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Ottoman forces surrendered Niš on 10 January 1878 and most Muslims departed for [[Pristina]], [[Prizren]], [[Skopje]] and [[Thessalonika]].<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Serbian forces continued their southwest advance entering the valleys of Kosanica, Pusta Reka and Jablanica.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Serbian forces in the Morava valley continued to head for Vranje, with the intention of then turning west and entering Kosovo proper.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> The Serbian advance in the southwest was slow, due to the hilly terrain and much resistance by local Albanians who were defending their villages and also sheltering in the nearby [[Radan (mountain)|Radan]] and Majdan mountain ranges.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Serbian forces took these villages one by one and most remained vacant.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Albanian refugees continued to retreat toward Kosovo and their march was halted at the [[Goljak]] Mountains when an armistice was declared.<ref name=Jagodic1998/>
Ottoman forces surrendered Niš on 10 January 1878 and most Muslims departed for [[Pristina]], [[Prizren]], [[Skopje]] and [[Thessalonika]].<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Serbian forces continued their southwest advance entering the valleys of Kosanica, Pusta Reka and Jablanica.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Serbian forces in the Morava valley continued to head for Vranje, with the intention of then turning west and entering Kosovo proper.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> The Serbian advance in the southwest was slow, due to the hilly terrain and much resistance by local Albanians who were defending their villages and also sheltering in the nearby [[Radan (mountain)|Radan]] and Majdan mountain ranges.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Serbian forces took these villages one by one and most remained vacant.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Albanian refugees continued to retreat toward Kosovo and their march was halted at the [[Goljak]] Mountains when an armistice was declared.<ref name=Jagodic1998/>


The Serbian army operating in the Morava valley continued south toward two canyons: [[Grdelica (town)|Grdelica]] (between Vranje and Leskovac) and [[Veternica]] (southwest of Grdelica).<ref name=Jagodic1998/> After Grdelica was taken, Serbian forces took Vranje.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Local Muslims had left with their belongings prior to Serbian forces reaching the town, while other countryside Muslims were experiencing tensions with Serbian neighbours who fought against and eventually evicted them from the area.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Albanian refugees defended the Veternica canyon, before retreating toward the Goljak mountains.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Albanians who lived nearby in the [[Masurica]] region did not resist Serbian forces,{{sfn|Jagodić|1998|loc= para. 26}} while General [[Jovan Belimarković]] refused to carry out orders from Belgrade to deport these Albanians by offering his resignation.<ref name=Stefanovic2005/>
The Serbian army operating in the Morava valley continued south toward two canyons: [[Grdelica (town)|Grdelica]] (between Vranje and Leskovac) and [[Veternica]] (southwest of Grdelica).<ref name=Jagodic1998/> After Grdelica was taken, Serbian forces took Vranje.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Local Muslims had left with their belongings prior to Serbian forces reaching the town, while other countryside Muslims were experiencing tensions with Serbian neighbours who fought against and eventually evicted them from the area.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Albanian refugees defended the Veternica canyon, before retreating toward the Goljak mountains.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Albanians who lived nearby in the [[Masurica]] region did not resist Serbian forces,{{sfn|Jagodić|1998|loc= para. 26}} while General [[Jovan Belimarković]] refused to carry out orders from Belgrade to deport these Albanians by offering his resignation.<ref name=Stefanovic2005/> Ottoman sources state that Serbian forces during the war destroyed mosques in Vranje, Leskovac and Prokuplje.<ref name=Stefanovic2005/>


=== Aftermath and legacy ===
=== Aftermath and legacy ===
However, most remaining Albanians were forced to leave in subsequent years for the Ottoman Empire and Kosovo in particular.<ref name=nish>{{cite book|title=Méditerranée, Moyen-Orient deux siècles de relations internationales: Recherches en hommage à Jacques Thobie|year=2003|publisher=Editions L'Harmattan|isbn=9782296325494|page=138}}</ref> A small number of Albanians were allowed to remain in the Jablanica valley centered around the town of [[Medveđa]], where they still reside today.<ref name=Turovic2002>{{cite book|last=Turović|first=Dobrosav|title=Gornja Jablanica, Kroz istoriju|year=2002|publisher=Beograd Zavičajno udruženje|pages=87–89}}</ref> Serbs from the [[Lab (river)|Lab]] region moved to Serbia during and after the war of 1876 and Albanian refugees (''muhaxhirë'') repopulated their villages.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Sizeable numbers of Albanian refugees were settled in the Lab area and other parts of northern Kosovo alongside the new Ottoman-Serbian border.<ref name=Jagodic1998/><ref name=Uka2004/><ref>Osmani, Jusuf (2000). ''[http://jusufosmani.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/KolonizimiSerbiKosoves.pdf Kolonizimi Serb i Kosovës [Serbian colonization of Kosovo]''. Era. pp. 48-50.</ref> Most Albanian refugees though were resettled in over 30 large rural settlements in central and southeastern Kosovo.<ref name=Jagodic1998/><ref name=Uka2004>Uka. ''Dëbimi i Shqiptarëve nga Sanxhaku i Nishit''. 2004. pp. 194-286.</ref><ref>Osmani. ''Kolonizimi Serb''. 2000. p. 44-47, 50—51, 54-60.</ref> Many refugees were also spread out and resettled in urban centers that increased their populations substantially.<ref name=Jagodic1998/><ref name=Uka2004/><ref>Osmani. ''Kolonizimi Serb''. 2000. p. 43-64.</ref> Some number of these Albanian refugees were also resettled in other parts of the Ottoman Empire such as the Samsun region of the Black Sea.<ref name="Genis">Geniş, Şerife, and Kelly Lynne Maynard (2009). "[http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00263200903009619 Formation of a diasporic community: The history of migration and resettlement of Muslim Albanians in the Black Sea Region of Turkey.]" ''Middle Eastern Studies''. '''45'''. (4): 556-557: Using secondary sources, we establish that there have been Albanians living in the area of Nish for at least 500 years, that the Ottoman Empire controlled the area from the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries which led to many Albanians converting to Islam, that the Muslim Albanians of Nish were forced to leave in 1878, and that at that time most of these Nishan Albanians migrated south into Kosovo, although some went to Skopje in Macedonia. ; p. 557. It is generally believed that the Albanians in Samsun Province are the descendants of the migrants and refugees from Kosovo who arrived in Turkey during the wars of 1912–13. Based on our research in Samsun Province, we argue that this information is partial and misleading. The interviews we conducted with the Albanian families and community leaders in the region and the review of Ottoman history show that part of the Albanian community in Samsun was founded through three stages of successive migrations. The first migration involved the forced removal of Muslim Albanians from the Sancak of Nish in 1878; the second migration occurred when these migrants’ children fled from the massacres in Kosovo in 1912–13 to Anatolia; and the third migration took place between 1913 and 1924 from the scattered villages in Central Anatolia where they were originally placed to the Samsun area in the Black Sea Region. Thus, the Albanian community founded in the 1920s in Samsun was in many ways a reassembling of the demolished Muslim Albanian community of Nish…. Our interviews indicate that Samsun Albanians descend from Albanians who
However, most remaining Albanians were forced to leave in subsequent years for the Ottoman Empire and Kosovo in particular.<ref name=nish>{{cite book|title=Méditerranée, Moyen-Orient deux siècles de relations internationales: Recherches en hommage à Jacques Thobie|year=2003|publisher=Editions L'Harmattan|isbn=9782296325494|page=138}}</ref> A small number of Albanians were allowed to remain in the Jablanica valley centered around the town of [[Medveđa]], where they still reside today.<ref name=Turovic2002>{{cite book|last=Turović|first=Dobrosav|title=Gornja Jablanica, Kroz istoriju|year=2002|publisher=Beograd Zavičajno udruženje|pages=87–89}}</ref> Serbs from the [[Lab (river)|Lab]] region moved to Serbia during and after the war of 1876 and Albanian refugees (''muhaxhirë'') repopulated their villages.<ref name=Jagodic1998/> Sizeable numbers of Albanian refugees were settled in the Lab area and other parts of northern Kosovo alongside the new Ottoman-Serbian border.<ref name=Jagodic1998/><ref name=Uka2004/><ref>Osmani, Jusuf (2000). ''[http://jusufosmani.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/KolonizimiSerbiKosoves.pdf Kolonizimi Serb i Kosovës [Serbian colonization of Kosovo]''. Era. pp. 48-50.</ref> Most Albanian refugees though were resettled in over 30 large rural settlements in central and southeastern Kosovo.<ref name=Jagodic1998/><ref name=Uka2004>Uka. ''Dëbimi i Shqiptarëve nga Sanxhaku i Nishit''. 2004. pp. 194-286.</ref><ref>Osmani. ''Kolonizimi Serb''. 2000. p. 44-47, 50—51, 54-60.</ref> Many refugees were also spread out and resettled in urban centers that increased their populations substantially.<ref name=Jagodic1998/><ref name=Uka2004/><ref>Osmani. ''Kolonizimi Serb''. 2000. p. 43-64.</ref> Some number of these Albanian refugees were also resettled in other parts of the Ottoman Empire such as the Samsun region of the Black Sea.<ref name="Genis">Geniş, Şerife, and Kelly Lynne Maynard (2009). "[http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00263200903009619 Formation of a diasporic community: The history of migration and resettlement of Muslim Albanians in the Black Sea Region of Turkey.]" ''Middle Eastern Studies''. '''45'''. (4): 556-557: Using secondary sources, we establish that there have been Albanians living in the area of Nish for at least 500 years, that the Ottoman Empire controlled the area from the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries which led to many Albanians converting to Islam, that the Muslim Albanians of Nish were forced to leave in 1878, and that at that time most of these Nishan Albanians migrated south into Kosovo, although some went to Skopje in Macedonia. ; p. 557. It is generally believed that the Albanians in Samsun Province are the descendants of the migrants and refugees from Kosovo who arrived in Turkey during the wars of 1912–13. Based on our research in Samsun Province, we argue that this information is partial and misleading. The interviews we conducted with the Albanian families and community leaders in the region and the review of Ottoman history show that part of the Albanian community in Samsun was founded through three stages of successive migrations. The first migration involved the forced removal of Muslim Albanians from the Sancak of Nish in 1878; the second migration occurred when these migrants’ children fled from the massacres in Kosovo in 1912–13 to Anatolia; and the third migration took place between 1913 and 1924 from the scattered villages in Central Anatolia where they were originally placed to the Samsun area in the Black Sea Region. Thus, the Albanian community founded in the 1920s in Samsun was in many ways a reassembling of the demolished Muslim Albanian community of Nish…. Our interviews indicate that Samsun Albanians descend from Albanians who
had been living in the villages around the city of Nish… pp. 557-558. In 1690 much of the population of the city and surrounding area was killed or fled, and there was an emigration of Albanians from the Malësia e Madhe (North Central Albania/Eastern Montenegro) and Dukagjin Plateau (Western Kosovo) into Nish.</ref> Tensions within the Kosovo vilayet between Albanian refugees and local Albanians arose over resources, as the Ottoman Empire found it difficult to accommodate to their needs and meager conditions.<ref name=Frantz2009/> Tensions in the form of revenge attacks also arose by incoming Albanian refugees on local [[Kosovo Serbs]] that contributed to the beginnings of the ongoing Serbian-Albanian conflict in coming decades.<ref name=Muller/><ref name=Frantz2009>Frantz, Eva Anne (2009). "Violence and its Impact on Loyalty and Identity Formation in Late Ottoman Kosovo: Muslims and Christians in a Period of Reform and Transformation ." ''Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs''. '''29'''. (4) : 460–461. "In consequence of the Russian-Ottoman war, a violent expulsion of nearly the entire Muslim, predominantly Albanian-speaking, population was carried out in the sanjak of Niš and Toplica during the winter of 1877—1878 by the Serbian troops. This was one major factor encouraging further violence, but also contributing greatly to the formation of the League of Prizren. The league was created in an opposing reaction to the Treaty of San Stefano and the Congress of Berlin and is generally regarded as the beginning of the Albanian national movement. The displaced persons (Alb. ''muhaxhirë'', Turk. ''muhacir'', Serb. ''muhadžir'') took refuge predominantly in the eastern parts of Kosovo. The Austro-Hungarian consul Jelinek reported in April of 1878.... The account shows that these displaced persons (''muhaxhirë'') were highly hostile to the local Slav population. But also the Albanian peasant population did not welcome the refugees, since they constituted a factor of economic rivalry. As a consequence of these expulsions, the interreligious and interethnic relations worsened. Violent acts of Muslims against Christians, in the first place against Orthodox but also against Catholics, accelerated. This can he explained by the fears of the Muslim population in Kosovo that were stimulated by expulsions of large Muslim population groups in other parts of the Balkans in consequence of the wars in the nineteenth century in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated and new Balkan states were founded. The latter pursued a policy of ethnic homogenisation expelling large Muslim population groups.”</ref><ref name=Stefanovic2005>Stefanović, Djordje (2005). "Seeing the Albanians through Serbian eyes: The Inventors of the Tradition of Intolerance and their Critics, 1804-1939." ''European History Quarterly''. '''35'''. (3): 470. “The ‘cleansing’ of Toplica and Kosanica would have long-term negative effects on Serbian-Albanian relations. The Albanians expelled from these regions moved over the new border to Kosovo, where the Ottoman authorities forced the Serb population out of the border region and settled the refugees there. Janjićije Popović, a Kosovo Serb community leader in the period prior to the Balkan Wars, noted that after the 1876–8 wars, the hatred of the Turks and Albanians towards the Serbs ‘tripled’. A number of Albanian refugees from Toplica region, radicalized by their experience, engaged in retaliatory violence against the Serbian minority in Kosovo. In 1900 Živojin Perić, a Belgrade Professor of Law, noted that in retrospect, ‘this unbearable situation probably would not have occurred had the Serbian government allowed Albanians to stay in Serbia’. He also argued that conciliatory treatment towards Albanians in Serbia could have helped the Serbian government to gain the sympathies of Albanians of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, while both humanitarian concerns and Serbian political interests would have dictated conciliation and moderation, the Serbian government, motivated by exclusive nationalist and anti-Muslim sentiments, chose expulsion. The 1878 cleansing was a turning point because it was the first gross and large-scale injustice committed by Serbian forces against the Albanians. From that point onward, both ethnic groups had recent experiences of massive victimization that could be used to justify ‘revenge’ attacks. Furthermore, Muslim Albanians had every reason to resist the incorporation into the Serbian state.</ref> These events in later years would also serve as a possible Serbian solution to the Albanian question in Kosovo and Macedonia for individuals such as [[Vaso Čubrilović]], who advocated similar measures due to their success.<ref name=Cubrilovic1937>{{cite book|last=Čubrilović|first=Vaso|title=The Expulsion of the Albanians|year=1937|page=11|url=http://www.cpi.hr/download/links/hr/11118.pdf}}</ref><ref>Lieberman, Benjamin (2013). ''[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=UXlfAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=Terrible+Fate:+Ethnic+Cleansing+in+the+Making+of+Modern+Europe+secretly+burning&source=bl&ots=TRj1QZezGu&sig=nEfP9xuiA0CXCVlt-_f6Fgl8D6w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwin3oqgranMAhUEGqYKHXE_CdsQ6AEIKTAC#v=onepage&q=Terrible%20Fate%3A%20Ethnic%20Cleansing%20in%20the%20Making%20of%20Modern%20Europe%20secretly%20burning&f=false Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe]''. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442230385. pp. 155–156. </ref> The regions vacated by Albanians were soon repopulated by Serbs from central and eastern Serbia and some Montenegrins who settled along the border with Kosovo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pustareka.org.rs/naselja.htm |title=Naselja u Pustoj Reci |publisher=Klub Pustorečana-Niš |accessdate=12 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.montenegrina.net/pages/pages1/dijaspora/crnogorci_gornje_jablanice_s_medojevic.htm#toplica |title=Crnogorci, Gornje Jablanice |last=Medojević |first=Slobodan |website=Portal Montenegrina: Kulturna Kapija Crna Gora |accessdate=12 July 2014}}</ref> Today, the descendants of these Albanian refugees (''Muhaxhirë'') make up part of [[Kosovo Albanians|Kosovo’s Albanian]] population and they are an active and powerful subgroup in [[Kosovo]]’s political and economic spheres.<ref>Blumi, Isa (2011). ''Foundations of modernity: human agency and the imperial state''. Routledge. p. 79. "Refugees from the Niš region that became Serbia after 1878, for instance, settled in large numbers in the regions of Drenica and Gjakova in Kosova since the late 1870s. They are known today as muhaxhir (derived from Arabic, via Ottoman, meaning exile or sometimes a more neutral, immigrant). Like similar groups throughout the world who have informed the nationalist lexicon—Heimatvertriebene, Galut/Tefutzot, al-Laj’iyn, Prosfyges, Pengungsi, Wakimbizi, P’akhstakanner—the "Nish muhaxhir" constitute a powerful sub-group in present-day Kosova’s domestic politics and economy."</ref> They have also established local associations that document and aim to preserve their regional Albanian culture of origin.<ref>Uka, Sabit (2004). ''E drejta mbi vatrat dhe pasuritë reale dhe autoktone nuk vjetërohet: të dhëna në formë rezimeje [The rights of homes and assets, real and autochthonous that does not disappear with time: Data given in the form of estate portions regarding inheritance]''. Shoqata e Muhaxhirëvë të Kosovës. pp. 3-5.</ref> Many can also be identified by their surname which following Albanian custom is often the place of origin.<ref name="autogenerated52">Uka. ''E drejta mbi vatrat dhe pasuritë''. 2004. pp. 52-54.</ref> For example: ''Shulemaja'' from the village of Šilomanja, ''Gjikolli'' from [[Džigolj]], ''Pllana'' from [[Velika Plana (Prokuplje)|Velika]] and [[Mala Plana (Prokuplje)|Mala Plana]], ''Retkoceri'' from [[Retkocer]], ''Huruglica'' from [[Oruglica]], ''Hergaja'' from [[Rgaje]], ''Byçmeti'' from [[Donji Bučumet|Donji]], [[Gornji Bučumet|Gornji]] and [[Srednji Bučumet]], ''[[Rona Nishliu|Nishliu]]'' from the city of Niš and so on.<ref name="autogenerated52"/> Within Serbia today though the Serbian-Ottoman wars of 1876-1878 are mentioned within school books, the Albanian population’s expulsion by the Serbian army is omitted.<ref name=Janjetovic2000/> This has limited students knowledge of the events that led to bad relations amongst both peoples.<ref name=Janjetovic2000>Janjetović, Zoran (2000). "[http://balkanologie.revues.org/460 From Foe to Friend and back. Albanians in Serbian History Textbooks 1918-2000'." ''Balkanologie''. para. 11. "A similar topic could be found in textbooks when it comes to their coverage of the anti-Turkish wars of 1876-1878 which also triggered off migrations on a large scale. The Muslim (predominantly Albanian) population fled or was expelled from the territories liberated by Serbian and Montenegrin armies. However, although these wars are regularly mentioned in all schoolbooks dealing with the period, absolutely none of them makes mention of the expulsion of the Albanians. The case was similar to the one of the First Serbian Uprising, only expulsions of 1878 had more far-reaching consequences: the embittered Albanians were usually settled down in Kosovo, terrorizing the local Serbs, instigating them to flee to free Serbia and upsetting thus the ethnic balance still further. Without knowing these facts, students cannot understand the subsequent bad relations between the two peoples. In this way Serbian students are lulled into believing that their people always fought not only for the just cause, but also always with just means."; para.12 "Closely connected with the wars of 1876-1878 is the beginning of the Albanian national awakening embodied in the League of Prizren which was set up by Albanian leaders in 1878 in order to prevent carving up of the Albanian-inhabited territories by victorious Serbia and Montenegro."</ref>
had been living in the villages around the city of Nish… pp. 557-558. In 1690 much of the population of the city and surrounding area was killed or fled, and there was an emigration of Albanians from the Malësia e Madhe (North Central Albania/Eastern Montenegro) and Dukagjin Plateau (Western Kosovo) into Nish.</ref> Tensions within the Kosovo vilayet between Albanian refugees and local Albanians arose over resources, as the Ottoman Empire found it difficult to accommodate to their needs and meager conditions.<ref name=Frantz2009/> Tensions in the form of revenge attacks also arose by incoming Albanian refugees on local [[Kosovo Serbs]] that contributed to the beginnings of the ongoing Serbian-Albanian conflict in coming decades.<ref name=Muller/><ref name=Frantz2009>Frantz, Eva Anne (2009). "Violence and its Impact on Loyalty and Identity Formation in Late Ottoman Kosovo: Muslims and Christians in a Period of Reform and Transformation ." ''Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs''. '''29'''. (4) : 460–461. "In consequence of the Russian-Ottoman war, a violent expulsion of nearly the entire Muslim, predominantly Albanian-speaking, population was carried out in the sanjak of Niš and Toplica during the winter of 1877—1878 by the Serbian troops. This was one major factor encouraging further violence, but also contributing greatly to the formation of the League of Prizren. The league was created in an opposing reaction to the Treaty of San Stefano and the Congress of Berlin and is generally regarded as the beginning of the Albanian national movement. The displaced persons (Alb. ''muhaxhirë'', Turk. ''muhacir'', Serb. ''muhadžir'') took refuge predominantly in the eastern parts of Kosovo. The Austro-Hungarian consul Jelinek reported in April of 1878.... The account shows that these displaced persons (''muhaxhirë'') were highly hostile to the local Slav population. But also the Albanian peasant population did not welcome the refugees, since they constituted a factor of economic rivalry. As a consequence of these expulsions, the interreligious and interethnic relations worsened. Violent acts of Muslims against Christians, in the first place against Orthodox but also against Catholics, accelerated. This can he explained by the fears of the Muslim population in Kosovo that were stimulated by expulsions of large Muslim population groups in other parts of the Balkans in consequence of the wars in the nineteenth century in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated and new Balkan states were founded. The latter pursued a policy of ethnic homogenisation expelling large Muslim population groups.”</ref><ref name=Stefanovic2005>Stefanović, Djordje (2005). "Seeing the Albanians through Serbian eyes: The Inventors of the Tradition of Intolerance and their Critics, 1804-1939." ''European History Quarterly''. '''35'''. (3): 469-470. "In 1878, following a series of Christian uprisings against the Ottoman Empire, the Russo-Turkish War, and the Berlin Congress, Serbia gained complete independence, as well as new territories in the Toplica and Kosanica regions adjacent to Kosovo. These two regions had a sizable Albanian population which the Serbian government decided to deport. The Serbian Army Commander insisted that Serbia ‘should not have its Caucasus’ and the Prime Minister argued that the Albanian minority might represent a security concern. In 1909, Serbian intellectual Jovan Hadži-Vasiljević explained that the major motivation for the 1878 deportation was also to ‘create a pure Serbian nation state’ by ‘cleansing’ the land of the non-Christians, as ‘the great Serbian poet Njegoš argued’. Hadži-Vasiljević was here interpreting Njegoš rather loosely, as Njegoš work focused on the Slavonic Muslims and not on Albanian Muslims. The ominous implication was that Albanians, as non-Slavs, were not even capable of assimilation. While the Serbian state authorities repeatedly attempted to assimilate the Slavonic Muslims, they refrained from attempting to ‘Serbianize’ the Albanians. While both security concerns and the exclusive nationalist ideology influenced the government’s policies, there was also some Serbian resistance to the ‘cleansing’ of the Albanians. General Jovan Belimarkovic opposed the deportation and offered his resignation to the government over this issue and journalist Manojlo Đjorđjević also condemned these policies and argued that Serbia should have pursued a policy of peaceful reconciliation towards the Albanians. In Toplica the Albanians were encountered, and we had nothing more important to do but to expel these warlike, but hard-working people from their homes. Instead of making a peace with them as the defeated side – they were without any good reason pushed across the border – so that they’ll settle on the other side as the enemies of everything Serbian, to become the avengers towards those who pushed them from their homes. Despite some voices of dissent, the Serbian regime ‘encouraged’ about 71,000 Muslims, including 49,000 Albanians, ‘to leave’. The regime then gradually settled Serbs and Montenegrins in these territories. Prior to 1878, the Serbs comprised not more than one half of the population of Nis, the largest city in the region; by 1884 the Serbian share rose to 80 per cent. According to Ottoman sources, Serbian forces also destroyed mosques in Leskovac, Prokuplje, and Vranje." ; p.470. "The ‘cleansing’ of Toplica and Kosanica would have long-term negative effects on Serbian-Albanian relations. The Albanians expelled from these regions moved over the new border to Kosovo, where the Ottoman authorities forced the Serb population out of the border region and settled the refugees there. Janjićije Popović, a Kosovo Serb community leader in the period prior to the Balkan Wars, noted that after the 1876–8 wars, the hatred of the Turks and Albanians towards the Serbs ‘tripled’. A number of Albanian refugees from Toplica region, radicalized by their experience, engaged in retaliatory violence against the Serbian minority in Kosovo. In 1900 Živojin Perić, a Belgrade Professor of Law, noted that in retrospect, ‘this unbearable situation probably would not have occurred had the Serbian government allowed Albanians to stay in Serbia’. He also argued that conciliatory treatment towards Albanians in Serbia could have helped the Serbian government to gain the sympathies of Albanians of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, while both humanitarian concerns and Serbian political interests would have dictated conciliation and moderation, the Serbian government, motivated by exclusive nationalist and anti-Muslim sentiments, chose expulsion. The 1878 cleansing was a turning point because it was the first gross and large-scale injustice committed by Serbian forces against the Albanians. From that point onward, both ethnic groups had recent experiences of massive victimization that could be used to justify ‘revenge’ attacks. Furthermore, Muslim Albanians had every reason to resist the incorporation into the Serbian state."</ref> These events in later years would also serve as a possible Serbian solution to the Albanian question in Kosovo and Macedonia for individuals such as [[Vaso Čubrilović]], who advocated similar measures due to their success.<ref name=Cubrilovic1937>{{cite book|last=Čubrilović|first=Vaso|title=The Expulsion of the Albanians|year=1937|page=11|url=http://www.cpi.hr/download/links/hr/11118.pdf}}</ref><ref>Lieberman, Benjamin (2013). ''[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=UXlfAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=Terrible+Fate:+Ethnic+Cleansing+in+the+Making+of+Modern+Europe+secretly+burning&source=bl&ots=TRj1QZezGu&sig=nEfP9xuiA0CXCVlt-_f6Fgl8D6w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwin3oqgranMAhUEGqYKHXE_CdsQ6AEIKTAC#v=onepage&q=Terrible%20Fate%3A%20Ethnic%20Cleansing%20in%20the%20Making%20of%20Modern%20Europe%20secretly%20burning&f=false Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe]''. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442230385. pp. 155–156. </ref> The regions vacated by Albanians were soon repopulated by Serbs from central and eastern Serbia and some Montenegrins who settled along the border with Kosovo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pustareka.org.rs/naselja.htm |title=Naselja u Pustoj Reci |publisher=Klub Pustorečana-Niš |accessdate=12 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.montenegrina.net/pages/pages1/dijaspora/crnogorci_gornje_jablanice_s_medojevic.htm#toplica |title=Crnogorci, Gornje Jablanice |last=Medojević |first=Slobodan |website=Portal Montenegrina: Kulturna Kapija Crna Gora |accessdate=12 July 2014}}</ref> Today, the descendants of these Albanian refugees (''Muhaxhirë'') make up part of [[Kosovo Albanians|Kosovo’s Albanian]] population and they are an active and powerful subgroup in [[Kosovo]]’s political and economic spheres.<ref>Blumi, Isa (2011). ''Foundations of modernity: human agency and the imperial state''. Routledge. p. 79. "Refugees from the Niš region that became Serbia after 1878, for instance, settled in large numbers in the regions of Drenica and Gjakova in Kosova since the late 1870s. They are known today as muhaxhir (derived from Arabic, via Ottoman, meaning exile or sometimes a more neutral, immigrant). Like similar groups throughout the world who have informed the nationalist lexicon—Heimatvertriebene, Galut/Tefutzot, al-Laj’iyn, Prosfyges, Pengungsi, Wakimbizi, P’akhstakanner—the "Nish muhaxhir" constitute a powerful sub-group in present-day Kosova’s domestic politics and economy."</ref> They have also established local associations that document and aim to preserve their regional Albanian culture of origin.<ref>Uka, Sabit (2004). ''E drejta mbi vatrat dhe pasuritë reale dhe autoktone nuk vjetërohet: të dhëna në formë rezimeje [The rights of homes and assets, real and autochthonous that does not disappear with time: Data given in the form of estate portions regarding inheritance]''. Shoqata e Muhaxhirëvë të Kosovës. pp. 3-5.</ref> Many can also be identified by their surname which following Albanian custom is often the place of origin.<ref name="autogenerated52">Uka. ''E drejta mbi vatrat dhe pasuritë''. 2004. pp. 52-54.</ref> For example: ''Shulemaja'' from the village of Šilomanja, ''Gjikolli'' from [[Džigolj]], ''Pllana'' from [[Velika Plana (Prokuplje)|Velika]] and [[Mala Plana (Prokuplje)|Mala Plana]], ''Retkoceri'' from [[Retkocer]], ''Huruglica'' from [[Oruglica]], ''Hergaja'' from [[Rgaje]], ''Byçmeti'' from [[Donji Bučumet|Donji]], [[Gornji Bučumet|Gornji]] and [[Srednji Bučumet]], ''[[Rona Nishliu|Nishliu]]'' from the city of Niš and so on.<ref name="autogenerated52"/> Within Serbia today though the Serbian-Ottoman wars of 1876-1878 are mentioned within school books, the Albanian population’s expulsion by the Serbian army is omitted.<ref name=Janjetovic2000/> This has limited students knowledge of the events that led to bad relations amongst both peoples.<ref name=Janjetovic2000>Janjetović, Zoran (2000). "[http://balkanologie.revues.org/460 From Foe to Friend and back. Albanians in Serbian History Textbooks 1918-2000'." ''Balkanologie''. para. 11. "A similar topic could be found in textbooks when it comes to their coverage of the anti-Turkish wars of 1876-1878 which also triggered off migrations on a large scale. The Muslim (predominantly Albanian) population fled or was expelled from the territories liberated by Serbian and Montenegrin armies. However, although these wars are regularly mentioned in all schoolbooks dealing with the period, absolutely none of them makes mention of the expulsion of the Albanians. The case was similar to the one of the First Serbian Uprising, only expulsions of 1878 had more far-reaching consequences: the embittered Albanians were usually settled down in Kosovo, terrorizing the local Serbs, instigating them to flee to free Serbia and upsetting thus the ethnic balance still further. Without knowing these facts, students cannot understand the subsequent bad relations between the two peoples. In this way Serbian students are lulled into believing that their people always fought not only for the just cause, but also always with just means."; para.12 "Closely connected with the wars of 1876-1878 is the beginning of the Albanian national awakening embodied in the League of Prizren which was set up by Albanian leaders in 1878 in order to prevent carving up of the Albanian-inhabited territories by victorious Serbia and Montenegro."</ref>


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 09:16, 25 April 2016

The Expulsion of Albanians 1877-1878 refers to events of forced migration of Albanian populations from areas that became incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Montenegro in 1878. These wars, alongside the larger Russo-Ottoman war ended in defeat and substantial territorial losses for the Ottoman Empire which was formalised at the Berlin Congress.

On the eve of conflict between Montenegro and the Ottomans (1876-1878), a substantial Albanian population resided in the Sanjak of İşkodra.[1] In the Montenegrin-Ottoman war that ensured, strong resistance in the towns of Podgorica and Spuž toward Montenegrin forces was followed by the expulsion of their Albanian and Slavic Muslim populations which resettled in Shkodër.[2]

On the eve of conflict between Serbia and the Ottomans (1876-1878), a substantial, at times compact and mainly rural Albanian population alongside some urban Turks (some of Albanian heritage) lived with Serbs within the Sanjak of Niş. Throughout the course of the war, the Albanian population depending on the area reacted differently to incoming Serbian forces by either offering resistance and/or fleeing toward nearby mountains and Ottoman Kosovo. While most of these Albanians were expelled by Serbian forces, a small presence was allowed to remain in the Jablanica valley were their descendants live today. The rest of the Albanian refugees were resettled mostly in Ottoman Kosovo with smaller numbers relocated to Macedonia and other parts of the Empire. Ottoman authorities had difficulties accommodating to the needs of the refugees and they were hostile to the local Serbian population committing revenge attacks. The events of this period generated the beginnings of the Serbian-Albanian conflict and tense relations between both peoples.


Sanjak of İşkodra

On the eve of conflict between Montenegro and the Ottomans (1876-1878), a substantial Albanian population resided in the Sanjak of Işkodra.[1] In the Montenegrin-Ottoman war, the Montenegrin army managed to capture certain areas and settlements along the border, while encountering strong resistance from Albanians in Ulcinj, and a combined Albanian-Ottoman force in the Podgorica-Spuž and Gusinje-Plav regions.[1][2] As such, Montenegro’s territorial gains were much smaller. Some Slavic Muslims and the Albanian population who lived near the then southern border were expelled from the towns of Podgorica and Spuž.[2] These populations resettled in Shkoder city and its environs.[3][4] While a smaller Albanian population formed of the wealthy elite voluntarily left and resettled in Shkodër after Ulcinj’s incorporation into Montenegero in 1880.[3][4]

Sanjak of Niş

Background

On the eve of the outbreak of a second round of hostilities between Serbia and the Ottoman Empire in 1877, a notable Muslim population existed in the districts of Niš, Pirot, Vranje, Leskovac, Prokuplje and Kuršumlija.[5] The rural parts of Toplica, Kosanica, Pusta Reka and Jablanica valleys and adjoining semi-mountainous interior was inhabited by compact Muslim Albanian population while Serbs in those areas lived near the river mouths and mountain slopes and both peoples inhabited other regions of the South Morava river basin.[6][7] The Muslim population of most of the area was composed out of ethnic Gheg Albanians and with Turks located in urban centres.[8] Part of the Turks were of Albanian origin.[9] The Muslims in the cities of Niš and Pirot were Turkish-speaking; Vranje and Leskovac were Turkish- and Albanian-speaking; Prokuplje and Kuršumlija were Albanian-speaking.[8] There was also a minority of Circassian refugees settled by the Ottomans during the 1860s, near the then border around the environs of Niš.[10] Estimates vary on the size of the Muslim population within these areas. In his extensive studies of Ottoman population movements, historian Justin McCarthy regarding the Muslim population of the Sanjak of Niş gives the figure of 131,000 Muslims in 1876, with only 12,000 remaining in 1882.[11] Whereas historian Noel Malcolm gives the figure for the Albanian population of the area as numbering around 100,000.[12] Albanian historians such as the late Sabit Uka postulate that 110,000 is a conservative estimate based on Austro-Hungarian statistics and gives a higher figure of 200,000 for the total Albanian population of the area.[13] Other Albanian researchers like Emin Pllana, Skënder Rizaj and Turkish historian Bilal Şimşir place the number of Albanian refugees from the region as numbering between 60-70,000 people.[14][15][16] While Albanologist Robert Elsie estimates the number of Albanian refugees at some 50,000.[17] Jovan Cvijić estimated that the number of Albanian refugees from Serbia was about 30,000[18] a figure which current day Serbian historians such as Dušan Bataković also maintain.[19] That number was accepted by Serbian historiography and remained unquestioned for almost a century.[18] Drawing upon Serbian archive and travelers documents historian Miloš Jagodić believes that the number of Albanians and Muslims that left Serbia was "much larger", agreeing with Đorđe Stefanović that the number was 49,000 Albanian refugees out of at least 71,000 Muslims that left.[20][18] The departure of the Albanian population from these regions was done in a manner that today would be characterized as ethnic cleansing.[21] Most Albanian refugees were settled in the north-eastern region of Lab alongside the Ottoman-Serbian border, in urban areas and in over 30 settlements located in central and south-eastern Kosovo.[18] Serbs from Lab moved to Serbia during and after the first round of hostilities in 1876, while incoming Albanian refugees thereafter 1878 repopulated their villages.[18]

Expulsion

Hostilities broke out on 15 December 1877, after a Russian request for Serbia to enter the conflict.[18] The Serbian military crossed the border in two directions.[18] The first objective was to capture Niš and the second to break the Niš-Sofia lines of communication for Ottoman forces.[18] After besieging Niš, Serbian forces headed south-west into the Toplica valley to prevent a counterattack by Ottoman forces.[18] Prokuplje was taken on the third day of the war and local Albanians fled their homes toward the Pasjača mountain range, leaving cattle and other property behind.[18] Some Albanians returned and submitted to Serbian authorities, while others fled to Kuršumlija.[18] Advancing Serbian forces heading to Kuršumlija also came across resisting Albanian refugees spread out in the surrounding mountain ranges and refusing to surrender.[18] Many personal belongings such as wagons were strewn and left behind in the woods.[18]

Kuršumlija was taken soon after Prokuplje, while Albanian refugees had reached the southern slopes of the Kopaonik mountain range.[18] Ottoman forces attempted to counterattack through the Toplica valley and relieve the siege at Niš, which turned the area into a battlefield and stranded Albanian refugees in nearby mountains.[18] With Niš eventually taken, the refugees of the Toplica valley were unable to return to their villages.[18] Other Serbian forces then headed south into the Morava valley and toward Leskovac.[18] The majority of urban Muslims fled, taking most of their belongings before the Serbian army arrived.[18] The Serbian army also took Pirot and the Turks fled to Kosovo, Macedonia and some went toward Thrace.[18]

Ottoman forces surrendered Niš on 10 January 1878 and most Muslims departed for Pristina, Prizren, Skopje and Thessalonika.[18] Serbian forces continued their southwest advance entering the valleys of Kosanica, Pusta Reka and Jablanica.[18] Serbian forces in the Morava valley continued to head for Vranje, with the intention of then turning west and entering Kosovo proper.[18] The Serbian advance in the southwest was slow, due to the hilly terrain and much resistance by local Albanians who were defending their villages and also sheltering in the nearby Radan and Majdan mountain ranges.[18] Serbian forces took these villages one by one and most remained vacant.[18] Albanian refugees continued to retreat toward Kosovo and their march was halted at the Goljak Mountains when an armistice was declared.[18]

The Serbian army operating in the Morava valley continued south toward two canyons: Grdelica (between Vranje and Leskovac) and Veternica (southwest of Grdelica).[18] After Grdelica was taken, Serbian forces took Vranje.[18] Local Muslims had left with their belongings prior to Serbian forces reaching the town, while other countryside Muslims were experiencing tensions with Serbian neighbours who fought against and eventually evicted them from the area.[18] Albanian refugees defended the Veternica canyon, before retreating toward the Goljak mountains.[18] Albanians who lived nearby in the Masurica region did not resist Serbian forces,[22] while General Jovan Belimarković refused to carry out orders from Belgrade to deport these Albanians by offering his resignation.[20] Ottoman sources state that Serbian forces during the war destroyed mosques in Vranje, Leskovac and Prokuplje.[20]

Aftermath and legacy

However, most remaining Albanians were forced to leave in subsequent years for the Ottoman Empire and Kosovo in particular.[23] A small number of Albanians were allowed to remain in the Jablanica valley centered around the town of Medveđa, where they still reside today.[24] Serbs from the Lab region moved to Serbia during and after the war of 1876 and Albanian refugees (muhaxhirë) repopulated their villages.[18] Sizeable numbers of Albanian refugees were settled in the Lab area and other parts of northern Kosovo alongside the new Ottoman-Serbian border.[18][25][26] Most Albanian refugees though were resettled in over 30 large rural settlements in central and southeastern Kosovo.[18][25][27] Many refugees were also spread out and resettled in urban centers that increased their populations substantially.[18][25][28] Some number of these Albanian refugees were also resettled in other parts of the Ottoman Empire such as the Samsun region of the Black Sea.[29] Tensions within the Kosovo vilayet between Albanian refugees and local Albanians arose over resources, as the Ottoman Empire found it difficult to accommodate to their needs and meager conditions.[30] Tensions in the form of revenge attacks also arose by incoming Albanian refugees on local Kosovo Serbs that contributed to the beginnings of the ongoing Serbian-Albanian conflict in coming decades.[21][30][20] These events in later years would also serve as a possible Serbian solution to the Albanian question in Kosovo and Macedonia for individuals such as Vaso Čubrilović, who advocated similar measures due to their success.[31][32] The regions vacated by Albanians were soon repopulated by Serbs from central and eastern Serbia and some Montenegrins who settled along the border with Kosovo.[33][34] Today, the descendants of these Albanian refugees (Muhaxhirë) make up part of Kosovo’s Albanian population and they are an active and powerful subgroup in Kosovo’s political and economic spheres.[35] They have also established local associations that document and aim to preserve their regional Albanian culture of origin.[36] Many can also be identified by their surname which following Albanian custom is often the place of origin.[37] For example: Shulemaja from the village of Šilomanja, Gjikolli from Džigolj, Pllana from Velika and Mala Plana, Retkoceri from Retkocer, Huruglica from Oruglica, Hergaja from Rgaje, Byçmeti from Donji, Gornji and Srednji Bučumet, Nishliu from the city of Niš and so on.[37] Within Serbia today though the Serbian-Ottoman wars of 1876-1878 are mentioned within school books, the Albanian population’s expulsion by the Serbian army is omitted.[38] This has limited students knowledge of the events that led to bad relations amongst both peoples.[38]

References

  1. ^ a b c Roberts, Elizabeth (2005). Realm of the Black Mountain: a history of Montenegro. Cornell University Press. p.22. "Meanwhile Austria-Hungary’s occupation of Bosnia-Hercegovina, which had been conceded at the congress, acted as a block to Montenegrins territorial ambitions in Hercegovina, whose Orthodox Slav inhabitants were culturally close to the Montenegrins. Instead Montenegro was able to expand only to the south and east into lands populated largely by Albanians – both Muslims and Catholics – and Slav Muslims. Along the coast in the vicinity of Ulcinj the almost exclusively Albanian population was largely Muslim. The areas to the south and east of Podgorica were inhabited by Albanians from the predominantly Catholic tribes, while further to the east there were also concentrations of Slav Muslims. Podgorica itself had long been an Ottoman trading centre with a partly Turkish, but largely Slav Muslim and Albanian population. To incorporate such a population was to dilute the number of Montenegrins, whose first loyalties lay with the Montenegrin state and Petrović dynasty, not that this was seen as sufficient reason for the Montenegrins to desist from seeking to obtain further territory."; p.23 "It was only in 1880 after further fighting with local Albanians that the Montenegrins gained an additional 45 km, stretch of seaboard extending from just north of Bar- down to Ulcinj. But even after the Congress of Berlin and these later adjustments, certain parts of the Montenegrin frontier continued to be disputed by Albanian tribes which were strongly opposed to rule by Montenegro. Raiding and feuding took place along the whole length of the porous Montenegrin-Albanian border."
  2. ^ a b c Blumi, Isa (2003). "Contesting the edges of the Ottoman Empire: Rethinking ethnic and sectarian boundaries in the Malësore, 1878–1912." International Journal of Middle East Studies. '35.(2): 246. "What one sees over the course of the first ten years after Berlin was a gradual process of Montenegrin (Slav) expansion into areas that were still exclusively populated by Albanian-speakers. In many ways, some of these affected communities represented extensions of those in the Malisorë as they traded with one another throughout the year and even inter-married. Cetinje, eager to sustain some sense of territorial and cultural continuity, began to monitor these territories more closely, impose customs officials in the villages, and garrison troops along the frontiers. This was possible because, by the late 1880s, Cetinje had received large numbers of migrant Slavs from Austrian-occupied Herzegovina, helping to shift the balance of local power in Cetinje's favor. As more migrants arrived, what had been a quiet boundary region for the first few years, became the center of colonization and forced expulsion." ; p.254. footnote 38. "It must be noted that, throughout the second half of 1878 and the first two months of 1879, the majority of Albanian-speaking residents of Shpuza and Podgoritza, also ceded to Montenegro by Berlin, were resisting en masse. The result of the transfer of Podgoritza (and Antivari on the coast) was a flood of refugees. See, for instance, AQSH E143.D.1054.f.1 for a letter (dated 12 May 1879) to Dervish Pasha, military commander in Işkodra, detailing the flight of Muslims and Catholics from Podgoritza."
  3. ^ a b Tošić, Jelena (2015). "City of the ‘calm’: vernacular mobility and genealogies of urbanity in a southeast European borderland." Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. 15. (3): 394-395. "As noted above, the vernacular mobility term ‘Podgoriçani’ (literally meaning ‘people that came from Podgoriça’, the present-day capital of Montenegro) refers to the progeny of Balkan Muslims, who migrated to Shkodra in four historical periods and in highest numbers after the Congress of Berlin 1878. Like the Ulqinak, the Podgoriçani thus personify the mass forced displacement of the Muslim population from the Balkans and the ‘unmixing of peoples’ (see e.g. Brubaker 1996, 153) at the time of the retreat of the Ottoman Empire, which has only recently sparked renewed scholarly interest (e.g. Blumi 2013; Chatty 2013)." ; p. 406.
  4. ^ a b Gruber, Siegfried (2008). "Household structures in urban Albania in 1918." The History of the Family. 13.(2): 142. "Migration to Shkodra was mostly from the villages to the south-east of the city and from the cities of Podgorica and Ulcinj in Montenegro. This was connected to the independence of Montenegro from the Ottoman Empire in the year 1878 and the acquisition of additional territories, e.g. Ulcinj in 1881 (Ippen, 1907, p. 3)."
  5. ^ Jagodić 1998, para. 4.
  6. ^ Jagodić 1998, para. 4, 9.
  7. ^ Luković, Miloš (2011). "Development of the Modern Serbian state and abolishment of Ottoman Agrarian relations in the 19th century” " Český lid. 98. (3): 298. "During the second war (December 1877 — January 1878) the Muslim population fled towns (Vranya (Vranje), Leskovac, Ürgüp (Prokuplje), Niş (Niš), Şehirköy (Pirot), etc.) as well as rural settlements where they comprised ethnically compact communities (certain parts of Toplica, Jablanica, Pusta Reka, Masurica and other regions in the South Morava River basin). At the end of the war these Muslim refugees ended up in the region of Kosovo and Metohija, in the territory of the Ottoman Empire, following the demarcation of the new border with the Principality of Serbia. [38] [38] On Muslim refugees (muhaciri) from the regions of southeast Serbia, who relocated in Macedonia and Kosovo, see Trifunovski 1978, Radovanovič 2000."
  8. ^ a b Jagodić 1998, para. 4, 5, 6.
  9. ^ Jagodić 1998, para. 11.
  10. ^ Popovic, Alexandre (1991). The Cherkess on Yugoslav Territory (A Supplement to the article "Cherkess" in the Encyclopaedia of Islam). Central Asian Survey. pp. 68, 73.
  11. ^ McCarthy, Justin (2000). "Muslims in Ottoman Europe: Population from 1800–1912". Nationalities Papers. 28. (1): 35.
  12. ^ Malcolm, Noel (1998). Kosovo: A short history. Macmillan. p. 228. ISBN 9780810874831.
  13. ^ Sabit Uka (2004). Dëbimi i Shqiptarëve nga Sanxhaku i Nishit dhe vendosja e tyre në Kosovë:(1877/1878-1912)[The expulsion of the Albanians from Sanjak of Nish and their resettlement in Kosovo: (1877/1878-1912)]. Verana. pp. 26-29.
  14. ^ Pllana, Emin (1985). "Les raisons de la manière de l'exode des refugies albanais du territoire du sandjak de Nish a Kosove (1878–1878) [The reasons for the manner of the exodus of Albanian refugees from the territory of the Sanjak of Nish to Kosovo (1878–1878)] ". Studia Albanica. 1: 189-190.
  15. ^ Rizaj, Skënder (1981). "Nёnte Dokumente angleze mbi Lidhjen Shqiptare tё Prizrenit (1878–1880) [Nine English documents about the League of Prizren (1878-1880)]". Gjurmine Albanologjike (Seria e Shkencave Historike). 10: 198.
  16. ^ Şimşir, Bilal N, (1968). Rumeli’den Türk göçleri. Emigrations turques des Balkans [Turkish emigrations from the Balkans]. Vol I. Belgeler-Documents. p. 737.
  17. ^ Elsie, Robert (2010). Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Scarecrow Press. p. XXXII. ISBN 9780333666128.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Jagodić, Miloš (1998). The Emigration of Muslims from the New Serbian Regions 1877/1878. Balkanologie. p. 470.
  19. ^ Bataković, Dušan (1992). The Kosovo Chronicles. Plato.
  20. ^ a b c d Stefanović, Djordje (2005). "Seeing the Albanians through Serbian eyes: The Inventors of the Tradition of Intolerance and their Critics, 1804-1939." European History Quarterly. 35. (3): 469-470. "In 1878, following a series of Christian uprisings against the Ottoman Empire, the Russo-Turkish War, and the Berlin Congress, Serbia gained complete independence, as well as new territories in the Toplica and Kosanica regions adjacent to Kosovo. These two regions had a sizable Albanian population which the Serbian government decided to deport. The Serbian Army Commander insisted that Serbia ‘should not have its Caucasus’ and the Prime Minister argued that the Albanian minority might represent a security concern. In 1909, Serbian intellectual Jovan Hadži-Vasiljević explained that the major motivation for the 1878 deportation was also to ‘create a pure Serbian nation state’ by ‘cleansing’ the land of the non-Christians, as ‘the great Serbian poet Njegoš argued’. Hadži-Vasiljević was here interpreting Njegoš rather loosely, as Njegoš work focused on the Slavonic Muslims and not on Albanian Muslims. The ominous implication was that Albanians, as non-Slavs, were not even capable of assimilation. While the Serbian state authorities repeatedly attempted to assimilate the Slavonic Muslims, they refrained from attempting to ‘Serbianize’ the Albanians. While both security concerns and the exclusive nationalist ideology influenced the government’s policies, there was also some Serbian resistance to the ‘cleansing’ of the Albanians. General Jovan Belimarkovic opposed the deportation and offered his resignation to the government over this issue and journalist Manojlo Đjorđjević also condemned these policies and argued that Serbia should have pursued a policy of peaceful reconciliation towards the Albanians. In Toplica the Albanians were encountered, and we had nothing more important to do but to expel these warlike, but hard-working people from their homes. Instead of making a peace with them as the defeated side – they were without any good reason pushed across the border – so that they’ll settle on the other side as the enemies of everything Serbian, to become the avengers towards those who pushed them from their homes. Despite some voices of dissent, the Serbian regime ‘encouraged’ about 71,000 Muslims, including 49,000 Albanians, ‘to leave’. The regime then gradually settled Serbs and Montenegrins in these territories. Prior to 1878, the Serbs comprised not more than one half of the population of Nis, the largest city in the region; by 1884 the Serbian share rose to 80 per cent. According to Ottoman sources, Serbian forces also destroyed mosques in Leskovac, Prokuplje, and Vranje." ; p.470. "The ‘cleansing’ of Toplica and Kosanica would have long-term negative effects on Serbian-Albanian relations. The Albanians expelled from these regions moved over the new border to Kosovo, where the Ottoman authorities forced the Serb population out of the border region and settled the refugees there. Janjićije Popović, a Kosovo Serb community leader in the period prior to the Balkan Wars, noted that after the 1876–8 wars, the hatred of the Turks and Albanians towards the Serbs ‘tripled’. A number of Albanian refugees from Toplica region, radicalized by their experience, engaged in retaliatory violence against the Serbian minority in Kosovo. In 1900 Živojin Perić, a Belgrade Professor of Law, noted that in retrospect, ‘this unbearable situation probably would not have occurred had the Serbian government allowed Albanians to stay in Serbia’. He also argued that conciliatory treatment towards Albanians in Serbia could have helped the Serbian government to gain the sympathies of Albanians of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, while both humanitarian concerns and Serbian political interests would have dictated conciliation and moderation, the Serbian government, motivated by exclusive nationalist and anti-Muslim sentiments, chose expulsion. The 1878 cleansing was a turning point because it was the first gross and large-scale injustice committed by Serbian forces against the Albanians. From that point onward, both ethnic groups had recent experiences of massive victimization that could be used to justify ‘revenge’ attacks. Furthermore, Muslim Albanians had every reason to resist the incorporation into the Serbian state."
  21. ^ a b Müller, Dietmar (2009). "Orientalism and Nation: Jews and Muslims as Alterity in Southeastern Europe in the Age of Nation-States, 1878–1941." East Central Europe. 36. (1): 70. "For Serbia the war of 1878, where the Serbians fought side by side with Russian and Romanian troops against the Ottoman Empire, and the Berlin Congress were of central importance, as in the Romanian case. The beginning of a new quality of the Serbian-Albanian history of conflict was marked by the expulsion of Albanian Muslims from Niš Sandžak which was part and parcel of the fighting (Clewing 2000 : 45ff.; Jagodić 1998 ; Pllana 1985). Driving out the Albanians from the annexed territory, now called "New Serbia," was a result of collaboration between regular troops and guerrilla forces, and it was done in a manner which can be characterized as ethnic cleansing, since the victims were not only the combatants, but also virtually any civilian regardless of their attitude towards the Serbians (Müller 2005b). The majority of the refugees settled in neighboring Kosovo where they shed their bitter feelings on the local Serbs and ousted some of them from merchant positions, thereby enlarging the area of Serbian-Albanian conflict and intensifying it."
  22. ^ Jagodić 1998, para. 26.
  23. ^ Méditerranée, Moyen-Orient deux siècles de relations internationales: Recherches en hommage à Jacques Thobie. Editions L'Harmattan. 2003. p. 138. ISBN 9782296325494.
  24. ^ Turović, Dobrosav (2002). Gornja Jablanica, Kroz istoriju. Beograd Zavičajno udruženje. pp. 87–89.
  25. ^ a b c Uka. Dëbimi i Shqiptarëve nga Sanxhaku i Nishit. 2004. pp. 194-286.
  26. ^ Osmani, Jusuf (2000). Kolonizimi Serb i Kosovës [Serbian colonization of Kosovo. Era. pp. 48-50.
  27. ^ Osmani. Kolonizimi Serb. 2000. p. 44-47, 50—51, 54-60.
  28. ^ Osmani. Kolonizimi Serb. 2000. p. 43-64.
  29. ^ Geniş, Şerife, and Kelly Lynne Maynard (2009). "Formation of a diasporic community: The history of migration and resettlement of Muslim Albanians in the Black Sea Region of Turkey." Middle Eastern Studies. 45. (4): 556-557: Using secondary sources, we establish that there have been Albanians living in the area of Nish for at least 500 years, that the Ottoman Empire controlled the area from the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries which led to many Albanians converting to Islam, that the Muslim Albanians of Nish were forced to leave in 1878, and that at that time most of these Nishan Albanians migrated south into Kosovo, although some went to Skopje in Macedonia. ; p. 557. It is generally believed that the Albanians in Samsun Province are the descendants of the migrants and refugees from Kosovo who arrived in Turkey during the wars of 1912–13. Based on our research in Samsun Province, we argue that this information is partial and misleading. The interviews we conducted with the Albanian families and community leaders in the region and the review of Ottoman history show that part of the Albanian community in Samsun was founded through three stages of successive migrations. The first migration involved the forced removal of Muslim Albanians from the Sancak of Nish in 1878; the second migration occurred when these migrants’ children fled from the massacres in Kosovo in 1912–13 to Anatolia; and the third migration took place between 1913 and 1924 from the scattered villages in Central Anatolia where they were originally placed to the Samsun area in the Black Sea Region. Thus, the Albanian community founded in the 1920s in Samsun was in many ways a reassembling of the demolished Muslim Albanian community of Nish…. Our interviews indicate that Samsun Albanians descend from Albanians who had been living in the villages around the city of Nish… pp. 557-558. In 1690 much of the population of the city and surrounding area was killed or fled, and there was an emigration of Albanians from the Malësia e Madhe (North Central Albania/Eastern Montenegro) and Dukagjin Plateau (Western Kosovo) into Nish.
  30. ^ a b Frantz, Eva Anne (2009). "Violence and its Impact on Loyalty and Identity Formation in Late Ottoman Kosovo: Muslims and Christians in a Period of Reform and Transformation ." Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 29. (4) : 460–461. "In consequence of the Russian-Ottoman war, a violent expulsion of nearly the entire Muslim, predominantly Albanian-speaking, population was carried out in the sanjak of Niš and Toplica during the winter of 1877—1878 by the Serbian troops. This was one major factor encouraging further violence, but also contributing greatly to the formation of the League of Prizren. The league was created in an opposing reaction to the Treaty of San Stefano and the Congress of Berlin and is generally regarded as the beginning of the Albanian national movement. The displaced persons (Alb. muhaxhirë, Turk. muhacir, Serb. muhadžir) took refuge predominantly in the eastern parts of Kosovo. The Austro-Hungarian consul Jelinek reported in April of 1878.... The account shows that these displaced persons (muhaxhirë) were highly hostile to the local Slav population. But also the Albanian peasant population did not welcome the refugees, since they constituted a factor of economic rivalry. As a consequence of these expulsions, the interreligious and interethnic relations worsened. Violent acts of Muslims against Christians, in the first place against Orthodox but also against Catholics, accelerated. This can he explained by the fears of the Muslim population in Kosovo that were stimulated by expulsions of large Muslim population groups in other parts of the Balkans in consequence of the wars in the nineteenth century in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated and new Balkan states were founded. The latter pursued a policy of ethnic homogenisation expelling large Muslim population groups.”
  31. ^ Čubrilović, Vaso (1937). The Expulsion of the Albanians (PDF). p. 11.
  32. ^ Lieberman, Benjamin (2013). Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442230385. pp. 155–156.
  33. ^ "Naselja u Pustoj Reci". Klub Pustorečana-Niš. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  34. ^ Medojević, Slobodan. "Crnogorci, Gornje Jablanice". Portal Montenegrina: Kulturna Kapija Crna Gora. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  35. ^ Blumi, Isa (2011). Foundations of modernity: human agency and the imperial state. Routledge. p. 79. "Refugees from the Niš region that became Serbia after 1878, for instance, settled in large numbers in the regions of Drenica and Gjakova in Kosova since the late 1870s. They are known today as muhaxhir (derived from Arabic, via Ottoman, meaning exile or sometimes a more neutral, immigrant). Like similar groups throughout the world who have informed the nationalist lexicon—Heimatvertriebene, Galut/Tefutzot, al-Laj’iyn, Prosfyges, Pengungsi, Wakimbizi, P’akhstakanner—the "Nish muhaxhir" constitute a powerful sub-group in present-day Kosova’s domestic politics and economy."
  36. ^ Uka, Sabit (2004). E drejta mbi vatrat dhe pasuritë reale dhe autoktone nuk vjetërohet: të dhëna në formë rezimeje [The rights of homes and assets, real and autochthonous that does not disappear with time: Data given in the form of estate portions regarding inheritance]. Shoqata e Muhaxhirëvë të Kosovës. pp. 3-5.
  37. ^ a b Uka. E drejta mbi vatrat dhe pasuritë. 2004. pp. 52-54.
  38. ^ a b Janjetović, Zoran (2000). "[http://balkanologie.revues.org/460 From Foe to Friend and back. Albanians in Serbian History Textbooks 1918-2000'." Balkanologie. para. 11. "A similar topic could be found in textbooks when it comes to their coverage of the anti-Turkish wars of 1876-1878 which also triggered off migrations on a large scale. The Muslim (predominantly Albanian) population fled or was expelled from the territories liberated by Serbian and Montenegrin armies. However, although these wars are regularly mentioned in all schoolbooks dealing with the period, absolutely none of them makes mention of the expulsion of the Albanians. The case was similar to the one of the First Serbian Uprising, only expulsions of 1878 had more far-reaching consequences: the embittered Albanians were usually settled down in Kosovo, terrorizing the local Serbs, instigating them to flee to free Serbia and upsetting thus the ethnic balance still further. Without knowing these facts, students cannot understand the subsequent bad relations between the two peoples. In this way Serbian students are lulled into believing that their people always fought not only for the just cause, but also always with just means."; para.12 "Closely connected with the wars of 1876-1878 is the beginning of the Albanian national awakening embodied in the League of Prizren which was set up by Albanian leaders in 1878 in order to prevent carving up of the Albanian-inhabited territories by victorious Serbia and Montenegro."
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