Translated by Petrit Latifi. Written by Ramiz Abdyli.
Montenegro managed to expand its borders at the expense of Albanian lands with the decisions of the Great Powers (1878, 1913). This expansion occurred primarily thanks to the assistance of Russia, as well as the willingness of the Ottoman Empire to give up its borders, the property of Albanians for centuries. For Russia, the expansion of the borders of Montenegro was part of its strategic project to dominate the Balkans through the Orthodox Slavic peoples. While for the Ottoman Empire, concessions to the detriment of Albanian lands constituted something trivial compared to the lands it possessed on three continents. Thus, Montenegro managed to gain control of a large number of Albanian pastures and forests.
The war for pastures dates back to the beginning of the century. 19, which culminated in the first decade of the last century, when Montenegro would manage to possess even a small part of his extremely ambitious project. These bloody events are widely spoken of, especially by Viennese sources. According to them, the Montenegrin ruler Nikola Petrovic I, for the implementation of this project, used the Vasojević tribe, one of the seven assimilated Albanian tribes, which bordered the Albanian territories from Selca and Nikçi to Berane.
The Montenegrin sovereign justified the war for the conquest of the Albanian pastures as a way to “take revenge” on them for the battles lost during the Albanian League of Prizren (1879-1880), as well as to oppose the construction of the Tower in Çakorr, a point of particular strategic interest for this country.
The first war for Albanian-Montenegrin pastures, according to the mentioned sources, took place on August 20, 1902. At that time, numerous Montenegrin forces had entered the Ottoman border to take it by force of arms. The Montenegrin government had issued a press release stating that its army had “chased Albanian shepherds from the Montenegrin pastures”.
But this claim was denied by the Austro-Hungarian consul in Shkodër, Ippen, in his report, which he sent to his government in Vienna. He says that he had obtained information from the scene of the incident, according to which the Vasojevićs had been trying for years “to occupy some mountain pastures from the Selca and Nikca people, which are located on the other side of the border, in Turkish territory, north of the Vermosh valley”.
According to him, the Vasojevicians, having enlisted the support of the Montenegrin army and criminal gangs, had “entered the Turkish (read Albanian) area, about three hours from the border, where they set up an istikam” (trenches). This diplomat further states that “the endangered mountaineers gave the order, to which almost all the Albanians of the border area up to Plav and Rugova responded”.
This diplomat informed his government that the fighting had been “fierce and bloody”. He also pointed out the fact that although the Montenegrins had been much better armed, they had lost the battle, because “the Albanians forced them to retreat across the border”. He does not provide data on the number of killed and wounded, which, in all likelihood, would have been numerous.
The aforementioned diplomat emphasized the shocking fact that during these battles the Ottoman army had stood aside, in the role of an “observer”, because Istanbul and Cetinje had previously agreed to give pastures and forests to the Montenegrin side. This, according to him, was proven by the fact that the next day the Ottoman government sent the kajmekam of Berane there, accompanied by a Montenegrin official, who clearly proved the agreement between them and that they had gone there on a “mediating mission between the parties, to avoid bloodshed”.
The treacherous attitude of the Ottoman government towards the lands of its citizens, the highlanders, was proven and made public when the Montenegrin official offered them a sum of 1,300 groschen as compensation for the pastures they would lose. But the highlanders had understood this game and had rejected the offer despite the Ottoman kajmekam’s efforts to convince them to take the money.
The struggle for the occupation of the pastures of the Albanians of the mentioned area would intensify especially in 1907, in order to put pressure on Hasan Ferri, with his followers, and the heads of the surrounding provinces, to give up the Tower erected in the Çakorri Pass. Thus, this strategic point that was given to Montenegro, would allow it to have Plavë and Guci “as in the palm of its hand”.
The Austro-Hungarian consul in Mitrovica, Zambaur, says that Montenegro, in response to the erection of the Tower, launched a series of attacks on the Albanian border areas. This diplomat reported to his government that in the region of Berane, Plavë and Guci “for months, not a day has passed without clashes between Albanians and Montenegrins for the Tower in Çakorri and the pastures of the Albanians of the border areas”.
He further says that in those days a fight had taken place on the heights of Vizitor, above Guci. It was noted that “the conflict took on the dimensions of a real war when the Guciites gave the order in the Albanian provinces around, such as in Plavë, Malësi i Gj “…to drive the Montenegrins from their pastures”. According to him, although the army and criminal gangs “were chased across the border, they still continued their attacks on the lands”.
The claims of the aforementioned diplomat are also confirmed by his colleague in Shkodra, Kral. He reported extensively to his government these fights between Montenegrins and Albanians for the occupation of the latter’s pastures, as well as for the Hasan Ferri Tower during the second half of August 1907: “The fights take place sometimes for pastures, sometimes for the tower, and sometimes for both,” he wrote. He further claims that the pastures of Nikçi, Selca and Kelmendi, which Montenegro had declared as its legal property, “are Albanians”. As evidence for this, he referred to maps, consequently the “Project of Maps” (Ottoman government), according to which “the pastures are in Turkish territory”. For these claims he referred to the Austrian Baron von Kühen, who had dealt with the “Question of Disputes” over the ownership of pastures between the highlanders of Nikçik and Selce and the Montenegrins of Analim, that is, the Vasojevićs. Kühen had provided irrefutable evidence that “the pastures of these highlanders are a few hours away from the Montenegrin border, and that they protect them from Montenegrin invasion, because they are their only source of livelihood”.
Despite the above facts, as a result of the betrayal of the Ottoman Empire, Cetina managed to appropriate some pastures and forests that were until then owned by Albanians, consequently within its borders. This is what the Austro-Hungarian ambassador in Istanbul said in a report he sent to his government in July 1907.
The report states, among other things: “The Montenegrins of Vasojević have been plundering the pastures of the mountaineers of Selce and Nikci for a year now. Thus, they have succeeded in seizing one after another the pastures of Mojanci, Tantirog, Kërsh Sikolev in the northwest and north of Vizitor. As a result of these violent plunderings, with the force of the army’s weapons, the mountaineers of Nikci and Sleca have been forced to retreat to Vermosh and Greben.”
This is also evidenced by the research results of the Austrian researcher, Karl Steinmetz, who had undertaken study trips to Albania every year and had managed to penetrate to the fighting points, on the side of the highlanders, in “almost all the daily exchanges of fire and heard the trumpet signals of the Montenegrin soldiers”. According to the notes of this professor, the Montenegrins had already managed to possess the entire Velipojë-Vizitor area, claiming that “all this territory, without exception, was within the Turkish border”.
According to him, the only possibility to come to the aid of the highlanders was the formation of an interstate commission to prove the right of the highlanders to their pastures and the establishment of a chain of military posts by the Ottoman Empire along the border with Montenegro in this area”. The Austro-Hungarian ambassador in Istanbul says that the Sublime Porte was behind this dirty bargain, “partly due to pressure from St. Petersburg, but also due to its generosity, according to the logic that it had a lot of land, and the concession of some Albanian pastures did not carry weight for it”.
The Albanian core of the above pastures, contested by Montenegro, is also proven by the Austro-Hungarian consul in Shkodër, Ippen. This diplomat, in a report he sent to his Foreign Minister in Vienna, insisted that he was able to provide evidence through several maps, “that the northern pastures of the highlanders of Nički and Selce are not located in Montenegrin territory, but on the contrary, absolutely and without any doubt, they are in Turkish (read Albanian. . . ) territory”.
Ippen rejects Montenegro’s claim that these pastures were its property, calling these claims “a direct distortion of the truth,” that it was not “the Arnauts (Albanians) who commit crimes on the Montenegrin side of the border, as the Montenegrin side tries to spread this lie in diplomatic circles.” The Viennese diplomat also criticized the Ottoman Empire’s position for “keeping the truth silent,” noting that “the Montenegrins have occupied numerous Albanian pastures.”
Ippen further states that the Montenegrins, through small strikes, were trying to displace the Albanians of Kelmendi from their pastures “which are located in the Turkish zone, in accordance with the borders established at that time by an international commission. Some of their owners possess the ownership documents (tapi).” This diplomat also added that despite these arguments, during the last two years, “as a result of an energetic activity of Montenegro, the Albanians were forced to withdraw from all the regions north of Vermosh, from the back of the Guci-Plavë area”.
The capitulating attitude of the Sublime Porte towards the pastures of the Albanian highlanders, greatly worried the Austro-Hungarian government, also due to the fact that Vienna had long been recognized as having the right of cultural protectorate over Catholics in the Ottoman Empire by the Great Powers of the time. This was the reason why Vienna authorized its ambassador in Istanbul to protest to the Sublime Porte.
This diplomat wasaddressed a written protest to the cabinet of the Grand Vizier, blaming the Sublime Porte for the seizure of the lands of the highlanders of Nikçi, Selce and Kelmendt from Montenegro. He provided evidence of the “indifferent attitude of the Ottoman government towards the struggle of the highlanders, who were not even helped with weapons”.
To solve this painful problem, this diplomat asked the Sublime Porte to set up a mixed commission “for the avoidance of disputes and the return of properties to their owners”. However, his request was not taken into consideration. Finally, he says that Tefik Pasha, the Ottoman Foreign Minister, “seemed to have difficulty understanding the existing policy of patience of the Sultan, which finds expression in the regular gifts and subsidies that he gave to the prince of Montenegro and members of his family”.
The Prince of Montenegro further encouraged the Vasojevics, criminal gangs and the army to further invade Albanian pastures. As a result, at the end of October 1907, another clash took place between the Montenegrins and Albanians at the Haxhi Tahiri Bridge, on the southern bank of the Cem River. The Montenegrin side again blamed the Albanians for causing this war.
But the Austro-Hungarian consul in Shkodër, Kral, says that it was not “the prevention of the Montenegrin shepherds from exercising the right to graze their cattle in Nikçi and Selca, and consequently their disarmament, as Cetina claims, because the Montenegrins were the ones who tried to prevent the construction of a Turkish outpost near the Haxhi Tahiri Bridge” – he says.
Consul Ippen also informed about this war in a report. According to him, Vasojević, supported by the army and criminal gangs, had occupied a peak, far from the Montenegrin-Turkish state border and had built a stone trench (fortification) on it. Then a fight took place there between them and the highlanders, which lasted about 10 hours. Finally, the attackers were forced to retreat across the border.
The highlanders had managed to capture the trench during the following night. But Vasojević continued, with the support of the army and criminal gangs, to enter across the border into the Albanian area, while the Ottoman government did not react to the authorities of Cetina. This, according to him, had as a result the generation of continuous unrest in this border area.
Another bloody clash occurred between the aforementioned highlanders and the combined Montenegrin forces in December 1907. This time, the fighting also took place at the Haxhi Tahirit Bridge. On Vasojević’s side, a 5,000-strong army also participated. This army broke through the Ottoman army’s barracks and entered Albanian territory. Fighting then ensued, resulting in the killing of several Albanians. The other side also suffered casualties, but there was no information on their number.
A Montenegrin document also speaks of this battle. According to it, the conflict broke out after the Albanians had chased Vasojević’s shepherds and cut down trees in the forests, but it is not stated on which side of the border these actions were carried out by the Albanians[1]. It is worth noting that the Cetinje Archives contain a multitude of documents related to alleged “border conflicts” and not to the Albanian-Montenegrin wars over the years, while Albanians are continuously blamed, allegedly entering the other side of the border and committing crimes, which contradict the aforementioned Viennese and Albanian sources, as well as the results of some impartial foreign researcher, as proven above.
As a result of the loss of their pastures, the economic situation of the highlanders of the aforementioned areas deteriorated, to the point of misery. The Austro-Hungarian consul in Shkodra says that “the complaints of these brave highlanders to the Ottoman authorities carry no weight at all”. From this bitter experience, the Kelmends claimed that: “The Sultan abandoned us” and “Turkey is dead”[2]. This empire, under the dictates of Russia, had already agreed that the legitimate lands of Albanians would be turned into “market loot.”
Reference
Arhiv Crne Gore u Cetinju, Ministarstvo Ipstranih Djala, kut. 139, god 1907, Pogranicni sukobo i incodenti.
Balkan Academia 