Rezümékötet 2008. - vmtdk

T Á R S A D A L O M T U D O M Á N Y O K
CHAPTERS FROM THE HISTORY OF ALBANIAN IRREDENTISM:
ALBANIANS IN THE KINGDOM OF SERBS, CROATS AND SLOVENES
Author: Patrik SZEGHÕ major in History and English, 5 th year student
Supervisor: Ph.D. MAKKAI Béla senior lecturer
Institution: Gáspár Károli University of Hungarian Reformed Church, Faculty of Humanities,
Department of Modern and Contemporary World History, Budapest
My study deals with the history of Kosovo from the Balkan wars to the dissolution of the Yugoslav Kingdom in
1941. In view of international political events the essay also introduces the various policies and aspirations of the Pan-
Serb and Pan-Albanian movement.
Throughout the 19 th century the fate of the Balkans depended on the outcome of political rivalry between the
Great Powers. The peninsula used to play a major role in the balance of power on the continent, therefore the foreign
policy of the Great Powers could not disregard any political events in the area.
The conflict originating in the expansionist aspirations of the newly independent Balkan states that were harmful
to each other’s interest was only partly solved by the dawn of the 21 st century. Fulfilling almost all strategic interests of
the Allied Nations, the Peace Treaties of the First World War were rather selective, planting new seeds of conflict in
Europe.
The League of Nations, lacking appropriate political means, was incapable of preventing the violation of the Treaty
for the Protection of Minorities by the East European countries. Due to the colonization of Kosovo, and the ceaseless infliction
of Albanian minority, the separatist Kachaks lead a guerilla war against the Serbian authorities and population.
During the inter-war period the Albanian minority was exposed to the nationalist policies of the Yugoslav government,
which was dominated almost exclusively by the Serbian political elite. In the efforts taken to slavinise Kosovo
and Macedonia, all Albanian schools were closed, the Albanian press was shut down, and the only Albanian political
party, the Xhemijet, dissolved, while the percentage of Serbian population in Kosovo increased to one-third due to various
laws on colonization.
Attempts made by the Serbian authorities to homogenize Kosovo did not succeed after all. Under the idea of
„Brotherhood and Unity” the regime of Tito did not tolerate nationalist intentions, therefore the Pan-Serb nationalist
program could not be exercised any longer. Consequently, among all other minorities of Yugoslavia, the Albanians
showed the least willingness to integrate in the Southern Slav state.
Keywords: the Eastern Question, Balkan war, League of Nations, Treaty for the Protection of Minorities, Xhemijet, Ferat
Draga, Kosovo Defense Committee, Hasan Prishtina, Azem Bejta, the Kachaks, Zogolli, Society of Saint Catherine,
laws on colonization
N Y O S D I Á K K Ö R I K O N F E R E N C I A
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