The tragic fate of the author of the work “Kosova, the cradle of Albanianism”: Enveri accused him of throwing stones against sister Yugoslavia – Telegrafi

By: Dashnor Kaloçi

At the beginning of 1943, when no more than two or three years had passed after Fascist Italy had recognized ethnic Albania and returned to it almost all the Albanian villages that the Congress of Berlin in 1878 – as well as the London Conference in 1913 – had been unfairly taken away from her and given to her neighbors, in the Albanian capital, in Tirana, a book with the title: “Kosovo, the cradle of Albanianism”. The author of this famous book, which was received with extraordinary interest, not only in the intellectual circles of Tirana, but also in all the Albanian territories where it was immediately distributed, was a young intellectual, named Hamit Kokalari, who only a little some time ago he served as a senior official in the local administration of Kosovo.

Hamit Kokalari was born in 1913 in the stone town of Gjirokastra. He was the scion of one of the most popular nationalist families in the south of Albania, where its ancestors were educated in various universities around the world. Hamit’s father, Reshat Kokalari, was a very well-known intellectual, especially for the spread of Albanian education in the Gjirokastra area. Hamit also had two other brothers, Muntaz and Vesim, as well as a sister – Musinena. Like many other young people of the Kokalar tribe, who had studied and graduated in various universities around the world, Hamiti also graduated in the thirties in one of the faculties of France in Jurisprudence. During the period of the occupation of Albania, in the years 1942-1943, he served for a short time in the high local administration of Kosovo and at the Albanian embassy in Skopje, Macedonia. During that period, Hamiti connected and collaborated closely with many politicians and intellectuals known for their nationalist convictions from those Albanian territories, who helped him in the research, research and scientific work for his work. “Kosovo, the cradle of Albanianism”, which he published in Tirana in 1943.

In addition to a very large study and scientific work, where the author had to browse the Slavic archives, what is worth emphasizing in the publication of that book was the courage and courage of the author, who published it precisely in the period when The Communist Party of Albania was closely connected with the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Serbian-Montenegro emissaries who actually directed and led the communist movement in our country, had started a wave of terror against the Albanian nationalists.

Immediately after the end of the war, in December 1944, Hamiti’s two brothers, well-known intellectuals with nationalist convictions, were shot without trial in one of the basements of the “Bristol” hotel in the center of Tirana, where they had been kept tied up for several years. long ago. According to many testimonies given after the 1990s, their execution was done by direct order of Enver Hoxha, for his own personal motives. According to the testimony of the well-known intellectual, researcher and writer, Mejit Kokalari, a few days after their execution, when Fejzie Kokalari went to complain to Enver Hoxha about the tragedy that had happened to them, Enver told her: “We did well to shoot Muntazi and Vesim, while Hamit should thank us for leaving him alive for mercy, because he was ill with typhus. Hamit has thrown many stones against sister Yugoslavia. Stay calm with Musinia because they are moving their tails, we will send them to the two brothers” (Enver kept his word to a certain extent: the famous intellectual Musine Kokalari, who had been awarded for Literature at one of Italy’s universities, was imprisoned and exiled for years, until she closed her eyes alone in a dark alcove of the city of Rreshen in the 1980s).

Even though he had received a direct threat from Enver Hoxha, Hamiti continued to deal with the Kosovo issue, in order to expand, complete and republish his study. “Kosovo, the cradle of Albanianism”. Thus, two or three years after the publication of the book, Hamit Kokalari sent a letter to Nexhmije Hoxha, asking her to republish the book, but the answer that came from her was negative. From that time and in the years that followed, in order to make a living, Hamit was engaged in various translations, as he had an excellent command of five or six foreign languages. After a long illness, Hamit Kokalari passed away in 1989. His book “Kosovo, the cradle of Albanianism”, was republished in Italy in 1962 by a group of well-known Albanian nationalist intellectuals and its foreword was written by Abaz Ermenji.

The book in question had only 125 pages and consisted of about 27 chapters where the author used many references of Albanian authors, such as: Fan Noli, Mit’hat Frashëri, Dom Luigj Gashi, Zef Fekeçi, Karl Gurakuqi, Xhaferr Belegu, etc., and yes as well as foreigners, such as: Antonio Baldacci, Angelo Pernice, Edit Durham, Milan Shuflai, Justin Godard, Bernard Nevman, etc. Many of the chapters of Kokalari’s study are illustrated with special tables showing data on the population of the Albanian territories occupied by the Slavs, as well as various maps published by well-known European academies and institutes. In addition to the numerous references and archival documents he has consulted, the author of the book in the preface has given a special thanks for the great help he gave to Reuf Fico, one of the most well-known Albanian politicians and diplomats of the first half of last century, who in the last years of his career served as ambassador of the Albanian Kingdom of Zog, in Belgrade.

From Kokalar’s book, “Kosovo, the cradle of Albanianism”, we have selected and are publishing in the original version only some parts of it, thinking that it sheds even more light on the truth of the Albanians of Kosovo and other Albanian vices, which were unjustly separated from the mother trunk, in the middle of the 19th century and at the beginning of the second decade of the XX century.

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“Few people in Albania know Kosovo and the other Albanian provinces of the North that international tracts have later forgiven to Montenegro and Serbia in 1878 and 1913; it can be said that the history of Kosovo and its ethnographic issues are known only to a few specialists. Books on these issues are not missing, and especially in foreign languages ​​they form a rich library and prove the Albanianness of the provinces in question from every point of view. It is enough to sing for this purpose the books and documents published in the former Yugoslav kingdom. These documents admit that the majority of the population in Kosovo is Albanian, no matter how much they try to hide or reduce the number of Albanians in different countries. But what conclusion will be given in a census conducted with complete impartiality? If it were realized, it would be a very valuable document for us. Despite all this, the documents prepared by the Serbs speak enough in our favor, and in this publication, especially such documents will be taken as a basis. As an example, in the form of annexes at the end of this study, a small amount of the endless series of publications in foreign languages ​​on the Albanianness of Kosovo will be given. But what is less known and deserves to be noted is the history of Kosovo. Kosovo was not only the cradle of the Albanian renaissance, but it was especially the main factor in the historical events that caused and ensured the creation of the Albanian state and our national freedom. Kosovo has been a field of permanent war where Albanians have shed their blood for centuries in a double war against the Turks and against the Serbo-Malaysians. Especially the most important historical events of the period of the Albanian League of Prizren (1877-1881), and those of the Kosovo Uprising (1909-1913), which resulted in the creation of the Albanian state, were almost entirely the work of the Kosovars. Only Albania, closed in the borders of 1913, had the good fortune to enjoy the reward of the atrocities committed by the Kosovar Albanians, who unfortunately, instead of gaining the deserved freedom, passed from Turkish captivity to Serbian-Montenegro captivity. On this occasion, I consider it my duty to thank all my friends who helped me compile this publication, and especially to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Rauf Fico, for the documents he was kind enough to send me.

… This study aims to capture, by means of a brief historical and ethnographic description, a general idea about those purely Albanian provinces of the north and north-east that were sided by Serbia and Montenegro after the Russo-Turkish war of in 1877 after the Balkan war and during the Ottoman rule they were part of the Vilayets of Shkodra, Kosovo and Bitola. In the historical past, Serbian propaganda has unfortunately managed to do wonders, because it has been able to present Kosovo to the world opinion as if it were a Serbian country. In this work, the work of the Slavic propagandists was also supported by the help and full cooperation of the press and literature of the great defensive powers of Serbia. Albanian propaganda, with its very modest means, has not had the desired effects that it had stronger arguments and that reality itself spoke in favor of the Albanian thesis. One of the tools of Serbian propaganda has been folklore. The Serbs have exalted in their folk songs their wars in Kosovo, but the Albanians have more reason than them to be arrogant about the wars they have done against the Turks and against the Serbs in Kosovo, and these glorious deeds are mentioned in our folk songs , which the Serbs themselves have collected and published in Belgrade, in the magazine ‘Prilozi Proncevanje norodne poezie’…

Serbian propaganda has especially used the battle of Kosovo (1389), which it has presented as an immortal myth of the Yugoslav national ideal and as an argument to prove Serbian reclamation in Kosovo. In fact, the battle of Kosovo, which the Serbs have mentioned excessively, making all the theories their own, took place between the Turks and a Christian coalition under the command of the Serbian king Lazar, who fell dead in the war. It should therefore be clarified that the battle of Kosovo was not the work of the Serbs alone, but of a Christian coalition, consisting of: Serbs, Albanians, Bulgarians, Bosnians, Dalmatians, Hungarians. The Albanians were commanded by Prince George Kastrioti, the grandfather of our national hero, Skanderbeg, but the overall command was entrusted to the Serbian king Lazar, and this was because none of the other allied armies were commanded by a king and because the Serbian army was greater in number. The Serbian forces and the allied armies that fought in the field of Kosovo tried to stop the Turkish invasion with an expedition that had more the character of a crusade to cut off the Muslim danger than of a war with a national character. Historians recognize this battle as a new crusade against the growing Ottoman power that threatened the Christian world of the accident. However, the Albanian powers in this battle brought a first-hand contribution: “In 1389, George II Balsha, Theodor II Muzaka, George Kastrioti, Skanderbeg’s great-grandfather, and several other Albanian princes joined King Lazarus of Serbia, who organized a crusade against Sultan Murad I. The crusading army, composed of Serbs, Bulgarians, Bosniaks, Albanians, Vlachs, Poles, and Hungarians, engaged the Turkish armies in the field of Kosovo. In the council of war that was held under the chairmanship of King Lazar, George Kastrioti had proposed to attack the Turks at night, but this proposal was not liked because the enemies could escape a complete defeat and flee further. dark. So they fell during the day and were completely crushed by the Turks. Among those killed were Sultan Murad I himself and Teodor II Muzaka. (History of Skanderbeg, by Fan S. Noli, Boston 1921, page 37) …”

“Only fate and chance brought the Serbs to choose Kosovo as a battlefield, because in reality Kosovo has never been a real Serbian land and later in their claims, the Serbs, before and after the Balkan war, could not prove that the province of Kosovo and the other neighboring Albanian provinces were Slavic, and they couldn’t even prove it when they annexed Kosovo, because the number of Slavs there was very small. As for the expression “Stara Serbia”, ie. ‘Old Serbia’, which the Serbs usually use to call Kosovo, it should be noted that that expression has no historical basis and that the Serbs invented it themselves from the 19th century, to better serve the goals of their expansionist actions to the detriment of Albania.

This tactic has also been used by the Bulgarians in their propaganda with the word Macedonia, which has remained as a geographical expression since ancient times, while they presented Macedonia as an irredent Bulgarian land without taking into account the existence of other ethnic elements. For example, Kaçanik, Presheva, Kumanova, Skopje, Tetova, Gostivari, Kirçova, Dibra, Struga, Ohrija, are presented as part of Bulgarian Macedonia, whose borders are marked arbitrarily and without any ethnic or geographical character. This system has also been used in the south by Greek propaganda with the word Epir, which in reality in old historical and literary documents is synonymous with Albania, just as the word Epirote indicates everything that is Albanian or has to do with the Albanian language.

The Albanian language is indicated by the words ‘Epirote language’ and Skenderbeu was known in the past as the Prince of Epirus. , while strong Greek propaganda has erased these traces before the world opinion. Before and after the Balkan war, many Albanian provinces were annexed by Serbia, so that it could be said that a second Albania existed outside the political borders of Albania and remained under the rule of the Serbs. All these provinces are usually called in the Albanian language; “Kosovo”, even when it comes to provinces that are far from the “Field of Kosovo”. As for Peja and Jakovo (Gjakova, our note), it is known by us as part of Kosovo, while its real name in Albanian is “Dukagjin”. Foreigners used the name “Metohi”, as it comes from Greek and means property of the church. To strengthen the historical considerations, it should be remembered that the events developed in those Albanian provinces have a special importance. Before the arrival of the Romans and Slavs in the Balkans, the country was in the hands of the Illyrians, the great-grandfathers of the Albanians, who stood out especially with their kings at the time of Teuta, with Shkodra as their capital, and with the kingdom of Dardanis, with Skopje as their capital. The Illyrian tribes and kings showed great vitality and occupied most of the western Balkans. Especially the kingdom of Dardania, which included all of Kosovo and had Skopje as its center, played an important historical role…”

“… When Rome occupied the lands of the Illyrians, they preserved their traditions and race, while the Slavic invasions that came later tried to assimilate them in every way, changing their language, customs and religion, as well as giving them names Slavic cities and towns. For this reason, we find Slavs in the Balkans who still preserve the characteristics of the Illyrian race and are more like Albanians than Serbs. In some areas, located between Serbia and Albanian Kosovo, the population cannot be accurately distinguished whether it is Slavic or Albanian, because it speaks both languages ​​and has mixed traditions and customs. As we will see below, the Serbs themselves admit that more of their compatriots speak Serbian even today with an Albanian accent, which proves the Albanian origin of these populations, the Albanian tribes have thus lost their existence before the invasions and Slavic propaganda and have been Serbized . Thus we have the example of the Albanian tribes of Kuči and Piperi and Plava and Gucia that were Serbized later; we have such examples in Novi-Pazar and Senica.

Also, some authors are of the opinion that the Montenegrin people have more affinity as a race with the Albanian people than with the Serbian people. Prominent Serbian people today are proud of their Albanian origin and proudly remember the names of the Albanian tribes from which they derive. In the claim of the Slavs over the lands of the Albanians, the main argument is historical. Both the Serbs and the Bulgarians base their rights on the events of medieval times, when those peoples invaded Albania and Greece and created their kingdoms, which in reality were more Slavic empires with a religious character that tried by all means to reach the Adriatic. The empires of these Slavic peoples were all short-lived and were then forced to retreat, leaving the natives with the right to self-government and the lands they had tried to colonize. We had such an example in our century with Yugoslavia, which in reality was an empire that wanted to rule different peoples, such as Croats, Bosnians, Montenegrins, Hungarians, Romanians, Macedonians and Albanians. The desire to rule reached the point of starting a large-scale colonization work in Kosovo, a work which in this century and in the middle of Europe was an undertaking against every human principle and today’s civilization, especially if we take into account the methods with which was implemented.

Serbs and Bulgarians try to justify their reconquests and canonization programs with the existence of some church left over from the past and which remembers the short reign of their kings in Kosovo or Macedonia, without taking into account that Albanians are autochthonous populations and that more than any other people they have watered this land with their sweat and with the blood they have shed in the many uprisings they have done against the Serbs and the Turks. On the other hand, to be even more objective, it can be said that the various invasions of the Serbs and Bulgarians in the western and southern Balkans belong to the category of many other invasions that Europe and the Balkans saw in medieval times with this difference that the Serbs and the Bulgarians took place in the Balkans forever, but this could not allow them to take away the rights of the neighboring peoples and even less of the indigenous peoples. After the Turks conquered the Balkans and their rule was stabilized for nearly five consecutive centuries, the Albanians not only did not get assimilated by the new ruler, but strengthened their position and their race.

At the beginning of the invasion of the Balkans, the Turks found the strongest resistance in the Albanian people who continued the war for almost a century, for a longer time, and in a more excellent way than the other peoples of the Balkans. Especially the continued and invincible resistance of Skanderbeg filled the minds of the Turks that they were dealing with a healthy element, which they tried to assimilate only from a religious point of view and keep alive as a race, so that the Albanian people became a pillar resistance against the Slavic danger. The Slavic peoples, however defeated, continued their expansionism to the detriment of other neighboring peoples. If the Albanians had not accepted the Muslim religion, they would have assimilated all the Slavs; thus only some tribes were assimilated while the majority escaped. The Albanians of Kosovo, who were like the vanguard of the race, thus waged a double and centuries-old war against the Turkish rule, which tried to defeat them as much as possible, and against the infiltration and assimilation carried out by the Slavs through religion and propaganda. Against the Turks who tried to defeat them even more, the Albanians rose up from time to time, which is proven by the fifty-four Albanian insurrectionary movements recorded in Turkish history, of which the one in 1668, which broke out in Mitrovica, stands out especially because all Kosovars took part in it. This movement extended beyond Skopje and threatened the road to Thessaloniki (Tarih-Eb yl Farruk, page 13) …”

“… Again in Kosovo, the enterprises for the revival of the Albanian homeland are located later. The historical fact that restarted the Albanian renaissance took place in the province of Kosovo, in Prizren, where the famous League named League of Prizren was founded (1878). The branches of this great organization began to develop from Kosovo, which spread like a spark in pushing the national feeling in all parts of Albania. The Kosovars were the main elements of the League that implemented the program of protecting Albanian interests by fighting against the Montenegrins, Serbs and Greeks. The creation of the League was triggered by the treaty of Saint Stephen (1878), which was then revised in Berlin. The Albanian leaders who came from all over Kosovo and Albania to participate in the meeting of the League in Prizren decided: to especially save the Motherland from the division decreed by the Congress of Berlin in favor of the neighboring nations; secondly, to impose on the Ottoman Government the autonomy of Albania within the administrative boundaries of the four vilayets of Ioannina, Manastir, Skopje and Shkodra, with Ohrid as the capital, and finally to prepare the nation for the last war, for its complete independence.

In addition, the League sent its delegates to the Congress of Berlin, but their desiderata were not even heard, because there were no people in that meeting who showed good will to avoid the evils reserved for Albania. So it was decided in that Congress to divide the Albanian lands to satisfy Serbian, Montenegrin and Greek greed. But the will of the armed Albanians did not bend from this unjust decision; in order to preserve the Albanian toxic integrity, the League opposed with all its powers and with its proud resistance. The Albanian powers fought manfully in Plavë and Gusi and saved those provinces from the Montenegrin yoke. They fought in the same way in Hot and Gruda as well as in Ulcin where Europe was forced to send an international fleet to threaten the Albanians and on the other hand forced the Sultan to make an expedition to punish the Albanian rebels who had decided to die rather than to give up a palm of land of their country …”

“… The organized resistance of the League of Prizren brought for two years in a row many obstacles to the Great Powers of Turkey itself and refuted the opinion of those who claimed that the League was a creature and game of the Istanbul government. Turkey was able to hand over Podgorica and Shpuza to Montenegro, but when it came to handing over Plava and Gusija, the Albanian powers opposed it with arms. Both Montenegro and the Government of Istanbul did not dare to use force, and the matter was entrusted to an international commission for determining the border in the country.

But the League addressed an ultimatum to the commission, announcing that it could not recognize any decision made without its consent. Despite the threat that Montenegro made, it did not have enough power to start an action against the Albanians, and Turkey itself could not use force, because the Albanian people were inflamed to the point that they killed Mehmet Ali Pasha in Jakovë, and on the other hand, the Albanian power as came and increased. Upon the intervention of Italy, a new arrangement was reached, instead of Plava and Gusija, it was decided to give Montenegro Triepshi, Hoti, Gruda and Kelmendi, inhabited by the Catholic Albanian population. Mirpo, the Catholic Albanians, united with their Muslim compatriots, expressed their opposition to the delivery of these countries to Montenegro, while Prenk Bib Doda, at the head of 10 thousand Mirditas and Maslësors from different tribes, prepared to help them . Before this steadfast attitude of the Albanians, the Great Powers were forced to take a third decision: hand over Ulcinj to Montenegro. And in this case, the Albanians showed their opposition and without wasting time took their positions on the hills around Ulcinj. But this time the job seemed easier for the Great Powers because they decided to make a naval demonstration by sending an international fleet to Ulcinj to ensure the surrender of the city. Despite all this and this time the conclusion seemed doubtful because the French ambassador in Istanbul himself, in a letter addressed to his government on August 27, 1880, expressed himself with the following words: “The behavior of the Albanians is at such a level that the Turkish Government does not have confidence in itself is not in a position to commit to a surrender of lands, for which the Albanian League does not contest.

The Albanian League, more than ever, seems less willing to leave pieces of Albanian land. Even Porta e Nalte will not even take it by force.” Even the population of Ulcinj expressed its regret and opposition to the surrender of the city to Montenegro in a letter to the Great Powers, and in cooperation with the bodies of the League, began to organize an armed resistance. The International Fleet that came near Ulcinj to perform its task, was forced to stay for two months without achieving any results. It took the arrival of the forces sent by the Sultan who, after a fight with the Albanians, managed to surrender the city of Montenegro on November 26, 1880, events which were also considered by the fleet that had been in the waters of Ulcinj for two months. At that time, Hodo Pasha, one of the leaders of the League, and Bib Doda, the leader of Mirditas who had previously stood in solidarity with the Albanians who had decided to oppose with arms the surrender of Triepsh, Hoti, Gruda and Kelmendi, were captured by the Turks, who a warship was sent into exile, and Oroshi, the capital of Mirdita, was set on fire. Ethnic Albania was conceived by the British at the Congress of Berlin. It is worth noting that at the time of the Congress of Berlin, some English statesmen had the mind to support the thesis of the rights of Albania against the greed of the Serbs and Montenegrins and to think at that time about the creation of a large Albanian province consisting of four vilayets: of Shkodra, Kosovo, Manastir and Ioannina. Among others, we extract part of a letter from the English ambassador in Istanbul, Lord Goshen, addressed to the Foreign Ministry on July 26, 1860.

The Albanian problem cannot be defined better, but unfortunately all these opinions and other relevant documents were covered by the dust of the official archives and when the Albanian issue was raised again in other cases, especially during the Balkan war and at the Conference of Ambassadors in London on 1913, were not taken into account. It is known that the Congress of Berlin donated Nish, Leskopvac, Prokupulje, Kurushlum and Vranje to the Serbian kingdom, provinces that at that time were mostly inhabited by Albanians, while today the majority of their population is Serbian due to Slavic infiltration. But their greed was increasing, they attacked the Albanian lands closest to the south and reached the gates of Pristina, in the gorges of Kulina, where they tried with the few Albanian forces that reached the country, were crushed and forced to retreat to the line that Congress had set for them. The efforts of the Albanians and their heroic battles during the League of Prizren constitute the Albanian era that the national poet Father Gjergj Fishta made immortal in his poem “Lahuta e Malcis”. The activity of the League did not end there: the most remarkable episode of that period happened at the end when measures were taken that ensured Albania its autonomy. The events took place especially in Kosovo and although the efforts of the Albanians failed and were suppressed by the Turkish powers, they are worth noting more than all other events of that time because they form a valuable historical document that proves the will of the population of Kosovo for freedom and independence and for the spring of Albania…”

“… The League had prepared the square in time to hold a general meeting in which the representatives of all the Albanian provinces would participate to officially request the autonomy of Albania from the Sultan. On the occasion of this meeting, the center of the League was temporarily transferred from Prizren to Dibër in order to fight the aspirations of the Bulgarians in Macedonia and the movements of their committees that had then begun to operate in the east of Skopje and in Prilep. In October 1880, five thousand representatives from all the Albanian provinces gathered in Dibër and, among others, decided to officially ask the Sultan for the autonomy of ethnic Albania. The promises previously made by the Sultan on various occasions to the Albanian leaders were not being implemented, therefore the League must act without wasting time. Ohrid was designated as the capital and it was decided that the provinces of ethnically autonomous Albania would be administered by Albanian subordinates, with Albanian as the official language and with Albanian schools in all districts. At the same time, measures were taken to fight the Bulgarian detachments. The demands of the assembly were presented to the Sultan, but when they remained unanswered the League took the initiative and began to implement its own program by expelling the appointed prefects from Istanbul and replacing them with other officials from its own people. Thus the prefects of Skopje and Dibra were expelled; and the Vali of Pristina, threatened by the Albanian powers, escaped from them. After dispersing some of the Turkish garrisons and taking away ammunition and ammunition, the Albanian powers extended the authority of the League to Skopje, Pristina, Mitrovica, Prizren, Diber, while Gjakova, Luma and other provinces joined their powers with those of the League. In Skopje and Prizren, the Turkish garrison was closed by force and the Albanian population pledged to join the League. Before this situation, the Sultan was in a very tight situation and did not know what decision to make: to implement the promises of autonomy made before to the Albanians, or to remove the League by force after the external danger to Turkey was temporarily extinguished. Many of the people in his circle advised him about the second decision and so it was done …”

“… On March 25, 1881, a Turkish army well armed with modern equipment and commanded by Dervish Pasha arrived from Thessaloniki to Skopje, where many members of the branch of the League in that city were immediately arrested and sent to Thessaloniki from where later were exiled to the castle of Rhodes. Dervish Pasha then gave the order to occupy the entire Skopje-Mitrovica railway. Upon this, the League gave Kosovo its allegiance and the Albanian powers gathered in the province of Stimje, between Pristina and Prizren. In the attempt that took place there, the Albanian forces before the well-armed Turkish military forces were forced to retreat leaving 300 killed and wounded. After a while, the Turkish army went towards Prizren, Gjakova and Peja, where it took measures against the leaders of the Albanian power and against the leaders of the League, some of whom escaped, some were exiled and others were held hostage in order to to wait for any attack that the Malsi might make.

With all this, the League of Prizren later had a period of revival and started anew from the activity in Pejë, where in 1899, in a meeting attended by Albanian leaders to oppose the research and greed of the neighboring Balkan powers, it was decided: a) protecting the lands of the Sultan from any robbery; b) opposition to any change in the Macedonian administration. “Four years later (1903), there was a protest based on the talks and decisions of Peja against the Austro-Russian reform projects in Macedonia, and on this occasion three thousand Kosovar Albanians rose up and killed the Russian Consul, Scherbi, in retaliation. Mitrovica”. (Antonio Baldacci; L’Albania, page 141). In reality, the murder of the Russian consul happened because he had participated in the fighting against the Albanians. We should finally mention the wars of the Albanians against Turkey during the period 1908-1912, of which the battle of Kaçanik (1910) and the victory that pierced the Albanian insurgents, under the leadership of their leaders Isa Buletini, Hasan Prishtina, and Azem Bejta, in the city of Skopje and as far as Veles (1912), testify to the unbroken will of the Albanians to realize the independence of their homeland with the territorial integrity of Albania…”

“… In 1909, the Muslim tribes of Kosovo rose up, taking as their cause the payment of taxes, and only at the end of October the uprising seemed to be defeated by the large Turkish forces. The fighting took place especially in the Luma district, where Isa buletini led the rebels. In 1910, other tribes of Kosovo rose up for the same reason; during the summer season 50 thousand regular Turkish soldiers were barely enough to disarm the population. Entire villages were destroyed and all atrocities were committed in which the Turks know how to show their skills, but the Albanians swore to make the Turks pay for the suffering they had caused the rebel commanders”. (A. Baldacci; Albania, page 143). And in central and southern Albania, the spirits were kindled against Turkey, but there, more than the taxes, the displeasure came from the prohibition of the Albanian language, because the Young Turks closed the Albanian schools that had previously been allowed according to the liberal program they promoted. . The policy of the Young Turks was changed and became stricter than that of Sultan Hamid: the purpose of this new policy was to Turkify with considerable force, which Turgut Shevqet Pasha did in April against the Highlands of Shkodra, where he suffered a lot of damage. in the month of May, the Mirditas joined the rebels and proclaimed their autonomy by appointing a provisional government. A central Albanian committee was formed and demanded that all Albanian countries be gathered into a single vilayet, that Albanian schools be maintained by the state and that the Albanian militia in peacetime should do military service on Albanian soil. The following are eleven other points for which the Albanians demanded implementation by Turkey; the recognition of Albanian nationality, the use of the Albanian language in schools and in local administration, various guarantees on the functioning of the administration in Albania, the payment of damages committed by the armies of the operation against the insurgents, the punishment against the guilty, the release of political prisoners, etc. fearing an intervention by foreigners, the Government of Istanbul ordered Turgut Pasha to make concessions to the Albanians, concessions which in reality remained unimplemented…”

“… At the beginning of 1912, the Turkish government tries to treat the Albanians better and sends the interior minister to Shkodër to negotiate with the Albanians about the reforms that could be made in Albania, but the Albanians do not even come close. Mountaineers and Mirditas start to move anew and the uprising spreads to Kosovo where it takes extraordinary proportions. After taking Pristina, the insurgents head for Skopje and reach Veles, thus threatening the road to Thessaloniki. Before these events, the Turkish government broke down, dissolved the parliament, promised the Albanians autonomy and accepted the thirteen points of their demands. At that time the case made a big fuss, opened the eyes of the world and forced foreigners to recognize the reality. The coalition of the Balkan powers that followed the development of the situation with caution did not look favorably on the creation of an autonomous Albania which would reduce the parts that would belong to them when Turkey and Europe were divided between them. A few months later, the Balkan allies entered the field of war against the Ottoman Empire, and the reasons for this military enterprise were, as the interested parties themselves claim, the weakening of Turkey due to the coups that had removed the Albanian uprisings and the fear of creating a free Albania and with its ethnic borders. Minister Bulgar Gjecov admits in his work l’Alliance Balcanique, that the Albanian insurrection was the determining cause of the coalition and the war that was started against the Black government of the “Union and Progress” committee, the Albanian effort, he writes, had exposed the weakness and his impotence.

Thus, the wars and uprisings of the Albanians that almost ensured the independence of ethnic Albania in 1912, ended in favor of other Balkan states, which when they started their war against Turkey found the square prepared for a quick and sure profit. and the contribution that the Albanians had made to the overthrow of the Ottoman rule in the Balkans went to the benefit of the allied Balkan powers. On the other hand, it should be noted that Monastir and Skopje became the centers of propaganda for the liberation of the nation, the first congresses of the Albanian language were held in Monastir (1908), while the centers of the Association “Bashkimi” for learning the Albanian language spread to all the cities of Kosovo after the proclamation of Accession (1908). Newspapers and magazines in the Albanian language were published in Skopje and in Bitola. The Albanian movement then aroused the curiosity and interest of foreigners and the “Albanian Committee” in London presented in 1913 at the Conference of Ambassadors a map of ethnic Albania that is quite close to the true ethnic line. There was no lack of material for such a work because many researchers had dealt with the issue before and had published different ethnographic maps that, despite their shortcomings and flaws, complement each other to some extent. These maps are reproduced in the book of Lumo Skëndos “Albanais et Slaves”. Lausanne 1919) and in the publication “Les Bulgares fans lerus frontuieras historiques, etnographiques et politizeus”. Berlin 1917). From Dr. Rizoff. A valuable ethnographic map is that of Prof. Dr. JJ Kettler published in Berlin in 1919 …” /Memorie.al/