In the 14th century, the Ottomans and Serbs fought a battle on the battlefields of Kosovo, which was defeated and lost independence for a long time. However, the area has become a historical symbol of the struggle of the Yugoslav people. Kosovo is now separated from Serbia and almost all of the population is Muslim Albanian.
What causes this strange situation? Why do less than 10% of Serbs themselves live in historically important Serbian regions?
Yugoslavia in World War II
Even before the outbreak of World War II, a large proportion of Albanians and Yugoslavs in Kosovo converted to Islam during ottoman rule in these lands from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The newly converted subjects did not have to pay higher taxes, and they gained the full rights of the empire.
Thus, if 3.5% of Muslims lived in the area in the 16th century, by the 19th century they were about half. By the end of the 19th century, after the Yugoslav wars with the Ottomans, Kosovo had returned to Serbia, and no one disputed the ownership of the territory.
But World War II changed focus. In fact, it was because of the fighting on the Balkan front that the historic area of Serbia became Albanian: if according to the 1931 census, the proportion of Albanians here was 60%, then in 1948 - 70%, in 1971 - 75%, in 1981 - 80%.
Kosovo's demographics are separated by 80 years. The color of the area indicates that the population of a particular ethnic group is more than 50%.
Italy's aggression against Europe began with an offensive against Albania. In April 1939, Italian troops occupied the country in less than a week. But the attack on Greece in the fall of 1940 did not bring Mussolini any honor. The Italians were driven back into Albanian territory, and the duke had to ask the Führer for military assistance.
In early 1941 Yugoslavia was considered an ally of Germany, so German troops did not intend to invade the country. On 27 March, however, an anti-German coup took place in Belgrade, which sought to move toward Britain and the Soviet Union. Soon after, Germany and Italy carried out a powerful strike against Yugoslavia, and the state was completely occupied.
The territories of Kosovo and Metohija were occupied by Italy and incorporated into Albania. Soon, hostility between local Serbs and Albanians escalated into conflict and real massacres.
The number of Serbs and Montenegrins killed by Albanian nationalists grew rapidly to thousands. Between 100,000 and 200,000 Serbs from Kosovo were forced to flee. At the same time, as many as 100,000 Albanians have migrated to the region.
By the end of World War II, Kosovo Muslims were in the majority in the region. The Serbs who remained in the area could not replenish their pre-war numbers.
Kosovo after World War II
After the end of World War II, Yugoslavia was unified, but internal contradictions became more prominent. The Slovenes and Croats in the north want to self-govern or secede from the country, as do the Albanians in the south. The country was run by Marshal Joseph Broz Tito.
Tito with image of the Yugoslav flag
The Albanians in Kosovo were dissatisfied with the annexation of the region into Yugoslavia. To reduce their unrest, Communist leaders barred departing Serbs from returning home, and Kosovo itself was granted autonomous status. There was also a massive escape of Albanian residents from the local dictator Enver Hoxha in Kosovo.
After Tito's death in 1980, unrest in Yugoslavia, and in Kosovo in particular, reached a new level. Against the backdrop of the economic crisis, discontent is maturing among all inhabitants of the country, including Kosovars — demanding republic status on the same level as Serbia, Croatia and other countries.
In fact, by the mid-1980s, Kosovo was no longer subordinate to federal authorities and lived independently. There are ethnic conflicts and unrest throughout Yugoslavia. The conflict between Serbs and Albanians expanded rapidly.
Slobodan Milosevic, who came to power in 1986, exacerbated the conflict. He bet on the Yugoslav majority Serbs. The politician decided not to negotiate with local Kosovars and instead embarked on a difficult path, trying to centralize the country and revoke autonomy for Kosovo and Pristina in 1989.
Milosevic on the battlefield in Kosovo, he called on the Serbs to "take away what should have belonged to them" and rejected other Yugoslav nations. 1989
Kosovo in the 90s
In 1991, Kosovo first declared its independence against the backdrop of a state of emergency, followed by a referendum of 99 per cent in favour.
The new republic was initially recognized only by Albania. However, the Kosovars waged a real guerrilla war against the federal authorities and Milosevic. It led to hundreds of victims and targeted Serbs specifically.
The current situation led to the direct involvement of the Yugoslav army in the conflict in 1998. Repression began, accompanied by ethnic cleansing.
In January 1999, Yugoslav police killed 45 people, 44 of them, in the village of Rechak in Kosovo. It is unclear whether they were foreign fighters, Albanian guerrillas or ordinary residents. However, the incident demonized the Serbs and exposed the Kosovars as victims in desperate need of protection.
In 1999, under hysterical cries from U.S.-led NATO forces, a special operation to protect the Muslim population was launched. The Yugoslav army tried to fight back, but the difference in strength was too great. As a result, Yugoslavia agreed to introduce a NATO peacekeeping contingent into the region and to hand over Kosovo to United Nations control.
During the bombing of Serbia and in the years that followed, more than 250,000 Serbs left Kosovo. After the situation has been relatively normalized, they have nowhere to go.
World War II, followed by nato's conflict with Yugoslavia, fundamentally changed the ethnic makeup of Kosovo's inhabitants. Thus, about 9/10 of the population of the historical center of Serbia today is Albanian. Serbia itself does not recognize the independence of the region and will not do so under any authority.