbian army and administrative formations but forbade its members from targeting unarmed Serbs and churches.[4][7] The Serbian authorities regarded them as mere bandits and in response to their rebellion, retaliated by conducting operations against them as well as the civilian population.[4]

In November 1921 the League of Nations authorized the creation of the Neutral Zone of Junik, which included a couple of villages around Junik and the Highlands of Djakovica along the Kosovo border with Albania.[8] The zone would be used to supply the Kachaks and jeopardize the Yugoslavians.[9] In late 1921 the Yugoslavian forces attempted to invade the Neutral Zone and Drenica but were pushed back by the Albanian forces under Azem Galica.

It was not until the arrival of Ahmet Zogu in Albania by Yugoslavia in 1924, the assassination of the leadership of the Kosovo Committee, and the Death of Azem Galica on the battlefield that the Neutral Zone and the rebellions would come to an end.

Reported Yugoslav atrocities
Main article: Yugoslav colonization of Kosovo § Massacres of Albanians

According to the Albanian newspaper "Dajti" from November 7, 1924, and data retrieved from the Archives of the National Defense Committee of Kosovo, between 1918 and 1921, multiple massacres have occurred against the Albanian population.[10][11][12] Around 35,000 Albanians fled to Shkodër as a result of the atrocities.[13]

In June 1919, the Serbian Chetniks led by Colonel Katanic, Babic and Stanko assaulted the village of Llapusha, allegedly in pursuit of Kachaks who were residing in the mountains of Gurabardhi. The inhabitants were massacred. The Serbian detachment had just arrived after the massacre in Zatriq where 27 Albanians were bayonetted and one of the village elders was beaten to death and another had his eyes gouged out.[14]

In 1924, Yugoslav forces entered the village of the Albanian Konjuhi family and massacred the entire family.[15]

In 1924 two villages were destroyed and 300 families killed.[16] Between 1919 and 1921, around 1,330 Albanians were killed in Mitrovica.[17]

According to an Albanian newspaper, in the province of Pristina, the Serbian troops had killed 4,600 people between 1918 and 1921, imprisoned 3,659 people, beat 353 people, destroyed 1,346 houses and looted 2,190 houses.[18]

Under the orders of commander Petrovic and Prefect Likic, the village of Dubnica was surrounded and burned on 10 February 1924. The Yugoslav authorities massacred 25 people: ten women, eight children under eight-years, and six men.[19]

In 1919, Yugoslav forces committed many atrocities in Rugova. From 25 December 1918 to early March 1919 around 842 Albanians were killed including women, elderly, children, and infants.[20][21]

In January 1921, atrocities were reported against the Albanian civil population of Keqekollë and Prapashticë.[22][23]

In 1921, there was a massacre carried out by Serbo-Montenegrin military and paramilitary Chetniks against the Albanian population in the village of Jabllanica in the region of Dushkajë. The perpetrators were Kosta Pećanac, Milić Krstić, Spire Dobrosavlević, Arseni Qirković, Gal Milenko, Nikodim Grujici and Novë Gilici. 63 civilians were killed during the day.[24]

In Peja 1,563 Albanians were massacred and 714 homes were destroyed from 1919 and 1921.[17] There were roughly 4,600 killed in Prizren along with 2,194 homes torched between 1919 and 1921.[17] From 1919 to 1921, around 1,694 people were massacred in Ferizaj.[17]

On December 15, 1919, a Montenegrin detachment of Chetniks tried to disarm an Albanian tradesmen in the village of Podgur, which resulted in 138 houses being burned down and 400 being pillaged. Additionally, women, children, and elderly men were massacred.[20][25]

Aftermath

According to Sabrina P. Ramet, approximately 12,000 Albanians were killed in Kosovo between 1918 and 1921.[26] Albanian sources state that 12,346 people were killed.[27][28] More than 6,000 Albanians were killed by Yugoslav forces in January and February in 1919.[29] Around 2,000 'Albanian patriots' were killed in Kosovo between 1919 and 1924. This number rose to 3,000 between 1924 and 1927.[30]

Following the arrival of Zogu, the Committee of Kosovo, and other Albanian Nationalists, would be assassinated by Zogu's agents. By 1924, military confrontations between Albanians and Serbs ended as the Kachak movement was effectively suppressed.[4] Following the revolts, the colonization of Kosovo would be intensified by the Yugoslav authorities and some 58,263 Serbian colonists would settle in Kosovo. In the Second World War, Kosovo was made part of Albania, and during the occupation of Kosovo, 70,000-100,000 Serbians were deported or forced to flee by the Albanian authorities. Albanian authorities also targeted Yugoslav colonists while simultaneously bringing 72,000 Albanian colonists to Kosovo from Albania.[31]

References
  1. Cohen, Paul A. (2014). History and popular memory : the power of story in moments of crisis. New York. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-231-53729-2. OCLC 875095737.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. Geldenhuys, D. (22 April 2009). Contested States in World Politics. Springer. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-0-230-23418-5. Retrieved 19 August 2023. [...] of the state to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (meaning South Slavs) in 1929 brought no respite for the persecuted Albanians. The retribution to which they were subjected (including massacres) continued the now familiar cycle of grievous
  3. Bytyçi, Enver (1 April 2015). Coercive Diplomacy of NATO in Kosovo. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4438-7668-1. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  4. Lenhard, Hamza (2022). Politics of Ethnic Accommodation: Decentralization, Local Governance, and Minorities in Kosovo. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 62. ISBN 9783643912251.
  5. Kola, Paulin (2003). The Search for Greater Albania. London: Hurst & Co. p. 18. ISBN 1-85065-664-9.
  6. Tasić, Dmitar (2020). Paramilitarism in the Balkans: Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Albania, 1917-1924. Oxford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780198858324.
  7. Robert Elsie (November 15, 2010), Historical Dictionary of Kosovo, Historical Dictionaries of Europe, vol. 79 (2 ed.), Scarecrow Press, p. 64, ISBN 978-0810872318
  8. "Kujtesa historike" (in Albanian).
  9. The Truth on Kosova. Encyclopaedia Publishing House. 1993.
  10. Shaban Braha, Gjenocidi serbomadh dhe qëndresa shqiptare ( 1844-1990), Lumi-T, Gjakovë, 1991, p. 225-375.
  11. Hamit Boriçi, Një shekull e gjysmë publicistikë shqiptare ( 1848-1997), Tiranë, 1997, p. 84-85.
  12. Blendi Fevziu, Histori e shtypit shqiptar 1848-2005, Onufri, Tiranë, 2005, p. 60.
  13. Division, Library of Congress Federal Research (1994). Albania: A Country Study. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. ISBN 978-0-8444-0792-0. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  14. Jetish Kadishani "Masakra e Gurbardhit" (The Massacre of Gurabardhi). Bujku, Prishtina. August 28, 1997, p-8.
  15. Pllanaj and Emin Kabashi, Prof. Dr. Nusret (2001). The Terror of Invading Serbia over Albanians 1844-1999. Prishtina: Arkivi Shtetëror i Kosovës. ISBN 9951404006. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  16. The Practice of Bourgeois Class Justice in the Struggle Against the Revolutionary Movement of the Workers, the National Minorities and the Colonial and Semi-colonial Peoples. Mopr Publishing House. 1928. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  17. Pllana, Nusret; Kabashi, Emin (2001). Der Terror der Besatzungsmacht Serbien gegen die Albaner (in Albanian) (1918-1921, sont tues beaucoup d'albanais ainsi que leurs maisons brulees. Dans la prefecture de Peja 1563 personnes tuees et 714 maisons brulees; a Mitrovica 1330 personnes et 42 maisons brulees. ed.). Arkivi Shtetëror i Kosovës. p. 33. ISBN 978-9951-404-00-6. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  18. (Faksimile të marra nga gazeta “ Dajti”, emri i gazetës dhe një tabelë, ku tregohen mizoritë e serbëve mbi shqiptarët më 1918-1921). (Translation: (Facsimiles taken from the newspaper "Dajti", the name of the newspaper and a table, showing the atrocities of Serbs on Albanians in 1918-1921). Albanian paper "Dajti". Title: Summary of the atrocities of the Serbian forces in Kosovo (October 15, 1918-June 1, 1921). The number killed in Pristina: 4,600. Inmate casualties: 3,569. (Extracted from the Archive of the Kosovo Committee). Volume 53. "Sold wherever you want".
  19. Elsie, Robert. "The Situation of the Albanian Minority in Yugoslavia Memorandum Presented to the League of Nations". albanianhistory.net.
  20. Department of State, United States (1947). Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 740–741. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  21. "Statistics of the Rugova Massacre". www.albanianhistory.net.
  22. Sherifi, Remzije (2007). Shadow Behind the Sun. Sandstone. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-905207-13-8. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  23. Studia Albanica (in French). L'Institut. 1981. p. 74. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  24. Krasniqi, Mark (1984). Lugu i Baranit: monografi etno-gjeografike (in Albanian). Akademia e shkencave dhe e arteve e Kosovës. p. 37. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  25. Jarman, Robert L. (1997). Yugoslavia: 1918-1926 (Un detachement montenegrin do comitadjis a esanye de dearmer un ommercant albanais. Vers le decembre 15 ont eu lieu les massacres Podgur. On a detruit 138 maisons; 400 maisons pillees. Villeards et enfante massacres. (Translation: A Montenegrin detachment from comitadjis tried to disarm an Albanian trader. Around December 15, the Podgur massacres took place. 138 houses were destroyed; 400 houses looted. Villers and child massacres.) ed.). Archive Editions Limited. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-85207-950-5. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  26. Ramet, Sabrina Petra (19 February 2018). Balkan Babel: The Disintegration Of Yugoslavia From The Death Of Tito To The Fall Of Milosevic, Fourth Edition (more than 12,000 Kosovar Albanians were killed by Serbian forces between 1918 and 1921, when pacification was more ... ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-97503-5. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  27. Bieber, Florian; Daskalovski, Zidas (2 August 2004). Understanding the War in Kosovo. Routledge. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-135-76155-4. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  28. The Near East. 1921. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  29. Phillips, David L. (20 July 2012). Liberating Kosovo: Coercive Diplomacy and U. S. Intervention (Serbian troops cracked down, killing more than 6,000 Albanians ed.). MIT Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-262-30512-9. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  30. RSH), Instituti i Historisë (Akademia e Shkencave e) (1993). The Truth on Kosova. Encyclopaedia Publishing House. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  31. Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918-2005. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press. ISBN 0-253-34656-8. OCLC 61687845.
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