Kosovo during World War I

Kosovo during the First World War was initially, for about a year, completely filled with Serbian military forces, which retreated towards Albania to continue further to Corfu. After the occupation of the territories by Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Bulgaria as allies in the First World War, the occupied territories were divided. The years 1915–1918 in the occupied Bulgarian zone are considered the most tragic years of poverty and hunger for the population of this part of Kosovo. The lack of bread was felt not only because of the drought, but also because the invaders confiscated the people's grain. Unlike the Bulgarian occupation zone, the Austro-Hungarians pursued a policy aimed at benefiting the general populace. They began to disregard some national rights, which for Albanians had vital value.

Background

Kosovo was under Serb control at the outbreak of World War I. Serbia's claim to the region, conquered by its army under King Petar I Karađorđević (r. 1903–1921) in late 1912, had been recognized by the Conference of Ambassadors in London in July 1913. The closing of the border with Albania cut the northern Albanian tribes off from their traditional markets in Gjakova and Prizren, thus causing continued hostility and resistance to Serb rule.

Overview

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in July 1914, thus precipitating World War I, and by October 1915, Bulgarian troops had occupied Prishtina, Prizren, Kaçanik, Gjilan, and Ferizaj. In the following month, Austro-Hungarian forces themselves reached Kosovo and occupied the other, northern half of the territory. With its troops routed and in a state of disarray, the Serb government, in flight with the military, gave orders on November 20, 1915, for the evacuation of the entire Serb army through the mountains of Albania to the Adriatic coast. The Great Serb Retreat, as this event is known, was an epic in itself and cost the lives of about 100,000 men, both soldiers and civilians. Very few soldiers reached the safety of Corfu alive.

The Albanian population in Kosovo welcomed the Austrian-Hungarians as liberators. In December, the Austrian authorities began installing Albanians in local government and allowing them to use their language in the administration. From 1916 to 1918, they encouraged the opening of about 300 Albanian-language schools, which had been forbidden under Serbian rule. But the tables soon turned. On October 6, 1918, German and Austrian forces withdrew from Kosovo. In the following weeks, French and Italian troops, assisted by Serb guerrilla units, were in control of the whole region. By December 1918, Kosovo had returned to Serb rule, and the Albanian population paid the price, as it had in 1912–1913.

See also

• Kosovo offensive (1915)
• Kosovo during World War II
• 20th-century history of Kosovo
• Yugoslav colonisation of Kosovo

Further reading

• Elsie, Robert (1997). Kosovo: In the heart of the powder keg. Columbia University Press. p. 212. ISBN 9780880333757.
• Elsie, Robert (2002). Gathering clouds: the roots of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and Macedonia. Peja: Dukagjini Balkan Books. ISBN 9781507882085.
• Freundlich, Leo. Elsie, Robert; Destani, Bejtullah (eds.). Kosovo, A Documentary History: From the Balkan Wars to World War II. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
• Judah, Tim (29 September 2008). Kosovo: what everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195376739. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
• Maloku, Enver (1997), Dëbimet e shqiptarëve dhe kolonizimi i Kosovës (1877-1995) (in Albanian), Qendra për Informim e Kosovës
• Osmani, Jusuf (2000). Kolonizimi Serb i Kosovës [Serbian colonization of Kosovo] (in Albanian). Era. ISBN 9789951040525. (full online copy available on wikibooks [1])
• Misha Glenny (5 September 2012). The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-2012: New and Updated. House of Anansi Press Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-77089-274-3.
• Richard C. Hall (2014). War in the Balkans: An Encyclopedic History from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Breakup of Yugoslavia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-61069-031-7.
• G. Irving Root (April 2010). Balkan Battles: A History of the Balkan Fronts of the First World War. America Star Books. ISBN 978-1-4489-5575-6.
• "Българската армия в Световната война, vol. V (1946)" [The Bulgarian Army in the World War, vol. V] (PDF) (in Bulgarian). 1946. Retrieved 2019-12-19.