Kosovo during World War II

Kosovo during the Second World War was in a very dramatic period, because different currents clashed, bringing constant tensions within it. During World War II, the region of Kosovo was split into three occupational zones: Italian, German, and Bulgarian. Partisans from Albania and Yugoslavia led the fight for Kosovo's independence from the invader and his allies.[1] During occupation by Axis powers, Bulgarian and Albanian collaborators killed thousands of Kosovo Serbs and Montenegrins. Tens of thousands were also expelled or were placed into concentration camps.

Map of Kosovo during WWII. Kosovo was split into three occupational zones: Italian, German, and Bulgarian

Overview

Yugoslavia was conquered by the Axis in April 1941 and divided mainly between Italy and Germany. Kosovo was included mainly in the Italian controlled area and was united to fascist Albania between 1941 and 1943.

After the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, most of Kosovo was assigned to Italian-controlled Albania, with the rest being controlled by Germany and Bulgaria. A three-dimensional conflict ensued, involving inter-ethnic, ideological, and international affiliations.[1]

Persecution of Serbs and Montenegrins

Mustafa Kruja, the then-Prime Minister of Albania, was in Kosovo in June 1942, and at a meeting with the Albanian leaders of Kosovo, he said: "Efforts should be made to get rid of the Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija as soon as possible ... All indigenous Serbs should be declared as colonists and, with the help of the governments of Albania and Italy, should be sent to concentration camps in Albania. The Serbian settlers should be killed."[2] It is estimated that approximately 10,000 Serbs were massacred in Kosovo throughout the war. Around between 70,000 and 100,000 Serbs and Montenegrins were deported or sent to concentration camps throughout the war and 72,000 Albanians had settled in Kosovo from Albania.[3] In the Nuremberg trials, it was established that the SS Skanderbeg committed crimes against humanity in Kosovo against ethnic Serbs, Jews, and Roma.[4]

Fate of Kosovo

During the New Year's Eve between 1943 and 1944, Albanian and Yugoslav partisans gathered at the town of Bujan, near Kukës in northern Albania, where they held a conference in which they discussed the fate of Kosovo after the war. Both Albanian and Yugoslav communists signed the agreement, according to which Kosovo would have the right to democratically decide whether it wants to remain in Albania or become part of Serbia. This was seen as the marxist solution for Kosovo. The agreement was not respected by Yugoslavia, since Tito knew that Serbia would not accept it.[5] Some Albanians, especially in the region in and around Drenica in central Kosovo revolted against the Yugoslav communists for not respecting the agreement. In response, the Yugoslavs called the rebels Nazi and Fascist collaborators and responded with violence. The Albanian Kosovar military leader Shaban Polluzha, who first fought with Yugoslav partisans but then refused to collaborate further, was attacked and killed.[6] Between 400 and 2,000 Kosovar Albanian recruits of the Yugoslav Army were shot in Bar.[7]

After the surrender of the Kingdom of Italy in September 1943, the German forces took over direct control of the region. In September 1944 the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and occupied part of the country. A coup d'état on 9 September led to Bulgaria joining the Soviets. As result in the early October three Bulgarian armies, consisting of around 340,000-man,[8] together with the Red Army entered occupied Yugoslavia and moved from Sofia to Niš, Skopje and Pristina to blocking the German forces withdrawing from Greece.[9][10] The Bulgarians operated in conjunction with the Yugoslav and Albanian communist partisans.[11] Kosovo was liberated by the end of November.[12] It became a province of Serbia within the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. The Kosovo Albanians, who had been promised self-determination if they joined the partisans, rebelled and martial law was declared. It took about six months for the area to be pacified after some 20,000 Albanians under Shaban Polluza resisted integration of Kosovo within Yugoslavia.[13]

See also

References
  1. Malcolm, Noel (1998). Kosovo: A Short History. Macmillan. pp. 310–312. ISBN 0-333-66612-7.
  2. Schwegler, U.; Smith, L. R. (2012). "Ethno-political conflict in Kosovo: Cultivating trust in Serbian-Albanian post-conflict peace building". In Landis, Dan; Albert, Rosita D. (eds.). Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives. Springer. p. 354. ISBN 978-1-46140-448-4.
  3. Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-building and Legitimation, 1918-2005. Indiana University Press. p. 114, 141. ISBN 978-0-253-34656-8.
  4. Stein, George H. (1966). The Waffen SS; Hitler's elite guard at war, 1939-1945. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0407-X. OCLC 395669.
  5. "The Resolution of Bujan". Albanian History. Robert Elsie. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  6. Elsie, R. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Kosova. European historical dictionaries. Scarecrow Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8108-5309-6.
  7. Fevziu, B.; Elsie, R.; Nishku, M. (2016). Enver Hoxha: The Iron Fist of Albania. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-85772-703-9.
  8. Dear, Ian; Foot, Michael Richard Daniell, eds. (2001). The Oxford companion to World War II. Oxford University Press. p. 134. ISBN 0-19-860446-7.
  9. Thomas, Nigel (1995). Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941–45. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-8553-2473-2.
  10. Collier, Paul (2010). World War II: The Mediterranean 1940-1945. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-43589-132-6.
  11. Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: occupation and collaboration. Stanford University Press. p. 168. ISBN 0-8047-3615-4.
  12. Opfer, Björn; Opfer-Klinger, Björn (2005). Im Schatten des Krieges: Besatzung oder Anschluss - Befreiung oder Unterdrückung? ; eine komparative Untersuchung über die bulgarische Herrschaft in Vardar-Makedonien 1915-1918 und 1941-1944. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 208. ISBN 978-3-82587-997-6.
  13. Judah, Tim (2000). The Serbs. p. 132. ISBN 0300085079. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
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