Violence and its Impact on Loyalty and Identity Formation in Late Ottoman Kosovo: Muslims and Christians in a Period of Reform and TransformationFootnote1

This article is based on two papers about violence in late Ottoman Kosovo presented at the 12th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities: “Nation, Community, and the State”, 12–14 April 2007, Columbia University, New York and at the International Workshop “Ongoing Research on History, Culture and Society in Kosovo”, Regensburg, Südost-Institut/Universität Regensburg/Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft. It is part of my ongoing Ph.D. project on identity formation and loyalty in late Ottoman Kosovo, 1870–1913.

This article is based on two papers about violence in late Ottoman Kosovo presented at the 12th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities: “Nation, Community, and the State”, 12–14 April 2007, Columbia University, New York and at the International Workshop “Ongoing Research on History, Culture and Society in Kosovo”, Regensburg, Südost-Institut/Universität Regensburg/Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft. It is part of my ongoing Ph.D. project on identity formation and loyalty in late Ottoman Kosovo, 1870–1913.

See Wilhelm Heitmeyer, ed., Gewalt. Entwicklungen, Strukturen, Analyseprobleme (Violence. Developments, patterns, problems of analysis), Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2004; Wolfgang Knöbl and Gunnar Schmidt, eds, Die Gegenwart des Krieges. Staatliche Gewalt in der Moderne (The presence of war. State violence in modern times), Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 2000; Jan Koehler and Sonja Heyer, eds, Anthropologie der Gewalt (Anthropology of violence), Berlin: Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, 1998; Helga Breuninger and Rolf Sieferle, eds, Kulturen der Gewalt: Ritualisierung und Symbolisierung von Gewalt in der Geschichte (Cultures of violence: ritualisation and symbolisation of violence in history), Frankfurt am Main: Campus-Verlag, 1998.

Only very few studies deal with the phenomenon of violence before the twentieth century. See Markus Koller, Bosnien an der Schwelle zur Neuzeit. Eine Kulturgeschichte der Gewalt (Bosnia at the threshold of the modern era. A culture history of violence) (1747–1798), München: R. Oldenbourg, 2004. In his recent monograph, Hannes Grandits discusses, amongst others, how loyalties and identifications of different population groups change in violent conflicts in late Ottoman Herzegovina; see Hannes Grandits, Herrschaft und Loyalität in der spätosmanischen Gesellschaft. Das Beispiel der multikonfessionellen Herzegowina (Rule and loyalty in Late Ottoman Society. The example of multi-confessional Herzegovina), Wien, Köln, Weimar: Böhlau, 2008. See also Politische und ethnische Gewalt in Südosteuropa und Lateinamerika (Political and ethnic violence in South Eastern Europe and South America), eds Wolfgang Höpken and Michael Riekenberg, Köln, Weimar, Wien: Böhlau, 2001.

Norbert Elias, The Civilizing Process, New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.

Martin Dinges, “Formenwandel der Gewalt in der Neuzeit. Zur Kritik der Zivilisationstheorie von Norbert Elias” (Change of violence forms in the modern era. On the critique of the civilisation theory of Norbert Elias), in Kulturen der Gewalt. Ritualisierung und Symbolisierung von Gewalt in der Geschichte (Cultures of violence: ritualisation and symbolisation of violence in history), eds Helga Breuninger/Rolf Sieferle, Frankfurt am Main: Campus-Verlag, 1998, pp. 171–194; Gerd Schwerhoff, “Zivilisationsproze und Geschichtswissenschaft. Norbert Elias' Forschungsparadigma in historischer Sicht” (Civilizing process and historical sciences. Norbert Elias' scientific paradigm), Historische Zeitschrift (Historical Journal), Vol. 266, 1998, pp. 561–605; Trutz von Trotha, ed., Soziologie der Gewalt (Sociology of violence), Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1997; Georg Elwert, Stephan Feuchtwang and Dieter Neubert, eds, Dynamics of Violence. Processes of Escalation and De-Escalation in Violent Group Conflicts, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1999; Jan Philipp Reemtsma, Vertrauen und Gewalt, Versuch über eine besondere Konstellation der Moderne (Confidence and violence. An attempt towards a special constellation of modernity), Hamburg: Hamburger Edition, 2008.

Donald L. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1985; Andreas Wimmer, “Interethnische Konflikte. Ein Beitrag zur Integration aktueller Forschungsansätze” (Interethnic conflicts. A contribution to the integration of current approaches to research), Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie (Colognian Journal for Sociology and Social Psychology), Vol. 47, No. 3, 1995, pp. 464–493; Wolfgang Höpken, “Blockierte Zivilisierung? Staatsbildung, Modernisierung und ethnische Gewalt auf dem Balkan (19./20. Jahrhundert)” (Blocked civilisation? State building, modernisation and ethnic violence in the Balkans (nineteenth/twentieth centuries), Leviathan, Vol. 25, 1997, pp. 516–538. On general works about violence and nationalism, see for instance Farimah Daftary and Stefan Troebst, eds, Radical Ethnic Movements in Contemporary Europe, New York, Oxford: Berghahn, 2003; Andreas Wimmer, Nationalist Exclusion and Ethnic Conflict. Shadows of Modernity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002; Rogers Brubaker and David D. Laitin, “Ethnic and Nationalist Violence”, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 24, 1998, pp. 423–452; Stefan Troebst, “Nationalismus und Gewalt im Osteuropa der Zwischenkriegszeit. Terroristische Separatismen im Vergleich” (Nationalism and violence in Eastern Europe in the interwar period. Terroristic separatisms by comparison), Berliner Jahrbuch für osteuropäische Geschichte (Berlin Annual for East European History), Vol. 3, 1996, pp. 273–314; David D. Laitin, “National Revivals and Violence”, Archives européennes de sociologie (European Archives of Sociology), Vol. 36, 1995, pp. 3–43; Michael Hechter, “Explaining nationalist violence”, Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 1, 1995, pp. 53–68. In most of these works, though, the focus lies on the second half of the twentieth century.

Clewing takes up the idea of the relevance of violence in the nationalisation of the Albanian population in Kosovo. See Konrad Clewing, “Der Kosovokonflikt als Territorial- und Herrschaftskonflikt, 1878–2002. Chronologie und Beteiligte” (The Kosovo-conflict as a conflict of territory and dominion), in Münchener Forschungen zur Geschichte Ost- und Südosteuropas. Werkstattberichte (Munich research on the history of East and South East European history. Works in progress), eds Hermann Beyer-Thoma, Olivia Griese, and Zsolt K. Lengyel, Neuried: ars una, 2002, pp. 181–214.

Most of the works about Kosovo have focused on this aspect. See Konrad Clewing and Jens Reuter, eds, Der Kosovo-Konflikt. Ursachen-Akteure-Verlauf (The Kosovo-conflict. Causes-actors-development), München: Bayerische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildungsarbeit, 2000; Miranda Vickers, Between Serb and Albanian: A History of Kosovo, London: Hurst, 1998; Kristaq Prifti, Lefter Nasi, Luan Omari, Pellumb Xhufi, Selami Pulaha, Stefanaq Pollo, and Zamir Shtylla, eds, The Truth on Kosovo, Tirana: Encyclopaedia Publishing House, 1993; Dimitrije Bogdanović, Knjiga o Kosovu (Book about Kosovo), Beograd: Srpska Akademia Nauka i Umetnosti, 1985 (a parallel English version was also published by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in the same year under the title: The Kosovo Question. Past and Present); Dušan T. Bataković, The Kosovo Chronicles, Beograd: Plato, 1992; Radovan Samardžić, Le Kosovo-Metohija dans l'histoire serbe (Kosovo and Metochia in Serbian history), Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme, 1990.

Heinrich Popitz, Phänomene der Macht (Phenomena of power), Tübingen: Mohr, 1992; Georg Elwert, “Sozialanthropologisch erklärte Gewalt” (Social anthropologically interpreted violence), in Internationales Handbuch der Gewaltforschung (International handbook of violence research), eds Wilhelm Heitmeyer and John Hagan, Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag, 2002, pp. 330–367; Thomas Lindenberg and Alf Lüdtke, eds, Physische Gewalt: Studien zur Geschichte der Neuzeit (Physical violence: studies on the history of modern times), Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1995.

Johan Galtung, “Violence, Peace, and Peace Research”, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1969, pp. 167–191. See also Wolfgang Höpken, “Gewalt auf dem Balkan—Erklärungsversuche zwischen “Struktur” und “Kultur” (Violence in the Balkans—Explanation attempts between “structure” and “culture”), in Politische und ethnische Gewalt in Südosteuropa und Lateinamerika (Political and ethnic violence in South Eastern Europe and South America), eds Wolfgang Höpken and Michael Riekenberg, Köln, Weimar, Wien: Böhlau, 2001, pp. 53–95, 59–72.

Rogers Brubaker and Frederick Cooper, “Beyond ‘Identity’”, Theory and Society, Vol. 29, 2000, pp. 1–47; H. Grandits, Herrschaft und Loyalität, op. cit.; Joachim Hösler, Von Krain zu Slowenien. Die Anfänge der nationalen Differenzierungsprozesse in Krain und der Untersteiermark von der Aufklärung bis zur Revolution (From Carniola to Slovenia. Early processes of national differentiation in Carniola and Lower Styria from the era of Enlightenment until the revolution), 1768–1848, München: R. Oldenbourg, 2006.

See, for example, Questions of Cultural Identity, eds Stuart Hall and Paul Du Gay, London: Sage, 1996; Frederic Barth, ed., Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. The Social Organisation of Culture Difference, Bergen: Universitetsforlaget; London: Allen & Unwin, 1969; Anthony P. Cohen, Self Consciousness. An Alternative Anthropology of Identity, Bergen: Universitetsforlaget, London: Allen & Unwin, 1994; Anthony Giddens, Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991; Eric J. Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds, The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004; Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, London: Verso, 1999; Bernhard Giesen, Nationale und kulturelle Identität. Studien zur Entwicklung des kollektiven Bewußtseins in der Neuzeit (National and cultural identity. Studies on the development of collective consciousness in modern times), Franfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1996.

See Martin Schulze Wessel, “Loyalität als geschichtlicher Grundbegriff und Forschungskonzept. Zur Einleitung (Loyalty as a historical basic term and analytical concept. An introduction)”, in Loyalitäten in der Tschechoslowakischen Republik, 1918–1938. Politische, nationale und kulturelle Zugehörigkeiten (Loyalties in the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918–1938. Political, national and cultural affiliations), ed. Martin Schulze Wessel, München: R. Oldenbourg, 2004, pp. 1–22; H. Grandits, Herrschaft und Loyalität, op. cit.; Nathalie Clayer, Hannes Grandits and Robert Pichler, eds, Conflicting Loyalties: Social (Dis-) Integration in the Balkans, 1839–1914, London: I. B. Tauris (to be published in 2010).

Nathalie Clayer, Aux origines du nationalisme albanais: La naissance d'une nation majoritairement musulmane en Europe (An analysis about the beginnings of Albanian nationalism: The birth of a majoritarian Muslim nation in Europe), Paris: Karthala, 2007; John V. A. Fine, When Ethnicity did not matter in the Balkans. A Study of Identity in Pre-Nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern Periods, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006; Oliver Jens Schmitt, Levantiner. Lebenswelten und Identitäten einer ethnokonfessionellen Gruppe im osmanischen Reich im “langen 19. Jahrhundert” (Levantines. Lifeworlds of an ethno-confessional group in the Ottoman Empire in the “long 19^th century”), München: R. Oldenbourg, 2005; Nathalie Clayer, Religion et nation chez les Albanais, XIXe–XXe siècles (Religion and nation in the Albanians' case, 19^th–20^th centuries), Istanbul: Isis, 2003; Ioannis Zelepos, Die Ethnisierung griechischer Identität, 1870–1912. Staat und private Akteure vor dem Hintergrund der “Megali Idea” (The ethnicisation of Greek identity, 1870–1912. State and private actors within the context of the “Megali Idea”), München: R. Oldenbourg, 2002; Ulf Brunnbauer, ed., Umstrittene Identitäten: Ethnizität und Nationalität in Südosteuropa (Controversial identities: ethnicity and nationality in South Eastern Europe), Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang, 2002; Konrad Clewing, Staatlichkeit und nationale Identitätsbildung. Dalmatien in Vormärz und Revolution (Statehood and national identity formation. Dalmatia in Vormärz and revolution), München: R. Oldenbourg 2001; Ger Duijzings, Religion and the Politics of Identity in Kosovo, London: Hurst, 2000; Holm Sundhaussen, Der Einfluß der Herderschen Ideen auf die Nationsbildung bei den Völkern der Habsburger Monarchie (The impact of Herder's ideas on nation building among the peoples of the Habsburg monarchy), München: R. Oldenbourg, 1973.

For a critical discussion of the millet-system, see Michael Ursinus, “Zur Diskussion um “millet” im Osmanischen Reich” (On the discussion of “millet” in the Ottoman Empire), Südost-Forschungen (South East-Researches), Vol. 48, 1989, pp. 195–207; Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis, eds, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire. The Functioning of a Plural Society, 2 Vols, New York, London: Holmes & Meier, 1982.

For the role of Islam in identity patterns as well as Abdülhamid II.'s accentuation of his role as caliph see Kemal H. Karpat, The Politicization of Islam. Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and Community in the Late Ottoman State, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 176–177.

Jashar Rexhepagiqi, Dervishët dhe teqetë në Kosovë, në Sanxhak dhe në rajonet tjera përreth (Dervishes and tekke in Kosovo, the Sandžak and other regions nearby), Pejë: Dukagjini, 2003; Alexandre Popovic, “A propos de Bektachis au Kosovo-Métohija” (On the Bektashi in Kosovo-Metohija), Annales de l'autre islam (Annals of the other Islam), Vol. 7, 2000, pp. 91–98; Alexandre Popovic, Les derviches balkaniques hier et aujourd'hui (The dervishes in the Balkans in the past and present), Istanbul: Isis, 1994.

In the subsequent text, the Albanian city names are used.

Milojević to Jovanović, Prishtina, 5th/18th of July/31st of July/13th of August 1912, Nr. 967/Nr. 4675, in Dokumenti o spoljnoj politici kraljevine Srbije (Documents about the Foreign Policy of the Kingdom of Serbia), 1903–1914, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1st/14th January–14th/27th July 1912, ed. Mihajlo Vojvodić, Beograd: Srpska Akademia Nauka i Umetnosti 1984, pp. 973–975, 973. First cited by Noel Malcolm, Kosovo. A Short History, New York: New York University Press, 1998, p. 231.

For this approach, see K. Clewing, “Staatlichkeit und nationale Identitätsbildung”, op. cit.

See Svetozar G. Čanović, Srpske škole na Kosovu u devetnaestom veku (The Serbian schools in Kosovo in the 19th century), Priština: Jedinstvo, 1976; Jagoš K. Đilas, Srpske škole na Kosovu od 1856. do 1912. godine (The Serbian schools in Kosovo from 1856 until 1912), Priština: Zajednica naučnih ustanova Kosova, 1969; Jagoš K. Đilas, Srpske škole na Kosovu i Metohiji od Nemanjića do 1912. godine (The Serbian schools in Kosovo and Metohija from the Nemanjids until 1912), Priština: Institut za srpsku kulturu, 2000; Svet. Simitch, Les écoles serbes dans l'éparchie de Skoplia (The Serbian schools in the eparchy of Skopje), Belgrade: Smilyévo, 1897. On the role of Sima Andrejević Igumanov, a rich merchant from Serbia, who helped in financing schools and teachers in Kosovo, see Vladimir Boran, “Delatnost Sime Andrejevića Igumanova na pomaganju srpskih crkveno-prosvetnih ustanova u južnim predelima Stare Srbije” (The activities of Sima Andrejević Igumanov in supporting the religious educational institutions in the Southern regions of Old Serbia), Vardarski Zbornik (Vardar Collection), Vol. 4, 2005, pp. 71–89.

Austro-Hungary was able to support schools within the framework of the Kultusprotektorat. See Barbara Haider-Wilson, “Zum Kultusprotektorat der Habsburgermonarchie im Osmanischen Reich—von den Rechtsgrundlagen und seiner Instrumentalisierung im 19. Jahrhundert (unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Jerusalems)” (On the Kultusprotektorat of the Habsburg Monarchy in the Ottoman Empire—about the legal foundations and its instrumentalisation in the 19^th century (under special consideration of Jerusalem), in Das Osmanische Reich und die Habsburgermonarchie (The Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy), eds Marlene Kurz et al., Wien, München: R. Oldenbourg, 2005; Anna Hedwig Benna, “Studien zum Kultusprotektorat Österreich-Ungarns in Albanien im Zeitalter des Imperialismus” (Studies on the Kultusprotektorat of Austria-Hungary in Albania in the era of imperialism) (1888–1918), Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs (Communications of the Austrian State Archive), Vol. 7, 1954, pp. 13–46.

Here lived the tribes of the Krasniqi, Gashi, Bytyçi, Nikaj and Merturi.

See Maurus Reinkowski, “Gewohnheitsrecht im multinationalen Staat: Die Osmanen und der albanische Kanun” (Customary law in a multi-national state: The Ottomans and the Albanian kanun), in Rechtspluralismus in der Islamischen Welt. Gewohnheitsrecht zwischen Staat und Gesellschaft (Legal pluralism in the Islamic world. Customary law between state and society), Berlin, New York: de Gruyter, 2005, pp. 121–142; Robert Pichler, “Gewohnheitsrecht” (Customary law), in Historische Anthropologie im südöstlichen Europa. Eine Einführung (Historical Anthropology in South-Eastern Europe. An introduction), eds Karl Kaser, Siegfried Gruber and Robert Pichler, Wien, Köln, Weimar: Böhlau, 2003, pp. 293–315; Gjergj Rrapi, Die albanische Großfamilie im Kosovo (The Albanian extended family in Kosovo), Wien, Köln, Weimar: Böhlau, 2003; Karl Kaser, Hirten, Kämpfer, Stammeshelden. Ursprünge und Gegenwart des balkanischen Patriarchats (Shepherds, fighters, clan heroes. The origins and present of the Balkan patriarchy), Wien, Köln, Weimar: Böhlau 1992.

This aspect is analyzed by Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers in the context of Northern Albania in the 1990s, but with references to the 19^th century. See Stephanie Schwandner, “Identität, Ehre und Staat in Nordalbanien. Hintergründe ethnizistischen Denkens auf dem Balkan” (Identity, honour and state in North Albania. The background of ethnicist thinking in the Balkans), in Der Balkan in Europa (The Balkans in Europe), eds Eggert Hardten, André Stanisavljevic and Dimitris Tsakiris, Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang, 1996, pp. 77–102.

See Christopher Boehm, Blood Revenge. The Anthropology of Feuding in Montenegro and Other Tribal Societies, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1984; Marino Zurl, Krvna osveta u Kosovu (Blood Revenge in Kosovo), Zagreb: August Cesarec, 1978.

A Gege is a speaker of the Gege dialect, which, along with the Tosk dialect, is one of the two main dialects of the Albanian-speaking region. The border between the two dialects is the river Shkumbi in Elbasan, a city in central Albania. In this context Gege is used as a synonym for an Albanian of the Northern regions. For the Gegs see George W. Gawrych, The Crescent and the Eagle. Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913, London: I. B. Tauris, 2006, pp. 28–36.

Lippich to Andrássy, Prizren, 20th of July 1873, Nr. 5. Österreichisches Staatsarchiv (Austrian State Archives), Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv (in the following HHStA) Politisches Archiv (in the following PA), XXXVIII/200.

In the context of an attempted introduction of taxes on the Fandi, the Austro-Hungarian consul wrote in the same year about “(…) teasings to which they (=the Fandi) were subjected by the neighbouring Muslim clans and which would entangle them in countless bloody quarrels (…). That the Fandi's anxiety about conflicts with their Muslim compatriots is not unfounded, will be acknowledged by everyone who knows how, for the Albanian, the most insignificant causes give occasion for bloody feud and become the first link in a chain of retaliations, which draws families and whole clans into the horrible state of vendettas for years.” Lippich to Andrássy, Prizren, 4th of May 1875, Nr. 5. HHStA PA XXXVIII/207.

See Maurus Reinkowski, Die Dinge der Ordnung. Eine vergleichende Untersuchung über die osmanische Reformpolitik im 19. Jahrhundert (Things of order. A comparative analysis of the Ottoman reform policy in the 19th century), München: R. Oldenbourg, 2005, p. 117; N. Malcolm, Kosovo, op. cit., p. 186; Peter Bartl, Die albanischen Muslime zur Zeit der nationalen Unabhängigkeitsbewegung (The Albanian Muslims during the national independence movement) (1878–1912), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1968, pp. 29–30; Karl Steinmetz, Eine Reise durch die Hochländergaue Oberalbaniens (A journey through the highlands of upper Albania), Wien, Leipzig: Hartleben, 1904, p. 29.

Lippich to Beust, Prizren, 19th of September 1870, Nr. 7. HHStA PA XXXVIII/189. See also the report Lippich to Andrássy, Prizren, 30th August 1875, Nr. 19. HHStA PA XXXVIII/207.

Several Serbian editions of primary sources were published that should prove the Albanian atrocities that were committed against Serbs. See Branko Peruničić, Zulumi aga i begova u Kosovskom vilajetu (The atrocities of the agas and beys in the Kosovo vilajet), Beograd: Nova Knjiga, 1989; Branko Peruničić, Pisma srpskih konzula iz Prištine (Letters of Serbian consuls from Prishtina), Beograd: Narodna Knjiga, 1985. See also D. Bogdanović, Knjiga o Kosovu, op. cit.; D. Bataković, The Kosovo Chronicles, op. cit.; R. Samardžić, Le Kosovo-Metohija dans l'histoire serbe, op. cit. See also recent publications of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts: Vladimir Stojančević, ed., Srbija i oslobođenje srpskog naroda u Turskoj (Serbia and the liberation of the Serbian nation in Turkey), 1804–1912, Beograd: Srpska Akademia Nauka i Umetnosti, 2003; Kosta Mihailović, ed., Kosovo and Metohija. Past, Present, Future, Beograd: Srpska Akademia Nauka i Umetnosti, 2006.

Both Albanian and Serbian historiography emphasize the role of violence in the region, but this happens on both sides only within the interpretation of victimhood whereas the other side is always seen as actor and culprit.

In the 1870s, especially Western Kosovo around Gjakova was increasingly the setting of brigandage, incendiary and murder; Gjakova is described as “(…) a village, famous recess for bandits (…)”. Lippich to Beust, Prizren, 18th of April 1871, Nr. 6. HHStA PA XXXVIII/193. See a similar account Lippich to Beust, Prizren, 5th of May 1870, Nr. 6 Nr. HHStA PA XXXVIII/189.

Lippich to Andrássy, Prizren, 4th May 1875, Nr. 5 as well as Lippich to Andrássy, Prizren, 30th August 1875, Nr. 19. HHStA PA XXXVIII/207.

Carter Vaughn Findley, “The Tanzimat”, in The Cambridge History of Turkey, Vol. 4: Turkey in the Modern World, ed. Reşat Kasaba, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 11–37; Roderic H. Davison, Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856–1876, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 38–44; Niyazi Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey, London: Hurst, 1998; M. Reinkowski, Die Dinge der Ordnung, op. cit.; Halil İnalcik, “Application of the Tanzimat and its Social Effects”, Archivum Ottomanicum (Ottoman Archives), Vol. 5, 1973, pp. 97–128; Edouard Engelhardt, La Turquie et le Tanzimat (Turkey and the Tanzimat), 2 Vols., Paris: Cotillon, 1882–1884. For the economic, social and cultural reformation of the Ottoman Empire since the late eighteenth century see K. Karpat, The Politicization of Islam, op. cit., pp. 89–106.

For similar violent reactions to the reform programme in other parts of the Ottoman Empire, see M. Reinkowski, Die Dinge der Ordnung, op. cit.; Ussama Makdisi, The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-century Ottoman Lebanon, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2000.

Lippich to Andrássy, Prizren, 8th January 1877, Nr. 1. HHStA PA XXXVIII/219.

See for example Lippich to Andrássy, Prizren, 5th October 1874, Nr. 4. HHStA PA XXXVIII/203 and Lippich to Andrássy, Prizren, 3rd November 1875, Nr. 26. HHStA PA XXXVIII/207.

See for example Lippich to Beust, Prizren, 7th January 1871, Nr. 1. HHStA PA XXXVIII/193.

Lippich to Beust, Prizren, 20th January 1871, Nr. 2. HHStA PA XXXVIII/193.

See Zambaur to Gołuchowski, Mitrovica, 26th February 1904, Nr. 13 as well as Zambaur to Gołuchowski, Mitrovica, 16th July 1904, Nr. 47. HHStA PA XXXVIII/385. In an account of the Serbian vice-consul, we read about Albanians having attacked the monastery Dečani, where amongst others also a Serbian monk was killed. Stanković to Đorđević, 13th February 1892, Nr. 16. Arhiv Srbije (in the following AS) (Archive of Serbia), Ministarstvo Inostranih Dela (in the following (MID) (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Političko Odeljenje (in the following PO) (Political Issues), roll 125, 452. In the following account it becomes clear that there was no incident between Serbian monks and Albanians, but between Catholic and Muslim Albanians in Zym. Stanković to Đorđević, 13^th of February 1892. AS MID PO, roll 125, 457.

For the reforms during the Hamidian rule and the reaction of Albanian-speaking population groups see G. Gawrych, The Crescent and the Eagle, op. cit., pp. 72–105.

See K. Clewing, “Der Kosovokonflikt als Territorial- und Herrschaftskonflikt”, op. cit., pp. 185–186; Konrad Clewing, “Mythen und Fakten zur Ethnostruktur in Kosovo—Ein geschichtlicher Überblick” (Myths and facts about the ethnic structure of Kosovo—a historical overview), in Der Kosovo-Konflikt. Ursachen-Akteure-Verlauf, eds K. Clewing and J. Reuter, op. cit., pp. 17–63, 45–48; Dietmar Müller, Staatsbürger auf Widerruf. Juden und Muslime als Alteritätspartner im rumänischen und serbischen Nationscode. Ethnonationale Staatsbürgerschaftskonzepte (Citizens until revoked. Jews and Muslims as partners of alterity in the Rumanian and Serb nation code. Ethnonational concepts of citizenship), 1878–1941, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005, p. 122, pp. 128–138; N. Malcolm, Kosovo, op. cit., pp. 228–229; Sabit Uka, Dëbimi i shqiptarëve nga Sanxhaku i Nishit dhe vendosja e tyre në Kosovë (The expulsion of the Albanians from the sanjak of Niš and their settling in Kosovo), 1878–1912, 2 Vols, Prishtinë: Valton, 1994; Clewing (as well as Müller) sees the expulsions of 1877–1878 as a crucial reason for the culmination of the interethnic relations in Kosovo and 1878 as the epoch year in the Albanian-Serbian conflict history. For the Muslim emigration from South Eastern Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth century in general, see Wolfgang Höpken, “Flucht vor dem Kreuz? Muslimische Emigration aus Südosteuropa nach dem Ende der osmanischen Herrschaft (19./20. Jahrhundert)” (Flight before the cross? Muslim emigration from South Eastern Europe after the end of Ottoman rule (19th–20th centuries)), Comparativ, Vol. 6, 1996, pp. 1–24.

N. Clayer, Aux origines du nationalisme albanais, op. cit., pp. 248–258; Konrad Clewing, “Religion und Nation bei den Albanern. Von Anspruch und Wirkungsmacht eines Religionen übergreifenden Nationskonzepts” (Religion and nation among the Albanians. From claim and effectualness of a nation concept transcending religion), in Politische Kultur in Südosteuropa. Identitäten, Loyalitäten, Solidaritäten (Political culture in South Eastern Europe. Identities, loyalties, solidarities), ed. Alois Mosser, Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang, 2006, pp. 147–181, 158–168; N. Malcolm, Kosovo, op. cit., pp. 220–227; Jovan Hadži-Vasiljević, Arbanaska liga-Arnautska kongra—i srpski narod u Turskom Carstvu (The Albanian league—the Albanian union—and the Serbian nation in the Ottoman Empire), (1878–1882), Beograd: Uredništvo Ratnika, 1909.

For example Kristo Frashëri, Lidhja Shqiptare e Prizrenit (The Albanian League of Prizren), (1878–1881), Tiranë: Botimet Toena, 1997; Stavro Skendi, The Albanian National Awakening, 1878–1912, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967; P. Bartl, Die albanischen Muslime, op. cit., pp. 115–129.

Jelinek to Andrássy, Prizren, 30th April 1878. Printed in: Actenstücke aus den Correspondenzen des kais. und kön. gemeinsamen Ministeriums des Äussern über orientalische Angelegenheiten. (Vom 7. April 1877 bis 3. November 1878.) (Files from the correspondence of the imperial and royal Ministry for Foreign Affairs about oriental issues), Wien: K.K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1878, Nr. 148, pp. 95–96, 96. Parts of the citation first quoted by K. Clewing, “Religion und Nation bei den Albanern”, op. cit., p. 162. Another account which refers to about 40,000 refugees in Kosovo is Jelinek to Andrássy, Prizren, 6th August 1878, Nr. 16. HHStA PA XXXVIII/225.

Đorđe Mikić, Društvene i ekonomske prilike kosovskih Srba u XIX i početkom XX veka—od čifčijstva do bankarstva (The social and economic conditions of the Serbs in Kosovo in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century—from čifliks to banking), Beograd: Srpska Akademija Nauka i Umetnosti, 1988, pp. 26–28.

This was also the interpretation of the Serbian vice-consul Milan Rakić in Prishtina in 1907; see Milan Rakić, Konzulska pisma (Consular letters), 1905–1911, ed. Andrej Mitrović, Beograd: Prosveta, 1985, p. 95.

See for example Cooper to Freeman, Prishtina, 20th of February 1878, British Foreign Office Archives (in the following FO) 424/68. Quoted after Beytullah Destani, ed., Albania & Kosovo: Political and Ethnic Boundaries, 1867–1946, Slough: Archive Editions, 1999, pp. 55–56 as well as Green to Earl Granville, Shkodra, 22th of June 1880, Nr. 167, FO 421/36. Quoted by B. Destani, ed., Albania & Kosovo, op. cit., pp. 205–206.

See Justin McCarthy, Death and Exile. The Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman Muslims, 1821–1922, Princeton, NJ: Darwin Press, 1995; Wolfgang Höpken, ed., Zwangsmigrationen in Mittel- und Südosteuropa (Forced migrations in Central and South Eastern Europe), Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 1996.

At the same time, with the beginning of the 20th century, the Orthodox population was armed with the help of the neighbouring Balkan states.

See the articles (kararname) of the league: Lippich to Andrássy, Shkodra, 20th of July 1878. Printed in: Actenstücke aus den Correspondenzen des kais. und kön. gemeinsamen Ministeriums des Äussern, op. cit., pp. 113–114. For the aims of the league also see Kristaq Prifti, ed., Lidhja shqiptare e Prizrenit në dokumente osmane (The Albanian League of Prizren in Ottoman Documents), 1878–1881, Tiranë: Akademia e Shkencave e Republikës të Shqipërisë Instituti, 1978, pp. 22–25 as well as: H. Yıldırım Ağanoğlu, Sabahattin Bayram, Yılmaz Karaca, Ahmet Semih Torun, and Mümin Yıldıztaş, eds, Osmanlı Arşiv Belgelerinde Kosova Vilayeti=Vilayeti i Kosovës në dokumentet arkivore osmane (The Vilayet of Kosovo in Ottoman archival documents), İstanbul: T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü, Osmanlı Arşivi Daire B¸askanlığı. 2007, pp. 39–59.

In his work about late Ottoman Herzegovina, Hannes Grandits argues similarly; see H. Grandits, Herrschaft und Loyalität, op. cit., pp. 567–664, 675–677.