Petrit Latifi

In 1918, 100,000 Albanians were killed when the SKS (Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian Kingdom) was created. Through out the 1920s, Serbian troops were ready to invade Albanians. Uprisings against the Serbs in the year 1920 was a result of Serbian provocations.

“100,000 Albanians were massacred in the kingdom created in 1918.”¹

Serbia would provoke the Albanians to uprisings in the 1920s

“Albanian population in Kosovo was cut in half between 1918 and 1921 dropping from between 300,000 and one million to 439,657 in the latter year. A further Albanian uprising in 1920 which resulted in the deaths of untold numbers of Kosovar Albanians may have been a result of regime provocation”²

Through out the 1920s, Serbian paramilitaries were ready to invade Albania. This was particulary true in 1927, according to the German pper “Der Weltkampf”.

“On the border of northern Albania, Serbian volunteer troops are constantly on standby, ready to invade Albania if necessary”.³

10,000 Albanians were killed at the end of World War I (Great War)

“During the First World War, the hopes of the Albanians in Kosovo therefore lay with the Central Powers, who actually brought about the withdrawal of the Serbs and Montenegrins. However, with the end of the war and the victory of the Entente, the Serbs once again took possession. More than 10,000 Albanians were killed in the fighting.”⁴

Yugoslavia ignored the League of Nations laws of 1919

“The renewed guerrilla warfare between the Albanians and the Serbs only ended in 1927, when the superior force of the army of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later Yugoslavia, ended the fighting. Kosovo remained a part of Serbia, and the Albanians living there had to accept discrimination in almost all areas of life. The minority rights to which the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes had committed itself to the League of Nations in 1919 were largely denied to the Albanians in Kosovo”⁵

Serbian brutal conqeusts of 1912-1918 left an imprint on Albanians

“The two brutal Serbian conquests of Kosovo in 1912 and again in 1918 left a bitter imprint on the collective memory of the Kosovar Albanians. The subsequent harsh Serbian rule under the Karadjordjevic dynasty was also so painful that in April 1941 the Kosovar Albanians massively greeted the in-vading Italian and German troops as liberators.”⁶

Serbs and Montenegrins expelled Albanians between 1912-1915

“Neither the Serbs nor the Montenegrins made any pretence that the Albanians had come under their control freely. On the contrary, and as if to prove that their annexations had proceeded without regard to the wishes of the local population, Serbian and Montenegrin forces began killing and forcibly expelling local Albanians already in 1912 and continued this policy until 1915, when the Serbian army was driven out by a combination of German and Austro-Hungarian arms.”⁷

Serbs began changing names, for example, Ferizaj was changed to Uroševac in 1914

“As the Albanians were removed from their land, Serb “colonists” were sent in to take possession of Albanian homes. The names of towns were, of course, changed; Ferizaj, for example, was renamed Uroševac in 1914″.⁸

Albanians were treated a second-class citizens until 1968

“In fact, the Albanians of Kosova were treated as second-class citizens throughout the years of rule by Belgrade, except during the years 1968-81.”⁹

William Strang informed the British government regarding the Yugoslav colonisation of Albanian lands:

“At whose expense these lands are found, it is not easy to say…. It is certain, however, that in some cases a deliberate attempt has been made to drive out or destroy Albanian Mussulman population and install loyal Serbs in their place.”¹⁰

References

1. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Manipulation_de_l_histoire_manipulation/UxVzAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=100.000+Albanais+furent+massacr%C3%A9s+1918&dq=100.000+Albanais+furent+massacr%C3%A9s+1918&printsec=frontcover ↩︎
2. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Persecution_of_the_Albanian_Minority_in/8zeiVgBGEB4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Kosovars+Albanais+1918&pg=PA70&printsec=frontcover ↩︎
3. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Der_Weltkampf/WR4KAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=K%C3%B6nigreich+der+Serben,+Kroaten+und+Slowenen+albanische&pg=RA2-PA247&printsec=frontcover ↩︎
4. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Der_Kosovokonflikt_unter_besonderer_Ber/osZQDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=K%C3%B6nigreich+der+Serben,+Kroaten+und+Slowenen+albanischer&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover ↩︎
5. imbid. ↩︎
6. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Frozen_conflicts_in_Europe/viJpDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Kosovars+Albanais+1918&pg=PA154&printsec=frontcover ↩︎
7. https://www.google.se/books/edition/War_in_the_Balkans/g7eKDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Kosovars+Albanais+1918&pg=PA32&printsec=frontcover ↩︎
8. imbid. ↩︎
9. imbid. ↩︎
10. https://www.google.se/books/edition/The_Politics_of_Nation_Building/nv4fAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Kosovars+Albanais+1918&pg=PA155&printsec=frontcover ↩︎

tags: Krimet e Mbretërisë së Serbëve, Kroatëve dhe Sllovenëve kundër shqiptarëve (1918-1920)