Kachaks

Kachaks (Albanian: kaçak, Serbian: качаци / kačaci) is a term used for the Albanian rebels active in the late 19th and early 20th century in northern Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, and later as a term for the militias of Albanian revolutionary organizations against the Kingdom of Serbia (1910–18) Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–24), called the "Kaçak movement".

Kosovo Albanian rebels controlling a road in Kosovo, 1920s

Etymology

The word is derived from Turkish kaçak for "outlaw".[1][2]

Background
See also: Albanian National Awakening

History

1920–24 Kachak movement

The Committee for the National Defense of Kosovo (Albanian: Komiteti për Mbrojten Kombëtare e Kosovës) was created in Shkodër, under Hasan Prishtina, in 1918. The committee organizationally and financially supported the kachaks in Albanian-populated areas of Yugoslavia, in Kosovo and Skopje (the former Kosovo Vilayet). Kachaks were also active around Ohrid and Bitola.[3] On 6 May 1919 the Committee called for a general uprising in Kosovo and other Albanian-inhabited regions in Yugoslavia. The Kachaks were popular among Albanians, and local support to them increased in the 1920s when Hasan Prishtina became a member of the Albanian parliament, Hoxhe Kadriu became Minister of justice, and Bajram Curri became Minister of war (1921). All three were Kosovar Albanians. During this time, Kosovar Albanians under Azem Galica began an armed struggle, also known as the "Kachak movement",[4] a large-scale revolt in Drenica involving around 10,000 people under Galica. The uprising was quelled by the Yugoslav army.[5] Armed conflicts between the Yugoslav army and the Kachaks took place in the years 1920 and 1921,[6] 1923,[7][8] with a revival in 1924. One of the achievements was the creation of the "neutral zone" around Junik which would serve for jeopardizing the frontier and providing ammunition and other logistical support for the Kachaks.

Legacy

They are widely depicted in Albanian folklore.[9][10][11] Albanian collaborationists in Yugoslavia during World War II were also known as Kachaks .[12]

Notable people

References
  1. Cerwyn Moore (2010). Contemporary Violence: Postmodern War in Kosovo and Chechnya. Oxford University Press. pp. 117–. ISBN 978-0-7190-7599-5. The leading coordinator of the Kachak (outlaw, from the Turkish kachmak, meaning runaway or hide) movement was the Kosovo Committee.
  2. Robert Bideleux; Ian Jeffries (24 January 2007). The Balkans: A Post-Communist History. Routledge. pp. 522–. ISBN 978-1-134-58328-7. Kosovar resistance movement known as the Kachaks (derived from the Turkish word for outlaw, kachmak).
  3. Hugh Poulton (1995). Who are the Macedonians?. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 92–. ISBN 978-1-85065-238-0.
  4. Cerwyn Moore (2010). Contemporary Violence: Postmodern War in Kosovo and Chechnya. Oxford University Press. pp. 117–. ISBN 978-0-7190-7599-5. The greatest and most celebrated Kachak leader was Azam Bejta (1889–1924), who kept his native Drenica, the central district of Kosovo.
  5. Robert Elsie (November 15, 2010), Historical Dictionary of Kosovo, Historical Dictionaries of Europe, vol. 79 (2 ed.), Scarecrow Press, p. 64, ISBN 978-0810872318
  6. Bujar Lulaj (2012-09-22), Rrefimet e sekretarit konfidencial te Bajram Currit (in Albanian), Dielli, archived from the original on 2014-02-01, retrieved 2014-01-31, Në vitin 1920 gazeta "Populli" do njoftonte se në Kosovë bëhen luftime të rrepta midis çetave kryengritëse dhe ushtrisë. Azem Galica bënte betejë, Idriz Seferi, po kështu Hasan Budakova ishin në krye të çetave. Tahir Zajmi e lajmëronte Bajram Currin se: Morali i shqiptarëve të Kosovës është aq i mirë saqë smund të tregohet…Kjo letër e entuziazmoi Bajram Currin. Edhe në vitin 1921 që mbahet mend si vit i masakrës së shfrenuar serbe mbi popullsinë, janë zhvilluar luftime në Gjilan, Tetovë, Prizren, Kaçanik, Prishtinë, Mitrovicë, Kumanovë etj.
  7. Studia Albanica (in French), vol. 26, Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës; Instituti i Historisë (Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë), 1989, p. 29, ISSN 0585-5047, OCLC 1996482
  8. Studime historike (in Albanian), vol. 41, Akademia e Shkencave, Instituti i Historisë, 1987, p. 63, ISSN 0563-5799, OCLC 3648264
  9. Dhimiter Shuteriqi (1971). Historia e letërsisë shqipe. Vol. 1–2 (2 ed.). Enti i teksteve dhe i mjeteve mësimore i Krahinës Socialiste Autonome të Kosovës. p. 101. OCLC 8692190.
  10. Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë (Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë), Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës. Instituti i Historisë dhe Gjuhësisë (1970). Studime Filologjike. Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH, Instituti i Gjuhesise dhe i Letersise. pp. 71–75. ISSN 0563-5780. OCLC 29286220.
  11. Spiro Shetuni (April 21, 2011). Albanian Traditional Music: An Introduction, with Sheet Music and Lyrics for 48 Songs. Mcfarland. p. 78. ISBN 978-0786464494.
  12. Hans-Christian Petersen, Samuel Salzborn (2010). Antisemitism in Eastern Europe: History and Present in Comparison. Bern: Peter Lang. p. 97.
  13. Papleka, Feride. "Shotë Galica, një Zhan d'Ark shqiptare". Gazeta-Shqip.com. Gazeta Shqip. Retrieved 1 May 2020.

Further reading
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