St. Simic) detailed lists of brutalities performed by ethnic Albanians upon
the Serbs in 1897-1898 were collected and submitted as a Serbian note to
Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Tefvik Pasha. Novakovic requested for the
Porte to undertake energetic measures to terminate the pogroms upon the
Serbs and to form an admixed Turkish-Serbian investigating
committee.1
The note dated May 26 contains the following statement: "During the
past four years the Royal [Serbian] government was compelled more than once
to draw the attention of the imperial government, to the disorder, and
incredible and innumerable violent deeds continuously performed by the
insubordinate and unruly Albanian populace on the Serbian-Turkish border, as
well as on the bordering sanjaks. These crimes and attacks are directed
solely toward the Christians of Serbian nationality, and it seems their
purpose is to exterminate the people from those regions."2
Novakovic underscored that "The ethnic Albanians are well-armed and certain
that no punishment awaits them, giving complete liberty to their cruel
instincts, since there is nothing to hinder their fanaticism and
unrestrained hatred. Crimes and robberies are daily occurrences, and not
only do the perpetrators remain unpunished, they are not even pursued by the
authorities. The number of fugitives fleeing across the border for their
lives is enormous, and increases everyday. According to data the royal
government disposes of, more than four hundred crimes were perpetrated in
the Pristina, Novi Pazar, Pec and Prizren sanjaks within only a few months,
last summer and winter. They were: murder, arson, banditry, desecration of
churches, rape, abduction, robbery, raiding of whole herds. This number
presents only several instances, one fifth at the most, of what really
happened, since most of the crimes are never discovered, since the victims
or their families dare not complain."3 The Porte delayed its
reply so Novakovic requested to be received by the Turkish minister. He drew
the minister's attention to the fact that the development of events
suggested "that everything is carried out under orders from Constantinople
and Yildiz, where a once extant notion was to hoop another Muslim iron ring
around Serbia, like the ones once made of the Cherkezes", underscoring
certain rumors "of an idea to organize a special corps named Hamid's
Albanian army, like the well-known Kurd cavalier regiments".4
At the request of Serbia's envoy, the Porte ordered an investigation
committee at the beginning of August, to check the assertions made in the
Serbian notes. The party, headed by the sultan's adjutant, General Saadedin
Pasha, visited certain areas in Kosovo and conducted a superficial
investigation: instead of seeking the perpetrators, it strove to deny the
complaints. The Serbian delegate Todor P. Stankovic was not permitted to
participate in the operation. The investigation conducted with prejudice
produced no results. Russian diplomatic officials, whose attendance was
requested by the Serbian populace, were not permitted to watch its
operation. Stankovic noted that only the British consul to Scutari checked
the assertions made of the oppression, and having been convinced in the
truth of the complaints lodged against the ethnic Albanians, submitted a
report to his government.5
The entire investigation was reduced to establishing inaccuracies in
citing the names of victims, perpetrators and places mentioned in the
Serbian notes. Appealing to information received from local authorities, the
Forte's committee maintained that "the attacks ascribed to the ethnic
Albanians are either unfounded or exaggerated", and finally totally
dismissed the Serbian assertions. Novakovic persistently collected
additional data and submitted new notes. He warned that the ethnic
Albanians, following Saadedin Pasha's mission, realizing they had no
punishment to fear, continued performing their vicious deeds upon the Serbs
with more enthusiasm.6
Without the support of the Great Powers, Serbia could accomplish
nothing. The attempt to request the intermediation of their ambassadors in
Constantinople was thwarted by Austria-Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister
Count Goluchowski, expounding that Russia would hinder any action benefiting
Serbia on account of King Milan. The Serbian premier proposed a military
demonstration on the Serbian-Turkish border, but the idea was abandoned at
Goluchowski request.7
The diplomatic action was an utter failure. The Porte closed the issue
with a protocolar apology. The Serbian premier, in his letter to Novakovic,
somberly concluded: "The treatment of the Ottoman authorities, and Muslims
in general, toward Christians in the Kosovo vilayet can be observed by the
fact that over 60,000 Serbs fled their fatherlands and left whatever
property they owned, to save their lives, from 1880 until today [June 1899].
This spring the ethnic Albanians killed many Serbs to arrogate their lands
and drive them off, in which they have succeeded considerably, incurring
thus the flight of several hundred souls to Serbia during the last few
months."8
Not having met with understanding in Constantinople, the Serbian
government was preparing to internationalize the issue of protecting its
compatriots in Old Serbia. Preparing for the Peace Conference in the Hague
(1899), a "blue book" titled Prepiska o Arbanaskim nasiljima u Staroj Srbiji
1898-1899 (Correspondence on Albanian violence in Old Serbia 1898-1899) was
being compiled, in which the most important acts from correspondence with
the Porte were published in Serbian and French, but were not submitted to
the European public.9 Serbian refugees in Old Serbia sent a
complaint of Albanian oppression to the Conference, in the form of a
memorandum, which had previously been published in the Belgrade papers, but
not discussed in the Hague.10
A French contemporary, while visiting Kosovo and Metohia, witnessed
Serbian sufferings and protection given to the tyrants: "[...] whatever the
complaints of local Slavs and charges brought by the Serbs, whatever
reproaches made by Russia, it is obvious that neither the sultan nor the
Porte would ever get involved against the ethnic Albanians nor would they
restore order in the Kosovo vilayet. The ethnic Albanians in this Slavic
country play and will continue to play the same role as the Kurds in
Armenia. The captives of Islam and the servants of the lord [sultan] would,
under these two bases, enjoy impunity whatever their crimes."11
Political commotion among the ethnic Albanians aggravated the position
of the Serbs and violence increased. At the end of 1898, the autonomist
movement was revived, incited by the sultan's order to collect whatever arms
remained from the previous war. Albanian chiefs feared new reforms and the
possibility of the Great Powers introducing Christian rule, like they did in
Crete. In Pec, at the end of January, 1899, a large assembly of feudal and
tribal notables was held to discuss opposition to reforms and expansion of
tribal self-governing. Through influential beys, the Forte's attitude on the
necessity of joint defense was underscored in case of incursions from Serbia
and Montenegro.12
The assembly was immediately with pogroms upon the Serbs in Mitrovica.
In Prizren due of boycott of Serbian goods and threats of massacre the
Serbian downtown was closed. In April 1899, the ethnic Albanians set fire to
Serbian houses in the Verici village of the Pec district. Every day the
consulate received black news sent from Podrimlje and villages near
Pristina. Consul Simic ended one of a series of lists on perpetrated crimes
with the following words: "With such anarchic, truely barbaric conditions
here, it is no wonder the emigration of our people, from these areas to
Serbia, is increasing."13
1 Istorija srpskog naroda, VI/1, 322-323; M. Vojvodic, Srbija u
medjunarodnim odnosima krajem XIX veka i pocetkom XX veka, Beograd 1988, pp.
224-225.
2 Prepiska o arbanaskim nasiljima u Staroj Srbiji 1898-1899, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Beograd 1899, p. 15.
3 Ibid., 16; in the note supplementation the number of murders, church
raids, rapes and abductions, assaults, robberies and banditries (ibid., pp.
18-27).
4 Ibid., p. 28.
5 T. P. Stankovic, Putne beleske po Staroj Srbiji 1871-1898, pp.
103-104.
6 Prepiska o arbanaskim nasiljima u Staroj Srbiji 1898-1899, pp. 69-78,
87, 129 134-135; S. Jovanovic, Vlada Aleksandra Obrenovica, II, Beograd
1931, p. 76, cf. M. Vojvodic, op. cit., pp. 76-77.
7 S. Jovanovic, op. cit., pp. 76-77.
8 Prepiska o arbanaskim nasiljima u Staroj Srbiji 1898-1899, pp.
135-136.
9 Ibid., French title: Documents diplomatiques, Correspondance
concemant les actes de violence et de brigandage des Albanais dans la
Vieille Serbie (Vilayet de Kosovo) 1898-1899, Ministere des affaires
etrangeres, Belgrade MDCCCXCIX, pp. 1-145; M. Vojvodic, op. cit" pp.
237-238.
10 D. T. Batakovic, Memorandum Srba iz Stare Srbije i Makedonije
Medjunarodnoj konferenciji mira u Hagu 1899. godine, Prilozi za knjizevnost,
jezik, istoriju i folklor vol. LII-LIV (1987-1988, pp. 177-183.
11 V. Berard, La Macedoine, Paris 1900, pp. 138-139.
12 M. Vojvodic. op. cit., pp. 225-226; D. Mikic, Drustvene i ekonomske
prilike kosovskih Srba u XIX i pocetkom XX veka, pp. 46-47.
13 B. Perunicic, Pisma srpskih konzula iz Pristine 1890-1900, p. 407;
details on the violence: 387-489.
During the final years of the 19th century, vital stimuli to the
expansion of Albanian arrogance was given through intelligence networks in
the Kosovo vilayet, by the Austro-Hungarian diplomacy. Following the
occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the military occupation of part of
the Novi Pazar sanjak, which could, under the decrees of the Berlin
Congress, be extended to just beyond Mitrovica", the Dual Monarchy
continually worked on deepening the chasm between Serbs and ethnic
Albanians. Having experienced the unification of Germany and Italy to its
detriment, it could not allow the unification of the Serbs, with the same
consequences. The Kosovo vilayet, which separated two independent Serbian
states, became the key to solve the Balkan issue. With support from Germany,
Austria-Hungary made preparations to take its decisive step over Old Serbia
in Germanic penetration to the East.
Austria-Hungarian influence in the Kosovo vilayet gradually grew
through Catholic missions in north Albania, Metohia and consulates in
Prizren. Skoplje and Scutari. Following the exodus of Serbs in 1878-1881,
the abandoned Serbian estates in Metohia were settled, with the assistance
of Albanian beys, by Albanian Catholics, the so-called Fandas, who were to
become the main bearers of Austria-Hungarian propaganda among their
compatriots of Muslim faith. A certain increase of Catholic inhabitants in
Metohia made room for the opening of new ecclesiastical and educational
institutions which became centers of the aggressive propaganda. Greater
pressure emanating from Jesuit propaganda was also felt by the Serbian
clergy. Phanariote Bishop Melentije freely allowed Catholic agitation to
spread among the Serbs of the Pec and Prizren sanjaks.1 At the
same time, the European public was presented with publications interpreting
the historical evolution, the ethnic composition and political importance of
Kosovo with seemingly expert argumentation. In a study of the Novi Pazar
sanjak in Kosovo, Theodor Ippen endeavored to support his thesis on the
ethnic unity of all territories with Bosnia, and thus indirectly with
Austria-Hungary, on the basis of historical evidence, therefore denying the
Serbs their character, emphasizing the importance of national individuality
of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.2
The Balkan policy of the highest political and military circles of the
Dual Monarchy regarded the Albanian populace as an element of outstanding
importance. Anticipating the approaching disintegration of the Ottoman
Empire in the Peninsula, Austria-Hungary was preparing to establish order
and impose its rule as mandator in Europe, as it had already done in Bosnia
and Herzegovina in 1878. Penetration toward the Vardar valley and the
Salonika Bay imposed the formation of autonomous Albania under its
protectorate. An Albanian state like this would render impossible the
unification of Serbia and Montenegro, and would curb influence coming from
Italy.
The Foreign Minister of the Dual Monarchy, Count Goluchowski,
considered it of immense importance to Austro-Hungarian interest for the
ethnic Albanians not to come under foreign influence, and proposed, in case
the Ottoman Empire should collapse, that Austria-Hungary should support a
separate autonomy for Albania, ruled by a foreign prince and under its
protectorate; Serbia would then have to satisfy its aspirations by
concessions made in the Pristina and Skoplje sanjaks. The joint
Austro-Hungarian Minister of Finance Benjamin Kallay, demanded to win over
the Muslim ethnic Albanians of the Kosovo vilayet. He particularly stressed
the importance of propaganda to encompass the Pristina and Skoplje sanjaks,
believing that if conflicts with Turkey should arise, all territories in
which ethnic Albanians were a minority would belong to either Serbia or
Bulgaria.3
In the 1897 negotiations, Russian diplomats were informed that if
status quo on the Balkan Peninsula were to prove untenable, the Dual
Monarchy would demand the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
division of Turkish lands in Europe, including the formation of an
independent Albanian state between Janina and Scutari Lake under its
protectorate. Aspiring toward their goal, Austro-Hungarian diplomacy
considered the possibility of establishing a religious protectorate over
Catholic ethnic Albanians which would then acquire political dimensions.
Since the close of the 19th century, Franciscans infiltrated by
Austria-Hungary had been checking the Italian and local Catholic clergy even
in Albania.4
Wherever there were bribable and ambitious beys in Metohia,
Austria-Hungary built strong bastions by lavishly bestowing money. At the
assembly in Pec, at the beginning of 1899, aside to notables of Turkophilic
and autonomous disposition, those of pro-Austrian inclination appeared as
well. A group of tribal and feudal leaders, headed by the until recently
sultan's favorite Haxhi Mulla Zeka, and Riza Bey Krieziu of Djakovica,
openly recommended closer relations with the Dual Monarchy, as a potential
protector of the ethnic Albanians and against neighboring Serbian states and
possible reforms. The number of Austro-Hungarian followers grew in
accordance with purchases made by Austro-Hungarian agents of Albanian
notables. According to a Russian paper Novoe Vremja, about five to six
million crowns of the Dual Monarchy's annual budget were set aside for
Albanian propaganda and the payment of corrupt Albanian
magnates.5
Agitation among the ethnic Albanians was lead through several
directions. In Metohia, where clan chiefs quarreled over domains, agents
were infiltrated, while Austro-Hungarian propaganda was observed to have
spread owing to Bosnian Muslim religious heads. Catholic friars expounded to
Muslim ethnic Albanians that Serbia and Montenegro were outposts on the
Peninsula and that the neighboring Monarchy was their sole protector. Vienna
papers, reporting on events taking place in Old Serbia (particularly the
Politische Korrespondenz), regularly titled their news as coming from
Albania, thus creating the impression that ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo
vilayet comprised the majority of the population and that it was practically
devoid of Serbs.6
The dimension of Austro-Hungarian political agitation could not pass by
the Turkish authorities unnoticed. The district chief in Pristina noticed
that Albanian assails upon the Serbs were encouraged by agitators of the
Dual Monarchy. The vali of Kosovo, Hafis Pasha, attributed all Albanian
unrest in Metohia (especially in Prizren 1899, subsequently in Skoplje), to
operations carried out by Austro-Hungarian intelligence services. Their
purpose, he believed, was to cause widespread unrest to provide
Austria-Hungary with an excuse to occupy the Kosovo vilayet.7
Even the sultan, when confronted with a warning from the Russian ambassador
that Albanian anarchy was planned, since only Orthodox Serbs suffered, "did
not deny the presence of a foreign party operating through its
agents".8 Suspicion as to the motives of the Albanian movement
was also spread by Young Turk followers of Albanian origin, who gave
statements abroad that ethnic Albanians were disloyal to the sultan and were
waiting for the opportunity to secede from Turkey. Telegrams were
immediately sent from Pristina, Prizren and other towns in Kosovo and
Metohia, to the padishah with expressions of unequivocal faithfulness and
loyalty.9
Foreign witnesses also observed the fatal influence of Austro-Hungarian
propaganda in Old Serbia. A French scholar, Victor Berard, an expert on
political trends in the Ottoman Empire, emphasized "that the mystery
concealing the operation of Austrian agents and their entire propaganda
network raised, in the eyes of blinded ethnic Albanians, this major power to
even greater heights, skillfully interweaving them in the dexterously
devised and woven network of their foreign policy".10 Bulgarian
historian N. Marenin observed that aside to all the skill of its agents,
Austro-Hungarian propaganda had succeeded with the ethnic Albanians owing to
large amounts of money paid annually to those most prominent and influential
among them. Marenin underscored that a favorable condition for bringing
together the ethnic Albanians and the Dual Monarchy was their mutual
interest to exterminate the Serbian populace in the area between the Drim
river and Mount Kopaonik, i.e. between Serbia and Albania.11
Owing to the instigations of the Austro-Hungarian intelligence service,
total anarchy reigned in Kosovo. Enboldened by protection promised by the
Dual Monarchy and the sultan's confidence, the ethnic Albanians, filled with
renewed energy, dashed to settle accounts with the Serbs. During 1900 and
1902 the crimes attained apocalyptic dimensions. The Pec nahi suffered the
most since Catholic ethnic Albanians exceeded in oppression. Blackmail,
robbery and murder extremely affected the Gnjilane and Pristina region. In
Prizren, the Serbs dared not appear downtown. Schools and churches also bore
the brunt of oppression. The pursuit of Serbian priests became frequent,
ethnic Albanians regarded all distinguished national notables as Serbian
spies and komitadjis. This anti-Serb disposition reached the point when even
certain Turkish officials, in the army, administration, especially within
the circle of religious heads, openly appealed to the ethnic Albanians to
clash with the Serbs, arrogate their lands and force them to flee to
Serbia.12
Anarchy attained such dimensions that the Porte was compelled to send
new military contingents. Brigadier General Shemsi Pasha was sent to Kosovo
to consolidate government authority, collect arms and capture the major
violators. He frequently left Pristina to visit the vilayet, calm the ethnic
Albanians, reconcile their quarreling chiefs and, though rarely, intervened
to protect the Serbs. In Vucitrn he was compelled to protect the Serbs
threatened by oppression in the Raznjane village. Raska-Prizren Metropolitan
Dionisije escaped assassination twice, and so moved his seat to
Gnjilane.13
A direct consequence of Austro-Hungarian influence was oppression
executed upon the Serbs of the Ibarski Kolasin, in summer 1901. The Ibarski
Kolasin was a woody area with over forty villages to the northwest of Old
Serbia, inhabited almost entirely by Serbs who had preserved a certain kind
of self-government, choosing their own local knez (leader).14
The extent of oppression compelled the Serbs from all parts of Kosovo
and Metohia to appeal to the consulate in Pristina in 1897, demanding a
secret delivery of arms for protection against the tyrants. Stojan Novakovic
had proposed to arm the Serbian inhabitants gradually and organize them for
defense back in 1896: "ethnic Albanians were evildoers, but they treated
with respect those houses in Old Serbia which they knew had weapons and male
heads."15 The consul in Pristina supported Novakovic's proposal,
adding that Albanian assails upon the Serbs were encouraged on account of
the latter having no arms, while these deeds left the Serbs
faithearted.16
After the failure of the diplomatic mission with the Porte to protect
Serbian inhabitants, the government of Vladan Djordjevic began, in spring
1899, the secret delivery of trophy guns remaining from the previous war
with Turkey, to Serbs inhabiting the northern regions of the Kosovo vilayet.
Since the beginning of 1901, exaggerated news of thousands of guns being
smuggled to arm entire Serbian villages caused great alarm among the ethnic
Albanians. The Turkish authorities conducted searches in the north regions
of Old Serbia, and only at the beginning of July, owing to information
procured by Albanian notable Isa Boljetinac, did they discover that most of
the weapons were delivered to the Ibarski Kolasin.17
Under the leadership of Isa Boljetinac, the ethnic Albanians and Turks
searched the Kolasin villages and forced the people to surrender their arms
under brutalities unheard-of. Many were abused, beaten and wounded; one
Serbian was beaten up and succumbed to wounds inflicted. Several hundred
Serbs were shackled and taken to prisons in Mitrovica and Pristina. The arms
investigation incited ethnic Albanians from other regions to set off toward
Kolasin and seek guns in the villages. From January to August alone, around
six hundred persons fled to Serbia. The disturbed public demanded energetic
action from the government. The arms investigation ended only when Serbia's
demands to the Porte were supported by Russia. Following the energetic
intervention of the Russian ambassador to Constantinople, violence in
Kolasin ceased, the arrested Serbs were set free, and Isa Boljetinac was
moved out of Mitrovica. However, Austro-Hungarian delegates to the Porte
claimed the pogroms in Kolasin were multiply exaggerated.18
Austro-Hungarian consular officials in Kosovo saw the affair at Kolasin
as a sign of "great Serbian propaganda" in Old Serbia. All political moves
made by the Serbian government in the Kosovo vilayet, including the
inauguration of new schools, and financial help given to teachers and
monastic fraternities, were considered a serious injury to the political
interests of the Dual Monarchy. When Adem Zaim killed Hadji Mulla Zeka in
Pec for tribal dissentions, at the beginning of 1902, Austro-Hungarian
consuls announced that it was a Serbian conspiracy.19
1 Istorija srpskog naroda, VI/1, p.302; V. Bovan, op. cit.; H.
Schwanda, Das Protektorat stereich-Ungarans uber die Katholiken Albanians,
Wien 1965; passim S. Skendi, op. cit., pp. 238-286.
2 Theodor Ippen, Novi Pazar und Kosovo (Das Alte Rascien), Wien 1892;
ibid, Das Religiose Protektorat Osterreich-Ungarns in der Turkei, Die
Kultur, 3 (1901-1902), pp. 298-310;
3 F. Hauptmann, Uloga zajednickog ministarstva finansija u formiranju
Austro-Ugarske politike prema Albaniji uoci kretske krize, Radovi
Filozofskog fakulteta u Sarajevu, IV (1968), pp. 35-45; H. Kapidzic,
Pripreme za austrougarsko prodiranje u albansko etnicko podrucje iz
Novopazarskog sandzaka, Radovi Filozofskog fakulteta u Sarajevu, VI (1971),
pp. 415-430; cf. N.D. Schnadel, op. cit., pp. 54-74.
4 B. Hrabak, Kultni protektorat Austro-Ugarske nad Arbanasima (1897),
Godisnjak Arhiva Kosova, XXIII (1987), p. 33-54; J. Sliskovic, Albanija i
Macedonia, Sarajevo 1904, p. 80; V. Stojancevic, Diplomatska trvenja konzula
velikih sila u Skoplju no. tamosnje Arbanase katolike pocetkom XX veka,
Istorijski casopis, XVIII (1971), pp. 329-339.
5 V. Stojancevic, Austrougarsko-srpski sukob u kosovskom vilajetu na
pocetku XX veka, in: Jugoslovenski narodi pred Prvi svetski rat, Beograd
1967 pp. 847-876.
6 D. T. Batakovic, Pokusaj otvaranja srpskog konzulata u Prizrenu
1898-1900, pp. 256-257.
7 V. Stojancevic, Prilike u zapadnoj polovini kosovskog vilajeta prema
izvestajima austrougarskog konzula u Skoplju 1900. i 1901. godine,
Istorijski casopis, (XII-XIII) (1961-1962), p. 290-291.
8 V. Corovic, Odnosi izmedju Srbije i Austro-Ugarske u XX veku, Beograd
1936, p. 15.
9 B. Perunicic, Zulumi ago. i begova u kosovskom vilajetu, pp. 169-170.
10 V. Berard, La Turquie et I'Hellenisme contemporain, Paris 1900, pp.
291-292.
11 N. Marenin, Albanija i Albanci, pp. 91-92; cited from P. Orlovic (S.
St. Simic), Stara Srbija i Arbanasi, Beograd 1904, pp. 21-22.
12 Regarding the conference of the Serbian and Bulgarian rulers at Nis,
Austro-Hungarian agitators reported it was secretly being held at Pristina.
Among the Albanians a widespread conviction existed that a joint military
intervention of the two countries was being prepared. The bessa was hastily
given and conference on Joint defense began. (M. Vojvodic, op. cit., pp.
332-333).
13 V. Stojancevic, Prilike u zapadnoj polovini kosovskog vilajeta prema
izvestajima austrougarskog konzula u Skoplju 1900. i 1901. godine, pp.
311-312.
14 M. Lutovac, Ibarski Kolasin, Antropogeografska istrazivanja, pp.
57-188.
15 Spomenica Stojana Novakovica, p. 196.
16 B. Perunicic, Pisma srpskih konzula iz Pristine 1890-1900, pp.
345-346.
17 M. Vojvodic, op. cit., 334; D. T. Batakovic, Istraga oruzja u
Ibarskom Kolasinu 1901, Kosovsko-Metohijski zbornik SANU 1 (1990), pp.
269-284
18 Ibid., cf. S. Skendi, op. cit., pp. 201-202.
19 V. Stojanovic, Austrougarsko-srpski sukob u kosovskom vilajetu, p.
865.
Pogroms in the Ibarski Kolasin sobered the public and ruling circles of
Serbia. In Belgrade, public meetings were organized where demands were made
for the government to initiate the issue of Serbian nationality in Old
Serbia and Macedonia. In disputes announced on the issue of the survival of
Serbs in Old Serbia, Svetislav Simic was the most outstanding.
In his discussion Pitanje o Staroj Srbiji (The Question of Old Serbia)
Simic underscored the danger of Austro-Hungarian agitation among the ethnic
Albanians and emphasized that the destiny of the Serbs and the Slav cause in
the Balkans would unfold in Kosovo.1
The balance of forces, particularly Austro-Hungarian influence in
Serbia and Russia's failure to confront its agitation in Old Serbia with
more energy, tied the hands of the Serbian diplomacy in its attempts for a
more efficient protection of its compatriots. Following the death of King
Milutin, Vienna's most trusted friend in Serbia, King Aleksandar Obrenovic
took the Russophil course in foreign policy, to calm tempers in the country.
At the same time, at the invitation of the Serbian government, a group of
Albanian notables arrived in Belgrade from Fed and Djakovica, among whom was
the Pec leader Mehmed Zaim. They were lavished with rich gifts in money and
arms and promised assistance if they helped to bring an end to violence upon
the Serbs.2
The Serbian government initiated the issue of protecting Serbs in
Turkey in 1902, and in August, bolteresred by the Montenegrin diplomacy,
authorized its envoy in Constantinople to make the following demands to the
Porte: 1) regular and for all equal application of law; 2) an end to the
policy of encouraging ethnic Albanians. Propositions along this line were
for either disarmament of the ethnic Albanians or allowance for the Serbs to
carry guns; for reinforcement of Turkish garrisons wherever there were
Serbian-Albanian inhabitants admixed; removal of corrupt Turkish officials
and assignment of conscientious ones; inauguration of administrative and
judicial reforms with larger Serbian participation in the administration and
judiciary; implementation of agrary reform. Russia supported Serbia since
none of the bases were touched regarding the status quo established with
Austria-Hungary in 1897.3
To forestall the reform plan of the Great Powers, especially
Austria-Hungary and Russia, which had the right to protect Christians in the
Ottoman Empire under article 23 of the Berlin Congress, the sultan announced
reforms in November 1902. The reform action of Turkey, headed by Hussein
Hilmi Pasha as general inspector, anticipated a more rigorous application of
the law, regulation of agrary duties, dismission of unconscientious
officials and the enlisting of Serbs in the Turkish gendarme. Military
authorities undertook to capture the most wanted criminals.4
The dimension of lawlessness and Serbian plight shocked foreign
Journalists. Victor Berard wrote that life in places between Pec, Prizren
and Pristina was marked with violence under the ethnic Albanians, arsons,
rapes, vengeance, and real tribal warfare. Georges Gaulis noticed that due
to the extent of oppression upon the Serbs, Old Serbia was, along with
Armenia, the most wretched country in the world. Bearing witness to Albanian
recalcitrance and their motives, he particularly stressed: "Those of Debar
kill to rob, those of Djakovica kill from shear fanaticism, those of Prizren
kill for their evil instincts, and those of Tetovo kill to try out their
carbines."5
Following the Kolasin affair, Russia opened a consulate in Mitrovica to
follow more closely Austria-Hungary's influence over Albanian moves and to
protect the Serbs from violence. The Vienna legation exerted influence upon
the Porte to prolong its inauguration. The ethnic Albanians received the
news of the opening of the Russian consulate with open discontent and acute
opposition. Isa Boljetinac threatened to punish anyone who dared rent his
house to the Russian consul and openly spoke of forcibly routing him from
Kosovo. Following the threats made to its staff, the Russian diplomacy
demanded of the Ottoman authorities to arrest and rout the leaders of
"Anti-Russian demonstrations". Isa Boljetinac agreed, after a lengthy
persuasion from the authorities, to leave for Constantinople, "to visit" the
padishah. The St. Petersburg press underscored the importance of the
consulate opening in Mitrovica, where "at the central point between Old
Serbia and Albania, [Russian] control emerges over ethnic
Albanians".6
The announcement of the reform plan, more rigorous application of law,
acceptance of Serbs in the gendarme service and news of the Russian
consulate finally opening in Mitrovica, instigated the ethnic Albanians to
rise. At the beginning of 1903, a large assembly of tribal chiefs was held
at the Lucki Most near Djakovica. The ethnic Albanians blamed solely the
Serbs for all the reforms. It was thus decided "to gradually kill the more
prominent Serbs of the Pec nahi one after another, and compel the others to
flee to Serbia or to be Turkized."7
The plans of the participants were to rout the Turkish authorities from
Pec, kill the notable Serbs and then move to Mitrovica to confront the
Russian consul. Severe persecution of the Serbs began immediately. In the
Pec nahi alone ten people were killed within a few weeks. Following the
meeting in Drenica, the ethnic Albanians decided to take to arms. Armed
rebels raided Vucitrn on March 29, ravaged the local Serbian church,
disarmed the Serbs accepted in the gendarme and set off to Mitrovica to rout
by force Russian Consul Grigorie Stepanovich Shtcherbin.8
The Russian consul remained in town to supervise Turkish preparations
for defense. Around 2,000 ethnic Albanians attacked Mitrovica on March 30.
Following a decisive resistance of Turkish forces, driven away by artillery
fire, the ethnic Albanians abandoned their plan to take the town. The next
day a Turkish corporal, an Albanian, shot the Russian consul while the
latter was visiting the outskirts of town. The assassin claimed he shot the
consul in vengeance, denying affiliation to any movement, while the severely
wounded consul succumbed to his wounds ten days hence.
The death of the Russian consul demonstrated the extent of Albanian
anarchy, whereas the relation of the sultan and of the high ranking
officials of the Porte toward their bearers was displayed in the stand to
which they adhered. Diplomatic circles in Constantinople expected decisive
measures to be undertaken against the ethnic Albanians. Abdulhamid II
promised he would send military reinforcements to restore order in Old
Serbia and to capture the rebels, but "fearing court revolution from his
Albanian guards", he decided against the announced measures.9
Simultaneously, the sultan advised the Albanian leaders, who feared
international conflicts for wounding and killing a Russian consul, to calm
down. Agents of the Dual Monarchy and Catholic friars encouraged the ethnic
Albanians of Mitrovica not to fear Russian retribution and to persevere in
their opposition. The death of the Russian consul was a national tragedy to
the Serbs, who saw in him a protector and a representative of a power they
expected would end this anarchy and violence. The train, bearing the coffin
of the deceased consul, was accompanied by several thousand Serbs, while
funeral services were held in churches throughout Kosovo and
Metohia.10
Anarchy in Old Serbia and disorder in Macedonia, where Bulgaria
introduced companies to urge a rise and solve the problem of Macedonia to
its benefit, compelled Austria-Hungary and Russia, being the two most
interested major parties, to demand the implementation of reforms. They
announced their reform project in February 1903, while a detailed plan
of the whole operation was designed at a meeting of the two tzars, Nikola II
and Franz Joseph I in Murzsteg, at the beginning of October. Expecting war
in the Far East, Russia strove to retain for a time, the status quo on the
Balkans. Austria-Hungary intended to consolidate its positions with a reform
action. Shortly before the meeting in Murzsteg, Count Goluchowski
elaborated, to the tzar, the plan to divide Turkish lands in Europe:
make Romania as large as possible, a large Bulgaria, a weak Montenegro,
a small Serbia and a free Albania. The Dual Monarchy would, as Golochowski
believed, sooner engage into war than allow for the creation of a great
Serbia or a great Montenegro.11
Succeeding to the throne following the killing of King Aleksandar
Obrenovic (1903), was Petar I Karadjordjevic (1903-1921). The personal
regimes of the last Obrenovices were replaced by the parliamentary monarchy.
The democracy activated a huge political, national and intellectual
potential that was unable to take full swing during the previous regimes.
The termination of dependence upon Austria-Hungary marked an acute turnover
in Serbia's foreign policy, which, relying upon Russia, set off to struggle
for national liberation and the unification of the Serbian people. Conflict
with Austria-Hungary began immediately with the reform issues in Turkey.
The reform action that was to have been implemented in the European
provinces of the Ottoman Empire with the supervision of the Great Powers,
was considered by the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohia a benefical solution
against Albanian terror. Russia intended to secure supervision for itself on
the reforms in Kosovo and Metohia, but the plan was soon thwarted. At
Austria-Hungary's demand, at the beginning of 1904, the Northwest parts of
the Kosovo vilayet, i.e. Kosovo and Metohia, were excluded from the reform
action, explained as being one of an admixed population.12
The ethnic Albanians won a great victory with the exclusion of Kosovo
and Metohia from the reform action; there was nothing to intercede their
supremacy and unhamper their dealings with the Serbs. Left to fate, the
Serbs remained the victims of a privileged ethnic populace. The years 1904
and 1905 are remembered by the unheard-of oppression upon the Serbian
population. Turkish authorities undertook no measures whatsoever, the Porte
would not heed the notes of protest sent by the Serbian government. Occupied
with internal unrest and conflicts in the Far East, Russia was unable to
support Serbian protests more decisively. Serbia tried in vain to establish
contact with the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo. In Belgrade, the paper Albania
was inaugurated to propagate Serbian-Albanian amicability, while Nikola
Pasic strove to find adversaries of Austro-Hungarian propaganda among
notables in Metohia. Finding no way to come to any agreement with tribal and
feudal notables, the Serbian government paid some Albanian outlaws to
protect Serbian villages in Metohia; since 1903 Montenegro also requited
ethnic Albanians to protect the Serbs.13
The consul to Pristina, Miroslav Spalajkovic, reported at the end of
June 1905, "there was not a day that one or two murders of Serbs were
committed" in Kosovo and Metohia, adding that "nothing was done to stop
Albanian banditry". He was particularly worried since "the reform forces pay
absolutely no attention to these regions". Russian consul to Mitrovica, A.
A. Orlov, assured him he was sending daily reports to the embassy on the
situation in Kosovo and Metohia, but it showed no interest. Believing the
Albanian misdeeds had gone too far, Spalajkovic proposed to the government
to find a way "to interest the public of Russia, England and France in the
wretched situation of Serbs in Old Serbia" and proposed to jar, through the
press, "the passiveness and gross negligence of the official delegates of
Great Powers, whose attention has now been solely diverted to
Macedonia".14
Stretching from the Pec nahi to the plains of Kosovo and the gorge of
Kacanik, the ethnic Albanians, fearing no sanctions, robbed, blackmailed,
routed and killed the Serbian populace mostly in villages and on roads.
During 1904, from Kosovo alone 108 persons fled to Serbia.15 The
Serbian consulate in Pristina composed a detailed list of crimes committed
upon the Serbs in 1906 - with names of the perpetrators, victims and types
of oppression. In 1904, of 136 different crimes noted, 46 ended with murder.
Many houses, crops and barns were burned, many people beaten and robbed,
without sparing the children. A group of ethnic Albanians raped a
seven-year-old girl. In 1905, from 281 cases of oppression, 65 Serbs were
killed (at a wedding alone, recalcitrant outlaws killed nine of
them).16 Reports from Serbian agents and consuls display that
Fandas and Catholic ethnic Albanians, standing under the direct control of
Austro-Hungarian propaganda, exceeded in the crimes.17
Pec and its neighboring regions suffered the most since there was no
Serbian consulate nor foreign power which would, at least just by being
there, somewhat lessen the crimes committed in the town and its immediate
vicinity. In a complaint lodged to the consul, the Serbs of Pec reported
that Albanian chiefs forbade their compatriots to protect the Serbs, "and to
place komitadjis of 2-12 men in every village, so whenever they come across
a Serb they do away with him".18 Rector of the Seminary in
Prizren sent a list to the consulate in Pristina in 1906, containing the
victims of violence under the ethnic Albanians of Pec and the vicinity - 38
murdered and five wounded in 1905; within the first three months of 1906,
three murdered and one wounded. The perpetrators "of the committed crimes
suffered no punishment whatsoever from the Turkish state
authorities".19
The Serbs of Mitrovica appealed to King Petar I in 1905, entreating for
a Serbian consulate to be opened in the town for their protection, adding
that if the present situation were to continue, the Serbs would disappear
from these areas. Emphasis was put on the short-lived joy for the expected
introduction of reforms, which incurred "intensified Albanian hostility
toward the Serbs", and, "there is not a single day when a Serb is not swept
from the face of this earth, often many are; we cannot count the number of
robberies and ordinary fights, there are too many of them".20
In summer 1905, Spalajkovic decided to visit Pec and its vicinity with
two officials from the consulate, to convince himself of the horrid news
arriving from there. Turkish authorities attempted to intimidate them with
stories of Albanian ambushes on the roads. Milan Rakic penned in a private
letter: "! should not forget my entering Pec for quite some time. First the
passage through the Turkish quarter and downtown full of somber ethnic
Albanians, a shuddering and ominous silence, then through the Serbian
quarter, full of people, especially children and women yelling "welcome",
throwing flowers at us and crying."21 The Turkish authorities
forbade the Serbs and ethnic Albanians to visit the consul and talk to him,
thus the Serbian diplomats returned to Pristina without accomplishing their
task.22
The external political situation did not allow for Serbia to undertake
greater national action in Old Serbia. Demands for the inclusion of Kosovo
and Metohia in the reform actions were constantly sent to the Great powers.
The aggravated position of the Serbs evinced the necessity to undertake
measures for protecting the inhabitants, beside the educational-political
action, which had achieved good results with its activities at schools and
the restoration of churches. When it had become clear that due to
Austro-Hungarian influence, endeavors to inaugurate reforms in the
northwestern parts of the regions would not succeed, the alternative was to
secretly arm those villages inflicted the most.
Under the private initiative of several notable and wealthy citizens of
Belgrade who organized the first company, comprised of patriot volunteers
and refugees from Old Serbia and Macedonia, to fight Bulgarian komitadjis in
Macedonia in 1902, chetnik action came under the wing of the state gained
further swing in 1904. Kosovo and Metohia were not encompassed by the
chetnik action, although it did instigate organized arms delivery to the
most imperilled Serbian villages. When a chetnik detachment was passing
through Metohia on its way to Macedonia, in 1905, it was discovered and
killed in the village Velika Hoca, the home-town of its leader Lazar
Kujundzic. Fear of mass Albanian vengeance encroached upon the Serbs, thus
compelling Kujundzic's mother to deny the murder of her son before the
authorities. At the demand of Albanian tribes, the houses assisting the
komitadjis were burned in retribution; frightened by the emergence of the
Serbian company, ethnic Albanians were ready to search Serbian villages,
those that resisted would be burnt and their chiefs killed.23
the Serbs in 1897-1898 were collected and submitted as a Serbian note to
Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Tefvik Pasha. Novakovic requested for the
Porte to undertake energetic measures to terminate the pogroms upon the
Serbs and to form an admixed Turkish-Serbian investigating
committee.1
The note dated May 26 contains the following statement: "During the
past four years the Royal [Serbian] government was compelled more than once
to draw the attention of the imperial government, to the disorder, and
incredible and innumerable violent deeds continuously performed by the
insubordinate and unruly Albanian populace on the Serbian-Turkish border, as
well as on the bordering sanjaks. These crimes and attacks are directed
solely toward the Christians of Serbian nationality, and it seems their
purpose is to exterminate the people from those regions."2
Novakovic underscored that "The ethnic Albanians are well-armed and certain
that no punishment awaits them, giving complete liberty to their cruel
instincts, since there is nothing to hinder their fanaticism and
unrestrained hatred. Crimes and robberies are daily occurrences, and not
only do the perpetrators remain unpunished, they are not even pursued by the
authorities. The number of fugitives fleeing across the border for their
lives is enormous, and increases everyday. According to data the royal
government disposes of, more than four hundred crimes were perpetrated in
the Pristina, Novi Pazar, Pec and Prizren sanjaks within only a few months,
last summer and winter. They were: murder, arson, banditry, desecration of
churches, rape, abduction, robbery, raiding of whole herds. This number
presents only several instances, one fifth at the most, of what really
happened, since most of the crimes are never discovered, since the victims
or their families dare not complain."3 The Porte delayed its
reply so Novakovic requested to be received by the Turkish minister. He drew
the minister's attention to the fact that the development of events
suggested "that everything is carried out under orders from Constantinople
and Yildiz, where a once extant notion was to hoop another Muslim iron ring
around Serbia, like the ones once made of the Cherkezes", underscoring
certain rumors "of an idea to organize a special corps named Hamid's
Albanian army, like the well-known Kurd cavalier regiments".4
At the request of Serbia's envoy, the Porte ordered an investigation
committee at the beginning of August, to check the assertions made in the
Serbian notes. The party, headed by the sultan's adjutant, General Saadedin
Pasha, visited certain areas in Kosovo and conducted a superficial
investigation: instead of seeking the perpetrators, it strove to deny the
complaints. The Serbian delegate Todor P. Stankovic was not permitted to
participate in the operation. The investigation conducted with prejudice
produced no results. Russian diplomatic officials, whose attendance was
requested by the Serbian populace, were not permitted to watch its
operation. Stankovic noted that only the British consul to Scutari checked
the assertions made of the oppression, and having been convinced in the
truth of the complaints lodged against the ethnic Albanians, submitted a
report to his government.5
The entire investigation was reduced to establishing inaccuracies in
citing the names of victims, perpetrators and places mentioned in the
Serbian notes. Appealing to information received from local authorities, the
Forte's committee maintained that "the attacks ascribed to the ethnic
Albanians are either unfounded or exaggerated", and finally totally
dismissed the Serbian assertions. Novakovic persistently collected
additional data and submitted new notes. He warned that the ethnic
Albanians, following Saadedin Pasha's mission, realizing they had no
punishment to fear, continued performing their vicious deeds upon the Serbs
with more enthusiasm.6
Without the support of the Great Powers, Serbia could accomplish
nothing. The attempt to request the intermediation of their ambassadors in
Constantinople was thwarted by Austria-Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister
Count Goluchowski, expounding that Russia would hinder any action benefiting
Serbia on account of King Milan. The Serbian premier proposed a military
demonstration on the Serbian-Turkish border, but the idea was abandoned at
Goluchowski request.7
The diplomatic action was an utter failure. The Porte closed the issue
with a protocolar apology. The Serbian premier, in his letter to Novakovic,
somberly concluded: "The treatment of the Ottoman authorities, and Muslims
in general, toward Christians in the Kosovo vilayet can be observed by the
fact that over 60,000 Serbs fled their fatherlands and left whatever
property they owned, to save their lives, from 1880 until today [June 1899].
This spring the ethnic Albanians killed many Serbs to arrogate their lands
and drive them off, in which they have succeeded considerably, incurring
thus the flight of several hundred souls to Serbia during the last few
months."8
Not having met with understanding in Constantinople, the Serbian
government was preparing to internationalize the issue of protecting its
compatriots in Old Serbia. Preparing for the Peace Conference in the Hague
(1899), a "blue book" titled Prepiska o Arbanaskim nasiljima u Staroj Srbiji
1898-1899 (Correspondence on Albanian violence in Old Serbia 1898-1899) was
being compiled, in which the most important acts from correspondence with
the Porte were published in Serbian and French, but were not submitted to
the European public.9 Serbian refugees in Old Serbia sent a
complaint of Albanian oppression to the Conference, in the form of a
memorandum, which had previously been published in the Belgrade papers, but
not discussed in the Hague.10
A French contemporary, while visiting Kosovo and Metohia, witnessed
Serbian sufferings and protection given to the tyrants: "[...] whatever the
complaints of local Slavs and charges brought by the Serbs, whatever
reproaches made by Russia, it is obvious that neither the sultan nor the
Porte would ever get involved against the ethnic Albanians nor would they
restore order in the Kosovo vilayet. The ethnic Albanians in this Slavic
country play and will continue to play the same role as the Kurds in
Armenia. The captives of Islam and the servants of the lord [sultan] would,
under these two bases, enjoy impunity whatever their crimes."11
Political commotion among the ethnic Albanians aggravated the position
of the Serbs and violence increased. At the end of 1898, the autonomist
movement was revived, incited by the sultan's order to collect whatever arms
remained from the previous war. Albanian chiefs feared new reforms and the
possibility of the Great Powers introducing Christian rule, like they did in
Crete. In Pec, at the end of January, 1899, a large assembly of feudal and
tribal notables was held to discuss opposition to reforms and expansion of
tribal self-governing. Through influential beys, the Forte's attitude on the
necessity of joint defense was underscored in case of incursions from Serbia
and Montenegro.12
The assembly was immediately with pogroms upon the Serbs in Mitrovica.
In Prizren due of boycott of Serbian goods and threats of massacre the
Serbian downtown was closed. In April 1899, the ethnic Albanians set fire to
Serbian houses in the Verici village of the Pec district. Every day the
consulate received black news sent from Podrimlje and villages near
Pristina. Consul Simic ended one of a series of lists on perpetrated crimes
with the following words: "With such anarchic, truely barbaric conditions
here, it is no wonder the emigration of our people, from these areas to
Serbia, is increasing."13
1 Istorija srpskog naroda, VI/1, 322-323; M. Vojvodic, Srbija u
medjunarodnim odnosima krajem XIX veka i pocetkom XX veka, Beograd 1988, pp.
224-225.
2 Prepiska o arbanaskim nasiljima u Staroj Srbiji 1898-1899, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Beograd 1899, p. 15.
3 Ibid., 16; in the note supplementation the number of murders, church
raids, rapes and abductions, assaults, robberies and banditries (ibid., pp.
18-27).
4 Ibid., p. 28.
5 T. P. Stankovic, Putne beleske po Staroj Srbiji 1871-1898, pp.
103-104.
6 Prepiska o arbanaskim nasiljima u Staroj Srbiji 1898-1899, pp. 69-78,
87, 129 134-135; S. Jovanovic, Vlada Aleksandra Obrenovica, II, Beograd
1931, p. 76, cf. M. Vojvodic, op. cit., pp. 76-77.
7 S. Jovanovic, op. cit., pp. 76-77.
8 Prepiska o arbanaskim nasiljima u Staroj Srbiji 1898-1899, pp.
135-136.
9 Ibid., French title: Documents diplomatiques, Correspondance
concemant les actes de violence et de brigandage des Albanais dans la
Vieille Serbie (Vilayet de Kosovo) 1898-1899, Ministere des affaires
etrangeres, Belgrade MDCCCXCIX, pp. 1-145; M. Vojvodic, op. cit" pp.
237-238.
10 D. T. Batakovic, Memorandum Srba iz Stare Srbije i Makedonije
Medjunarodnoj konferenciji mira u Hagu 1899. godine, Prilozi za knjizevnost,
jezik, istoriju i folklor vol. LII-LIV (1987-1988, pp. 177-183.
11 V. Berard, La Macedoine, Paris 1900, pp. 138-139.
12 M. Vojvodic. op. cit., pp. 225-226; D. Mikic, Drustvene i ekonomske
prilike kosovskih Srba u XIX i pocetkom XX veka, pp. 46-47.
13 B. Perunicic, Pisma srpskih konzula iz Pristine 1890-1900, p. 407;
details on the violence: 387-489.
During the final years of the 19th century, vital stimuli to the
expansion of Albanian arrogance was given through intelligence networks in
the Kosovo vilayet, by the Austro-Hungarian diplomacy. Following the
occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the military occupation of part of
the Novi Pazar sanjak, which could, under the decrees of the Berlin
Congress, be extended to just beyond Mitrovica", the Dual Monarchy
continually worked on deepening the chasm between Serbs and ethnic
Albanians. Having experienced the unification of Germany and Italy to its
detriment, it could not allow the unification of the Serbs, with the same
consequences. The Kosovo vilayet, which separated two independent Serbian
states, became the key to solve the Balkan issue. With support from Germany,
Austria-Hungary made preparations to take its decisive step over Old Serbia
in Germanic penetration to the East.
Austria-Hungarian influence in the Kosovo vilayet gradually grew
through Catholic missions in north Albania, Metohia and consulates in
Prizren. Skoplje and Scutari. Following the exodus of Serbs in 1878-1881,
the abandoned Serbian estates in Metohia were settled, with the assistance
of Albanian beys, by Albanian Catholics, the so-called Fandas, who were to
become the main bearers of Austria-Hungarian propaganda among their
compatriots of Muslim faith. A certain increase of Catholic inhabitants in
Metohia made room for the opening of new ecclesiastical and educational
institutions which became centers of the aggressive propaganda. Greater
pressure emanating from Jesuit propaganda was also felt by the Serbian
clergy. Phanariote Bishop Melentije freely allowed Catholic agitation to
spread among the Serbs of the Pec and Prizren sanjaks.1 At the
same time, the European public was presented with publications interpreting
the historical evolution, the ethnic composition and political importance of
Kosovo with seemingly expert argumentation. In a study of the Novi Pazar
sanjak in Kosovo, Theodor Ippen endeavored to support his thesis on the
ethnic unity of all territories with Bosnia, and thus indirectly with
Austria-Hungary, on the basis of historical evidence, therefore denying the
Serbs their character, emphasizing the importance of national individuality
of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.2
The Balkan policy of the highest political and military circles of the
Dual Monarchy regarded the Albanian populace as an element of outstanding
importance. Anticipating the approaching disintegration of the Ottoman
Empire in the Peninsula, Austria-Hungary was preparing to establish order
and impose its rule as mandator in Europe, as it had already done in Bosnia
and Herzegovina in 1878. Penetration toward the Vardar valley and the
Salonika Bay imposed the formation of autonomous Albania under its
protectorate. An Albanian state like this would render impossible the
unification of Serbia and Montenegro, and would curb influence coming from
Italy.
The Foreign Minister of the Dual Monarchy, Count Goluchowski,
considered it of immense importance to Austro-Hungarian interest for the
ethnic Albanians not to come under foreign influence, and proposed, in case
the Ottoman Empire should collapse, that Austria-Hungary should support a
separate autonomy for Albania, ruled by a foreign prince and under its
protectorate; Serbia would then have to satisfy its aspirations by
concessions made in the Pristina and Skoplje sanjaks. The joint
Austro-Hungarian Minister of Finance Benjamin Kallay, demanded to win over
the Muslim ethnic Albanians of the Kosovo vilayet. He particularly stressed
the importance of propaganda to encompass the Pristina and Skoplje sanjaks,
believing that if conflicts with Turkey should arise, all territories in
which ethnic Albanians were a minority would belong to either Serbia or
Bulgaria.3
In the 1897 negotiations, Russian diplomats were informed that if
status quo on the Balkan Peninsula were to prove untenable, the Dual
Monarchy would demand the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
division of Turkish lands in Europe, including the formation of an
independent Albanian state between Janina and Scutari Lake under its
protectorate. Aspiring toward their goal, Austro-Hungarian diplomacy
considered the possibility of establishing a religious protectorate over
Catholic ethnic Albanians which would then acquire political dimensions.
Since the close of the 19th century, Franciscans infiltrated by
Austria-Hungary had been checking the Italian and local Catholic clergy even
in Albania.4
Wherever there were bribable and ambitious beys in Metohia,
Austria-Hungary built strong bastions by lavishly bestowing money. At the
assembly in Pec, at the beginning of 1899, aside to notables of Turkophilic
and autonomous disposition, those of pro-Austrian inclination appeared as
well. A group of tribal and feudal leaders, headed by the until recently
sultan's favorite Haxhi Mulla Zeka, and Riza Bey Krieziu of Djakovica,
openly recommended closer relations with the Dual Monarchy, as a potential
protector of the ethnic Albanians and against neighboring Serbian states and
possible reforms. The number of Austro-Hungarian followers grew in
accordance with purchases made by Austro-Hungarian agents of Albanian
notables. According to a Russian paper Novoe Vremja, about five to six
million crowns of the Dual Monarchy's annual budget were set aside for
Albanian propaganda and the payment of corrupt Albanian
magnates.5
Agitation among the ethnic Albanians was lead through several
directions. In Metohia, where clan chiefs quarreled over domains, agents
were infiltrated, while Austro-Hungarian propaganda was observed to have
spread owing to Bosnian Muslim religious heads. Catholic friars expounded to
Muslim ethnic Albanians that Serbia and Montenegro were outposts on the
Peninsula and that the neighboring Monarchy was their sole protector. Vienna
papers, reporting on events taking place in Old Serbia (particularly the
Politische Korrespondenz), regularly titled their news as coming from
Albania, thus creating the impression that ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo
vilayet comprised the majority of the population and that it was practically
devoid of Serbs.6
The dimension of Austro-Hungarian political agitation could not pass by
the Turkish authorities unnoticed. The district chief in Pristina noticed
that Albanian assails upon the Serbs were encouraged by agitators of the
Dual Monarchy. The vali of Kosovo, Hafis Pasha, attributed all Albanian
unrest in Metohia (especially in Prizren 1899, subsequently in Skoplje), to
operations carried out by Austro-Hungarian intelligence services. Their
purpose, he believed, was to cause widespread unrest to provide
Austria-Hungary with an excuse to occupy the Kosovo vilayet.7
Even the sultan, when confronted with a warning from the Russian ambassador
that Albanian anarchy was planned, since only Orthodox Serbs suffered, "did
not deny the presence of a foreign party operating through its
agents".8 Suspicion as to the motives of the Albanian movement
was also spread by Young Turk followers of Albanian origin, who gave
statements abroad that ethnic Albanians were disloyal to the sultan and were
waiting for the opportunity to secede from Turkey. Telegrams were
immediately sent from Pristina, Prizren and other towns in Kosovo and
Metohia, to the padishah with expressions of unequivocal faithfulness and
loyalty.9
Foreign witnesses also observed the fatal influence of Austro-Hungarian
propaganda in Old Serbia. A French scholar, Victor Berard, an expert on
political trends in the Ottoman Empire, emphasized "that the mystery
concealing the operation of Austrian agents and their entire propaganda
network raised, in the eyes of blinded ethnic Albanians, this major power to
even greater heights, skillfully interweaving them in the dexterously
devised and woven network of their foreign policy".10 Bulgarian
historian N. Marenin observed that aside to all the skill of its agents,
Austro-Hungarian propaganda had succeeded with the ethnic Albanians owing to
large amounts of money paid annually to those most prominent and influential
among them. Marenin underscored that a favorable condition for bringing
together the ethnic Albanians and the Dual Monarchy was their mutual
interest to exterminate the Serbian populace in the area between the Drim
river and Mount Kopaonik, i.e. between Serbia and Albania.11
Owing to the instigations of the Austro-Hungarian intelligence service,
total anarchy reigned in Kosovo. Enboldened by protection promised by the
Dual Monarchy and the sultan's confidence, the ethnic Albanians, filled with
renewed energy, dashed to settle accounts with the Serbs. During 1900 and
1902 the crimes attained apocalyptic dimensions. The Pec nahi suffered the
most since Catholic ethnic Albanians exceeded in oppression. Blackmail,
robbery and murder extremely affected the Gnjilane and Pristina region. In
Prizren, the Serbs dared not appear downtown. Schools and churches also bore
the brunt of oppression. The pursuit of Serbian priests became frequent,
ethnic Albanians regarded all distinguished national notables as Serbian
spies and komitadjis. This anti-Serb disposition reached the point when even
certain Turkish officials, in the army, administration, especially within
the circle of religious heads, openly appealed to the ethnic Albanians to
clash with the Serbs, arrogate their lands and force them to flee to
Serbia.12
Anarchy attained such dimensions that the Porte was compelled to send
new military contingents. Brigadier General Shemsi Pasha was sent to Kosovo
to consolidate government authority, collect arms and capture the major
violators. He frequently left Pristina to visit the vilayet, calm the ethnic
Albanians, reconcile their quarreling chiefs and, though rarely, intervened
to protect the Serbs. In Vucitrn he was compelled to protect the Serbs
threatened by oppression in the Raznjane village. Raska-Prizren Metropolitan
Dionisije escaped assassination twice, and so moved his seat to
Gnjilane.13
A direct consequence of Austro-Hungarian influence was oppression
executed upon the Serbs of the Ibarski Kolasin, in summer 1901. The Ibarski
Kolasin was a woody area with over forty villages to the northwest of Old
Serbia, inhabited almost entirely by Serbs who had preserved a certain kind
of self-government, choosing their own local knez (leader).14
The extent of oppression compelled the Serbs from all parts of Kosovo
and Metohia to appeal to the consulate in Pristina in 1897, demanding a
secret delivery of arms for protection against the tyrants. Stojan Novakovic
had proposed to arm the Serbian inhabitants gradually and organize them for
defense back in 1896: "ethnic Albanians were evildoers, but they treated
with respect those houses in Old Serbia which they knew had weapons and male
heads."15 The consul in Pristina supported Novakovic's proposal,
adding that Albanian assails upon the Serbs were encouraged on account of
the latter having no arms, while these deeds left the Serbs
faithearted.16
After the failure of the diplomatic mission with the Porte to protect
Serbian inhabitants, the government of Vladan Djordjevic began, in spring
1899, the secret delivery of trophy guns remaining from the previous war
with Turkey, to Serbs inhabiting the northern regions of the Kosovo vilayet.
Since the beginning of 1901, exaggerated news of thousands of guns being
smuggled to arm entire Serbian villages caused great alarm among the ethnic
Albanians. The Turkish authorities conducted searches in the north regions
of Old Serbia, and only at the beginning of July, owing to information
procured by Albanian notable Isa Boljetinac, did they discover that most of
the weapons were delivered to the Ibarski Kolasin.17
Under the leadership of Isa Boljetinac, the ethnic Albanians and Turks
searched the Kolasin villages and forced the people to surrender their arms
under brutalities unheard-of. Many were abused, beaten and wounded; one
Serbian was beaten up and succumbed to wounds inflicted. Several hundred
Serbs were shackled and taken to prisons in Mitrovica and Pristina. The arms
investigation incited ethnic Albanians from other regions to set off toward
Kolasin and seek guns in the villages. From January to August alone, around
six hundred persons fled to Serbia. The disturbed public demanded energetic
action from the government. The arms investigation ended only when Serbia's
demands to the Porte were supported by Russia. Following the energetic
intervention of the Russian ambassador to Constantinople, violence in
Kolasin ceased, the arrested Serbs were set free, and Isa Boljetinac was
moved out of Mitrovica. However, Austro-Hungarian delegates to the Porte
claimed the pogroms in Kolasin were multiply exaggerated.18
Austro-Hungarian consular officials in Kosovo saw the affair at Kolasin
as a sign of "great Serbian propaganda" in Old Serbia. All political moves
made by the Serbian government in the Kosovo vilayet, including the
inauguration of new schools, and financial help given to teachers and
monastic fraternities, were considered a serious injury to the political
interests of the Dual Monarchy. When Adem Zaim killed Hadji Mulla Zeka in
Pec for tribal dissentions, at the beginning of 1902, Austro-Hungarian
consuls announced that it was a Serbian conspiracy.19
1 Istorija srpskog naroda, VI/1, p.302; V. Bovan, op. cit.; H.
Schwanda, Das Protektorat stereich-Ungarans uber die Katholiken Albanians,
Wien 1965; passim S. Skendi, op. cit., pp. 238-286.
2 Theodor Ippen, Novi Pazar und Kosovo (Das Alte Rascien), Wien 1892;
ibid, Das Religiose Protektorat Osterreich-Ungarns in der Turkei, Die
Kultur, 3 (1901-1902), pp. 298-310;
3 F. Hauptmann, Uloga zajednickog ministarstva finansija u formiranju
Austro-Ugarske politike prema Albaniji uoci kretske krize, Radovi
Filozofskog fakulteta u Sarajevu, IV (1968), pp. 35-45; H. Kapidzic,
Pripreme za austrougarsko prodiranje u albansko etnicko podrucje iz
Novopazarskog sandzaka, Radovi Filozofskog fakulteta u Sarajevu, VI (1971),
pp. 415-430; cf. N.D. Schnadel, op. cit., pp. 54-74.
4 B. Hrabak, Kultni protektorat Austro-Ugarske nad Arbanasima (1897),
Godisnjak Arhiva Kosova, XXIII (1987), p. 33-54; J. Sliskovic, Albanija i
Macedonia, Sarajevo 1904, p. 80; V. Stojancevic, Diplomatska trvenja konzula
velikih sila u Skoplju no. tamosnje Arbanase katolike pocetkom XX veka,
Istorijski casopis, XVIII (1971), pp. 329-339.
5 V. Stojancevic, Austrougarsko-srpski sukob u kosovskom vilajetu na
pocetku XX veka, in: Jugoslovenski narodi pred Prvi svetski rat, Beograd
1967 pp. 847-876.
6 D. T. Batakovic, Pokusaj otvaranja srpskog konzulata u Prizrenu
1898-1900, pp. 256-257.
7 V. Stojancevic, Prilike u zapadnoj polovini kosovskog vilajeta prema
izvestajima austrougarskog konzula u Skoplju 1900. i 1901. godine,
Istorijski casopis, (XII-XIII) (1961-1962), p. 290-291.
8 V. Corovic, Odnosi izmedju Srbije i Austro-Ugarske u XX veku, Beograd
1936, p. 15.
9 B. Perunicic, Zulumi ago. i begova u kosovskom vilajetu, pp. 169-170.
10 V. Berard, La Turquie et I'Hellenisme contemporain, Paris 1900, pp.
291-292.
11 N. Marenin, Albanija i Albanci, pp. 91-92; cited from P. Orlovic (S.
St. Simic), Stara Srbija i Arbanasi, Beograd 1904, pp. 21-22.
12 Regarding the conference of the Serbian and Bulgarian rulers at Nis,
Austro-Hungarian agitators reported it was secretly being held at Pristina.
Among the Albanians a widespread conviction existed that a joint military
intervention of the two countries was being prepared. The bessa was hastily
given and conference on Joint defense began. (M. Vojvodic, op. cit., pp.
332-333).
13 V. Stojancevic, Prilike u zapadnoj polovini kosovskog vilajeta prema
izvestajima austrougarskog konzula u Skoplju 1900. i 1901. godine, pp.
311-312.
14 M. Lutovac, Ibarski Kolasin, Antropogeografska istrazivanja, pp.
57-188.
15 Spomenica Stojana Novakovica, p. 196.
16 B. Perunicic, Pisma srpskih konzula iz Pristine 1890-1900, pp.
345-346.
17 M. Vojvodic, op. cit., 334; D. T. Batakovic, Istraga oruzja u
Ibarskom Kolasinu 1901, Kosovsko-Metohijski zbornik SANU 1 (1990), pp.
269-284
18 Ibid., cf. S. Skendi, op. cit., pp. 201-202.
19 V. Stojanovic, Austrougarsko-srpski sukob u kosovskom vilajetu, p.
865.
Pogroms in the Ibarski Kolasin sobered the public and ruling circles of
Serbia. In Belgrade, public meetings were organized where demands were made
for the government to initiate the issue of Serbian nationality in Old
Serbia and Macedonia. In disputes announced on the issue of the survival of
Serbs in Old Serbia, Svetislav Simic was the most outstanding.
In his discussion Pitanje o Staroj Srbiji (The Question of Old Serbia)
Simic underscored the danger of Austro-Hungarian agitation among the ethnic
Albanians and emphasized that the destiny of the Serbs and the Slav cause in
the Balkans would unfold in Kosovo.1
The balance of forces, particularly Austro-Hungarian influence in
Serbia and Russia's failure to confront its agitation in Old Serbia with
more energy, tied the hands of the Serbian diplomacy in its attempts for a
more efficient protection of its compatriots. Following the death of King
Milutin, Vienna's most trusted friend in Serbia, King Aleksandar Obrenovic
took the Russophil course in foreign policy, to calm tempers in the country.
At the same time, at the invitation of the Serbian government, a group of
Albanian notables arrived in Belgrade from Fed and Djakovica, among whom was
the Pec leader Mehmed Zaim. They were lavished with rich gifts in money and
arms and promised assistance if they helped to bring an end to violence upon
the Serbs.2
The Serbian government initiated the issue of protecting Serbs in
Turkey in 1902, and in August, bolteresred by the Montenegrin diplomacy,
authorized its envoy in Constantinople to make the following demands to the
Porte: 1) regular and for all equal application of law; 2) an end to the
policy of encouraging ethnic Albanians. Propositions along this line were
for either disarmament of the ethnic Albanians or allowance for the Serbs to
carry guns; for reinforcement of Turkish garrisons wherever there were
Serbian-Albanian inhabitants admixed; removal of corrupt Turkish officials
and assignment of conscientious ones; inauguration of administrative and
judicial reforms with larger Serbian participation in the administration and
judiciary; implementation of agrary reform. Russia supported Serbia since
none of the bases were touched regarding the status quo established with
Austria-Hungary in 1897.3
To forestall the reform plan of the Great Powers, especially
Austria-Hungary and Russia, which had the right to protect Christians in the
Ottoman Empire under article 23 of the Berlin Congress, the sultan announced
reforms in November 1902. The reform action of Turkey, headed by Hussein
Hilmi Pasha as general inspector, anticipated a more rigorous application of
the law, regulation of agrary duties, dismission of unconscientious
officials and the enlisting of Serbs in the Turkish gendarme. Military
authorities undertook to capture the most wanted criminals.4
The dimension of lawlessness and Serbian plight shocked foreign
Journalists. Victor Berard wrote that life in places between Pec, Prizren
and Pristina was marked with violence under the ethnic Albanians, arsons,
rapes, vengeance, and real tribal warfare. Georges Gaulis noticed that due
to the extent of oppression upon the Serbs, Old Serbia was, along with
Armenia, the most wretched country in the world. Bearing witness to Albanian
recalcitrance and their motives, he particularly stressed: "Those of Debar
kill to rob, those of Djakovica kill from shear fanaticism, those of Prizren
kill for their evil instincts, and those of Tetovo kill to try out their
carbines."5
Following the Kolasin affair, Russia opened a consulate in Mitrovica to
follow more closely Austria-Hungary's influence over Albanian moves and to
protect the Serbs from violence. The Vienna legation exerted influence upon
the Porte to prolong its inauguration. The ethnic Albanians received the
news of the opening of the Russian consulate with open discontent and acute
opposition. Isa Boljetinac threatened to punish anyone who dared rent his
house to the Russian consul and openly spoke of forcibly routing him from
Kosovo. Following the threats made to its staff, the Russian diplomacy
demanded of the Ottoman authorities to arrest and rout the leaders of
"Anti-Russian demonstrations". Isa Boljetinac agreed, after a lengthy
persuasion from the authorities, to leave for Constantinople, "to visit" the
padishah. The St. Petersburg press underscored the importance of the
consulate opening in Mitrovica, where "at the central point between Old
Serbia and Albania, [Russian] control emerges over ethnic
Albanians".6
The announcement of the reform plan, more rigorous application of law,
acceptance of Serbs in the gendarme service and news of the Russian
consulate finally opening in Mitrovica, instigated the ethnic Albanians to
rise. At the beginning of 1903, a large assembly of tribal chiefs was held
at the Lucki Most near Djakovica. The ethnic Albanians blamed solely the
Serbs for all the reforms. It was thus decided "to gradually kill the more
prominent Serbs of the Pec nahi one after another, and compel the others to
flee to Serbia or to be Turkized."7
The plans of the participants were to rout the Turkish authorities from
Pec, kill the notable Serbs and then move to Mitrovica to confront the
Russian consul. Severe persecution of the Serbs began immediately. In the
Pec nahi alone ten people were killed within a few weeks. Following the
meeting in Drenica, the ethnic Albanians decided to take to arms. Armed
rebels raided Vucitrn on March 29, ravaged the local Serbian church,
disarmed the Serbs accepted in the gendarme and set off to Mitrovica to rout
by force Russian Consul Grigorie Stepanovich Shtcherbin.8
The Russian consul remained in town to supervise Turkish preparations
for defense. Around 2,000 ethnic Albanians attacked Mitrovica on March 30.
Following a decisive resistance of Turkish forces, driven away by artillery
fire, the ethnic Albanians abandoned their plan to take the town. The next
day a Turkish corporal, an Albanian, shot the Russian consul while the
latter was visiting the outskirts of town. The assassin claimed he shot the
consul in vengeance, denying affiliation to any movement, while the severely
wounded consul succumbed to his wounds ten days hence.
The death of the Russian consul demonstrated the extent of Albanian
anarchy, whereas the relation of the sultan and of the high ranking
officials of the Porte toward their bearers was displayed in the stand to
which they adhered. Diplomatic circles in Constantinople expected decisive
measures to be undertaken against the ethnic Albanians. Abdulhamid II
promised he would send military reinforcements to restore order in Old
Serbia and to capture the rebels, but "fearing court revolution from his
Albanian guards", he decided against the announced measures.9
Simultaneously, the sultan advised the Albanian leaders, who feared
international conflicts for wounding and killing a Russian consul, to calm
down. Agents of the Dual Monarchy and Catholic friars encouraged the ethnic
Albanians of Mitrovica not to fear Russian retribution and to persevere in
their opposition. The death of the Russian consul was a national tragedy to
the Serbs, who saw in him a protector and a representative of a power they
expected would end this anarchy and violence. The train, bearing the coffin
of the deceased consul, was accompanied by several thousand Serbs, while
funeral services were held in churches throughout Kosovo and
Metohia.10
Anarchy in Old Serbia and disorder in Macedonia, where Bulgaria
introduced companies to urge a rise and solve the problem of Macedonia to
its benefit, compelled Austria-Hungary and Russia, being the two most
interested major parties, to demand the implementation of reforms. They
announced their reform project in February 1903, while a detailed plan
of the whole operation was designed at a meeting of the two tzars, Nikola II
and Franz Joseph I in Murzsteg, at the beginning of October. Expecting war
in the Far East, Russia strove to retain for a time, the status quo on the
Balkans. Austria-Hungary intended to consolidate its positions with a reform
action. Shortly before the meeting in Murzsteg, Count Goluchowski
elaborated, to the tzar, the plan to divide Turkish lands in Europe:
make Romania as large as possible, a large Bulgaria, a weak Montenegro,
a small Serbia and a free Albania. The Dual Monarchy would, as Golochowski
believed, sooner engage into war than allow for the creation of a great
Serbia or a great Montenegro.11
Succeeding to the throne following the killing of King Aleksandar
Obrenovic (1903), was Petar I Karadjordjevic (1903-1921). The personal
regimes of the last Obrenovices were replaced by the parliamentary monarchy.
The democracy activated a huge political, national and intellectual
potential that was unable to take full swing during the previous regimes.
The termination of dependence upon Austria-Hungary marked an acute turnover
in Serbia's foreign policy, which, relying upon Russia, set off to struggle
for national liberation and the unification of the Serbian people. Conflict
with Austria-Hungary began immediately with the reform issues in Turkey.
The reform action that was to have been implemented in the European
provinces of the Ottoman Empire with the supervision of the Great Powers,
was considered by the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohia a benefical solution
against Albanian terror. Russia intended to secure supervision for itself on
the reforms in Kosovo and Metohia, but the plan was soon thwarted. At
Austria-Hungary's demand, at the beginning of 1904, the Northwest parts of
the Kosovo vilayet, i.e. Kosovo and Metohia, were excluded from the reform
action, explained as being one of an admixed population.12
The ethnic Albanians won a great victory with the exclusion of Kosovo
and Metohia from the reform action; there was nothing to intercede their
supremacy and unhamper their dealings with the Serbs. Left to fate, the
Serbs remained the victims of a privileged ethnic populace. The years 1904
and 1905 are remembered by the unheard-of oppression upon the Serbian
population. Turkish authorities undertook no measures whatsoever, the Porte
would not heed the notes of protest sent by the Serbian government. Occupied
with internal unrest and conflicts in the Far East, Russia was unable to
support Serbian protests more decisively. Serbia tried in vain to establish
contact with the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo. In Belgrade, the paper Albania
was inaugurated to propagate Serbian-Albanian amicability, while Nikola
Pasic strove to find adversaries of Austro-Hungarian propaganda among
notables in Metohia. Finding no way to come to any agreement with tribal and
feudal notables, the Serbian government paid some Albanian outlaws to
protect Serbian villages in Metohia; since 1903 Montenegro also requited
ethnic Albanians to protect the Serbs.13
The consul to Pristina, Miroslav Spalajkovic, reported at the end of
June 1905, "there was not a day that one or two murders of Serbs were
committed" in Kosovo and Metohia, adding that "nothing was done to stop
Albanian banditry". He was particularly worried since "the reform forces pay
absolutely no attention to these regions". Russian consul to Mitrovica, A.
A. Orlov, assured him he was sending daily reports to the embassy on the
situation in Kosovo and Metohia, but it showed no interest. Believing the
Albanian misdeeds had gone too far, Spalajkovic proposed to the government
to find a way "to interest the public of Russia, England and France in the
wretched situation of Serbs in Old Serbia" and proposed to jar, through the
press, "the passiveness and gross negligence of the official delegates of
Great Powers, whose attention has now been solely diverted to
Macedonia".14
Stretching from the Pec nahi to the plains of Kosovo and the gorge of
Kacanik, the ethnic Albanians, fearing no sanctions, robbed, blackmailed,
routed and killed the Serbian populace mostly in villages and on roads.
During 1904, from Kosovo alone 108 persons fled to Serbia.15 The
Serbian consulate in Pristina composed a detailed list of crimes committed
upon the Serbs in 1906 - with names of the perpetrators, victims and types
of oppression. In 1904, of 136 different crimes noted, 46 ended with murder.
Many houses, crops and barns were burned, many people beaten and robbed,
without sparing the children. A group of ethnic Albanians raped a
seven-year-old girl. In 1905, from 281 cases of oppression, 65 Serbs were
killed (at a wedding alone, recalcitrant outlaws killed nine of
them).16 Reports from Serbian agents and consuls display that
Fandas and Catholic ethnic Albanians, standing under the direct control of
Austro-Hungarian propaganda, exceeded in the crimes.17
Pec and its neighboring regions suffered the most since there was no
Serbian consulate nor foreign power which would, at least just by being
there, somewhat lessen the crimes committed in the town and its immediate
vicinity. In a complaint lodged to the consul, the Serbs of Pec reported
that Albanian chiefs forbade their compatriots to protect the Serbs, "and to
place komitadjis of 2-12 men in every village, so whenever they come across
a Serb they do away with him".18 Rector of the Seminary in
Prizren sent a list to the consulate in Pristina in 1906, containing the
victims of violence under the ethnic Albanians of Pec and the vicinity - 38
murdered and five wounded in 1905; within the first three months of 1906,
three murdered and one wounded. The perpetrators "of the committed crimes
suffered no punishment whatsoever from the Turkish state
authorities".19
The Serbs of Mitrovica appealed to King Petar I in 1905, entreating for
a Serbian consulate to be opened in the town for their protection, adding
that if the present situation were to continue, the Serbs would disappear
from these areas. Emphasis was put on the short-lived joy for the expected
introduction of reforms, which incurred "intensified Albanian hostility
toward the Serbs", and, "there is not a single day when a Serb is not swept
from the face of this earth, often many are; we cannot count the number of
robberies and ordinary fights, there are too many of them".20
In summer 1905, Spalajkovic decided to visit Pec and its vicinity with
two officials from the consulate, to convince himself of the horrid news
arriving from there. Turkish authorities attempted to intimidate them with
stories of Albanian ambushes on the roads. Milan Rakic penned in a private
letter: "! should not forget my entering Pec for quite some time. First the
passage through the Turkish quarter and downtown full of somber ethnic
Albanians, a shuddering and ominous silence, then through the Serbian
quarter, full of people, especially children and women yelling "welcome",
throwing flowers at us and crying."21 The Turkish authorities
forbade the Serbs and ethnic Albanians to visit the consul and talk to him,
thus the Serbian diplomats returned to Pristina without accomplishing their
task.22
The external political situation did not allow for Serbia to undertake
greater national action in Old Serbia. Demands for the inclusion of Kosovo
and Metohia in the reform actions were constantly sent to the Great powers.
The aggravated position of the Serbs evinced the necessity to undertake
measures for protecting the inhabitants, beside the educational-political
action, which had achieved good results with its activities at schools and
the restoration of churches. When it had become clear that due to
Austro-Hungarian influence, endeavors to inaugurate reforms in the
northwestern parts of the regions would not succeed, the alternative was to
secretly arm those villages inflicted the most.
Under the private initiative of several notable and wealthy citizens of
Belgrade who organized the first company, comprised of patriot volunteers
and refugees from Old Serbia and Macedonia, to fight Bulgarian komitadjis in
Macedonia in 1902, chetnik action came under the wing of the state gained
further swing in 1904. Kosovo and Metohia were not encompassed by the
chetnik action, although it did instigate organized arms delivery to the
most imperilled Serbian villages. When a chetnik detachment was passing
through Metohia on its way to Macedonia, in 1905, it was discovered and
killed in the village Velika Hoca, the home-town of its leader Lazar
Kujundzic. Fear of mass Albanian vengeance encroached upon the Serbs, thus
compelling Kujundzic's mother to deny the murder of her son before the
authorities. At the demand of Albanian tribes, the houses assisting the
komitadjis were burned in retribution; frightened by the emergence of the
Serbian company, ethnic Albanians were ready to search Serbian villages,
those that resisted would be burnt and their chiefs killed.23