Albanian revolt of 1912

The Albanian revolt of 1912 (Albanian: Kryengritja e vitit 1912, "Uprising of 1912"), was the last revolt against the Ottoman Empire's rule in Albania and lasted from January until August 1912.[1][2][3] The revolt ended when the Ottoman government agreed to fulfill the rebels' demands on 4 September 1912. Generally, Muslim Albanians fought against the Ottomans in the incoming Balkan War.[4]

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Albanian revolt of 1912

Üskup (modern-day Skopje) after being freed by Albanian revolutionaries
DateJanuary–August 1912
Location
Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire, Sanjak of Dibra
Result

Albanian victory

• De-jure establishment of the Albanian Vilayet
Belligerents
Albanian rebels  Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Isa Boletini
Idriz Seferi
Ismail Qemali
Hasan Prishtina
Nexhip Draga
Bajram Curri
Riza bej Gjakova
Essad Pasha Toptani		 Mehmed V
Strength
15,000-30,000 up to 50,000

Prelude
Hasan Prishtina
Further information: Albanian revolt of 1910 and Young Turk Revolution

The main reasons for all these revolts were changes for Albanians introduced by Young Turks, including tax increases, conscription for Albanians in the Ottoman army, and the disarming of the Albanian civil population.[5]

Albanians were not the only group to start a rebellion against the Young Turks government. There were insurgencies in Syria and on the Arab peninsula.[6]

The first major Albanian revolt in 1910 led by Isa Boletini and Idriz Seferi was supported by Bulgaria and Montenegro.[7] After two weeks of fierce fighting the Albanian rebels and Isa Boletini withdrew to the Drenicë region,while Idriz Seferi withdrew with his remaining soldiers to the Karadak region, where he continued his resistance.[8] Sultan Mehmed V visited Pristina in June 1911 and declared an amnesty for all of those who had participated in the revolt, except for the ones who had committed murder.[9] In order to calm the situation, the sultan introduced a number of concessions, including:[10]

  1. The establishment of Albanian schools.
  2. Military service is to be restricted to the territory of Kosovo Vilayet.
  3. Suspension of all conscription and taxes for two years.
  4. Appointment of government officials who speak the Albanian language.

At the end of 1911 a group of Albanian Members, led by Ismail Qemali, started a debate in the Ottoman parliament. They requested additional rights for Albanians in the cultural and administrative spheres.[11]

In January 1912, Hasan Prishtina, an Albanian deputy in the Ottoman parliament, publicly warned Members that the policy of the Young Turks' government would lead to a revolution in Albania.[11] After that speech Ismail Qemali proposed a meeting with Hasan Prishtina. They met the same evening in the house of Hasan Prishtina and agreed to organize an Albanian uprising.[12] The following day they met in the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul with Mufid Bey Libohova, Essad Pasha Toptani, Aziz Pasha Vrioni and Syreja Bey Vlora. They agreed to unite their organizations and lead the Albanian uprising. Subsequently they took an oath on this promise at a meeting in Syreja Bey's house in Taxim.[13]

Events

Since the participation of Kosovo played a central role in the uprising, it was decided that Ismail Qemali should organize the delivery of 15,000 Mauser rifles to Kosovo via the Kingdom of Montenegro.[14] Hassan Prishtina attempted to get the support of Bulgaria by proposing the creation of an Albanian–Macedonian state to Pavlof, the Bulgarian deputy, who met him in the British Consulate in Skopje.[15] The British Consul from Skopje promised that the United Kingdom would provide strong support to the Albanians.[16]

The revolt started in the western part of Kosovo Vilayet[17] and was led by Hasan Pristina, Nexhip Draga, Bajram Curri, Riza bej Gjakova and others.[18] Hasan Prishtina who was in the Kosovo Vilayet during the revolt, and Ismail Qemali who was in Europe gathering weapons and money and attempting to win over European public opinion to the cause of the uprising, maintained communication through the British Consulate in Skopje.[19] Essad Pasha Toptani obliged himself to organize the uprising in Central Albania and Mirdita.[20]

Albanian soldiers and officers deserted the Ottoman military service and joined the insurgents.[11][21]

List of demands

The Albanian rebels in Kosovo Vilayet demanded a number of actions from the Young Turk administration. These demands were printed in emigrant newspapers published in Bulgaria in the middle of March 1912, including the appointment of Albanians in government administration, schools with Albanian as the medium of instruction, and the restriction of Albanians' conscription in the Ottoman Army to the Kosovo Vilayet.[22]

Albanian rebels were divided; some supported the Young Turk government, others the Liberal Union, while some even wished to return to Abdul Hamid's autocracy.[23]

On 9 August 1912, Albanian rebels presented a new list of demands (the so-called list of Fourteen Points), related to the Albanian Vilayet, that can be summarized as follows:[23]

  • an autonomous system of administration and justice in four vilayets populated with Albanians (Albanian Vilayet),
  • Albanians to perform military service only in the four principally-Albanian vilayets, except in time of war,
  • employment of officials who knew local language and customs (though not necessarily Albanians),
  • new lycées and agricultural schools in the bigger districts,
  • reorganization and modernization of the religious schools and the use of the Albanian language in secular schools,
  • freedom to establish private schools and societies,
  • the development of trade, agriculture and public works,
  • general amnesty for all the Albanians involved in the revolt,
  • court martial of those Ottoman officers who had attempted to suppress the revolt.

The Ottoman government ended the Albanian revolts by accepting all demands (ignoring only the last) on 4 September 1912.[24] Hasan Prishtina was planning to start a new revolt in three or four months, but the First Balkan War broke out soon and destroyed his plans.[25]

Aftermath
Further information: First Balkan War

The success of the Albanian Revolt and news from the Italo-Turkish War sent a strong signal to the neighboring countries that the Ottoman Empire was weak.[26] The members of the Balkan League decided that they could not waste such a golden opportunity to strike at a weakened Ottoman state.[27] Demonstration of the weakness of the Ottoman Empire and promises of Albanian autonomy threatened Serbian ambitions for the incorporation of these territories into its domain. The Kingdom of Serbia opposed the plan for this rather large Albanian state (whose territories are now considered to be the concept of Greater Albania), preferring a partition of the European territory of the Ottoman Empire among the four Balkan allies.

See also

References
  1. Liotta, P. H.; Jebb, Cindy R. (2004). Mapping Macedonia: Idea and Identity. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-275-98247-8. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  2. Phillips, John (2004). "The rise of Albanian nationalism". Macedonia: warlords and rebels in the Balkans. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-86064-841-0. An Albanian uprising in Kosovo for independent schools in May 1912 led to capture of Skopje by rebels in August
  3. Taru Bahl; M.H. Syed (2003). "The Balkan Wars and creation of Independent Albania". Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World. New Delhi: Anmol publications PVT. Ltd. p. 53. ISBN 978-81-261-1419-1. The Albanians once more raise against Ottoman Empire in May 1912 and took Macedonian capitol of Skopje by August
  4. Parker, Franklin; Parker, Betty June. In the Balkan wars, Muslim Albanians generally fought against the Ottoman Empire, then governed by the Young Turks, an aggressively nationalist revolutionary group. As Malcolm writes, the Albanian Muslims "pulled down the columns of the Ottoman Empire upon their own head." The wars were marked by terrible atrocities on all sides, setting the tone for the horrors of the twentieth century." (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. Gurakuqi, Romeo (November 2007). "The Highland Uprising of 1911". Shoqata Dedë Gjo' Luli Association. Archived from the original (php) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011. It was provoked by the laws passed by the new regime that claimed to loyally implement the old fiscal policy on the extremely impoverished population, impose new heavy taxes upon people, forcefully recruit Albanians for the Turkish army, continue the process of the entire population disarmament, extend its absolute power all over Albania, even over those regions that had always enjoyed certain privileges.
  6. Kayalı, Hasan (1997). "Arabs and the Young Turks, Ottomanism, Arabism, and Islamism in the Ottoman Empire, 1908–1918". University of California Press. Retrieved January 9, 2011. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 ... confronted insurgencies in Syria, Albania, and Arabia (i.e., the Arabian Peninsula).
  7. Ćorović, Vladimir (November 2001) [1997]. "Balkanski ratovi". Istorija srpskog naroda (in Serbian). Belgrade: Ars Libri. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2011. Taj ustanak pomagale su donekle Bugarska i Crna Gora,
  8. "Marrja e Grykës së Kaçanikut". Bota Sot. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  9. Elsie, Robert (2004). Historical dictionary of Kosova. United States: Scarecrow Press Inc. p. xxx. ISBN 978-0-8108-5309-6. and proclaimed amnesty for those who participated in 1910 uprising
  10. Stanford J. Shaw; Ezel Kural Shaw (2002) [1977]. "Clearing the Decks: Ending the Tripolitanian War and the Albanian Revolt". History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. Vol. 2. United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-521-29166-8. Retrieved January 10, 2011. In June 1911 the sultan himself visited Kosova to calm the situation, signing decree of amnesty and introducing many concessions, including Albanians schools, military service to be performed only in the province, suspension of all conscriptions and taxes for two years, and the use of the officials conversant in Albanian.
  11. Zhelyazkova, Antonina (2000). "Albania and Albanian Identities". International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. In December 1911, a group of Albanian members of the Ottoman parliament, guided by Ismail Qemal, started a parliamentary debate in order to make Constantinople grant the Albanians national rights in the cultural and administrative spheres.
  12. Prishtina, Hasan. Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912. Shkrue prej Hassan Prishtinës [Hasan Bey Prishtina: Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912] (Translated by Robert Elsie) (in Albanian). Shkodra: Shtypshkroja Franciskane. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. Ismail Kemal Bey ... proposed that we meet for dinner at my house... We discussed ... and finally decided to put an end to Turkish outrages with an uprising.
  13. Hasan Prishtina. Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912. Shkrue prej Hassan Prishtinës [Hasan Bey Prishtina: Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912] (Translated by Robert Elsie) (in Albanian). Shkodra: Shtypshkroja Franciskane. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. on the next day at the Pera Palace Hotel... meeting with the following men: Mufid Bey Libohova, Essad Pasha Toptani, Aziz Pasha Vrioni and Syreja Bey Vlora.... we realised that they held the same views as we did, we decided to hold a meeting at the home of Syreja Bey, in Taksim... we all swear an oath... decided to organise an uprising
  14. Prishtina, Hasan. Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912. Shkrue prej Hassan Prishtinës [Hasan Bey Prishtina: Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912] (Translated by Robert Elsie) (in Albanian). Shkodra: Shtypshkroja Franciskane. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. Kosovo was to play a central role in the matter. For this reason, it was decided to find and send fifteen thousand Mauser rifles into Kosovo, through Montenegro.
  15. Prishtina, Hasan. Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912. Shkrue prej Hassan Prishtinës [Hasan Bey Prishtina: Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912] (Translated by Robert Elsie) (in Albanian). Shkodra: Shtypshkroja Franciskane. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. I went to meet Mr Pavlof, one-time deputy for Skopje ... for the rights of the Albanians and Bulgarians... I believe that the time has come to ... joint uprising with a view to creating an autonomous Albanian-Macedonian state.
  16. Prishtina, Hasan. Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912. Shkrue prej Hassan Prishtinës [Hasan Bey Prishtina: Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912] (Translated by Robert Elsie) (in Albanian). Shkodra: Shtypshkroja Franciskane. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. ... providing strong support for an Albania taking up arms for the cause of freedom.
  17. Elsie, Robert (2004). Historical dictionary of Kosova. United States: Scarecrow Press Inc. p. xxx. ISBN 978-0-8108-5309-6. 1912 spring: beginning of uprising in many parts of western Kosova
  18. Clayer, Nathalie (2007). Aux origines du nationalisme albanais: La naissance d'une nation majoritairement musulmane en Europe. Karthala Editions. p. 700. ISBN 978-2-84586-816-8. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  19. Prishtina, Hasan. Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912. Shkrue prej Hassan Prishtinës [Hasan Bey Prishtina: Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912] (Translated by Robert Elsie) (in Albanian). Shkodra: Shtypshkroja Franciskane. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. Ismail Kemal was ... staying in Europe to help gather weapons and money and to win over European public opinion ... agreed to keep in contact through the British Consulate in Skopje.
  20. Prishtina, Hasan. Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912. Shkrue prej Hassan Prishtinës [Hasan Bey Prishtina: Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912] (Translated by Robert Elsie) (in Albanian). Shkodra: Shtypshkroja Franciskane. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. Essad Pasha assured us that he could manage things in Central Albania and Mirdita.
  21. Bogdanović, Dimitrije (November 2000) [1984]. "Albanski pokreti 1908–1912.". In Antonije Isaković (ed.). Knjiga o Kosovu (in Serbian). Vol. 2. Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011. ... ustanici su uspeli da ... ovladaju celim kosovskim vilajetom do polovine avgusta 1912, što znači da su tada imali u svojim rukama Prištinu, Novi Pazar, Sjenicu pa čak i Skoplje... U srednjoj i južnoj Albaniji ustanici su držali Permet, Leskoviku, Konicu, Elbasan, a u Makedoniji Debar...
  22. Bogdanović, Dimitrije (November 2000) [1984]. "Albanski pokreti 1908–1912.". In Antonije Isaković (ed.). Knjiga o Kosovu [Books about Kosovo] (in Serbian). Vol. 2. Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011. ... već sredinom marta 1912. u jednom emigrantskom listu koji je izlazio u Bugarskoj objavljen zahtev albanskih ustanika: imenovanje Albanaca za činovnike u vilajetu, otvaranje albanskih škola, vojna služba za Albance samo u granicama vilajeta....
  23. Shaw, Stanford J.; Ezel Kural Shaw (2002) [1977]. "Clearing the Decks: Ending the Tripolitanian War and the Albanian Revolt". History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. Vol. 2. United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-521-29166-8. Retrieved January 10, 2011. The Albanians themselves were divided, some supporting the CUP and others Liberal Union, with some even wishing to return to Abdulahmid's autocracy.
  24. Shaw, Stanford J.; Ezel Kural Shaw (2002) [1977]. "Clearing the Decks: Ending the Tripolitanian War and the Albanian Revolt". History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. Vol. 2. United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-521-29166-8. Retrieved January 10, 2011. Therefore, with only the final point being ignored, on September 4, 1912, the government accepted proposals and the Albanian revolt was over
  25. Prishtina, Hasan. Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912. Shkrue prej Hassan Prishtinës [Hasan Bey Prishtina: Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912] (Translated by Robert Elsie) (in Albanian). Shkodra: Shtypshkroja Franciskane. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. I told the honoured gentlemen that we would organise another uprising in three or four months' time and would then declare independence ... the Balkan War soon broke out, which destroyed all of our plans.
  26. Warrander, Gail; Verena Knaus (2007). Kosovo. United States: The Globe Pequot Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-84162-199-9. At the same time the rebellion sent strong signal to Kosovo neighbors that the Ottoman Empire was weak.
  27. Glenny, Misha. The Balkans 1804–1999: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804–1999. p. 228

Further reading
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