1901_massacres_of_Serbs

1901 massacres of Serbs

1901 massacres of Serbs

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The 1901 massacres of Serbs were multiple massacres of Serbs in the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia), committed by Albanians.

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Massacres

Serbs were maltreated and accused of being Serbian agents.[1] Panic ensued, and Serbs, primarily from the border areas fled to Serbia.[1] Albanians who participated in the Greco-Turkish War (1897) used weapons not turned in to the authorities against the Serbs in Old Serbia.[2] In May 1901, Albanians set Sjenica, Novi Pazar and Pristina on fire.[3] The Albanians went on a rampage massacring Serbs in Pristina.[4] Ibarski Kolašin (now known as North Kosovo), a forested region made up of 40 villages, largely inhabited by Serbs, where Serbian teachers and priests were active, had long irritated the Albanians and Ottoman government; Serbs were continuously maltreated in the region.[5] The Serbian government observed the developments in Kolašin, and did not remain idle.[5] The situation became serious, with Serbs being smuggled arms by Serbia to defend themselves.[2] In the summer of 1901, Albanians massacred Serbs in the Kolašin area.[2] The atrocities prompted the Russian government to intervene at the Porte.[2]

Reactions

Russia

Initially, the Porte did not suppress the Albanian movement nor protect the Serbs.[1] Russia demanded that the Albanians and Turkish gendarmeries be punished and the Serbs be allowed to keep the arms for protection.[3] The Porte answered by mass arrests and criminalizing the Albanian language.[4] The governor (vali) was dismissed, and several other anti-Serb officials, and Albanian chieftains who had been especially cruel, were removed from their posts.[6]

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary, supported the Albanians, and tried to downplay the massacres.[3] The events were instrumental in the "Kolašin affair" (Serbian Cyrillic: Колашинска афера), a diplomatic conflict between Austria-Hungary, which supported the Albanians, and Serbia, which was supported by Russia.[7]

See also


References

  1. Skendi 2015, p. 293.
  2. Skendi 2015, p. 201.
  3. Iain King; Whit Mason (2006). Peace at Any Price: How the World Failed Kosovo. Cornell University Press. p. 30. ISBN 0-8014-4539-6.
  4. Институт за српску културу (Лепосавић) (2006). Duhovnost pisane kulture Srba u kontekstu kulture balkanskih Slovena: naučni skup, Leposavić 25. decembar 2006. Institut za srpsku kulturu. pp. 188–193. ISBN 9788682797715.

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Further reading


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