26/12/43 - Mediterranean
December 26th, 1943
Italian campaign
Discrimination
Washington - Colonel O' Davis goes before the Senate Committee today. He gives the whole story of the group's creation, including, for example, the results of his men in the air combat course during the initial training, and correcting biased data with real numbers.
Since it has been on the front lines, the 99th has received only 26 new pilots, against 35 in the other squadrons. The average number of missions reached 40, when a normal average for American pilots is no more than 25. Some pilots even had to fly six missions in the same day. The colonel also reads operations reports from officers of other squadrons of the 27th FG, and even from the Armee de l'Air - which he reminds us has been employing pilots of all origins for the past two years, to his great satisfaction.
Without knowing it, Colonel Davis has a strong ally. The reporter of the debates to the White House, Colonel O'Donnell, will include a memo in his report formally contradicting the conclusions of the Momyer report and pointing out the absurdity of segregation - especially in a time of war... He will also recommend a complete re-examination of the figures by the Pentagon's G3s. The latter will soon conclude that the 99th FS's performance relative to other groups operating on the same equipment are about the same, or even a little better if we also refer to the types of missions.
The decision is quickly made, supported by the Oval Office: the black pilots who train in America would leave for the front as soon as possible, allowing the constitution of a complete fighter group (the equivalent of a French squadron), the 332nd Fighter Group. This group will be assigned to the 15th Air Force for the escort of heavy bombers operating over Germany from southern Europe.
Upon hearing the news, the colored pilots in Italy were more than satisfied: in addition to the approval of this news, escort and pure fighter missions are much more glamorous than ground support missions.
Balkan campaign
Cautious pursuit
Northern Serbia - After almost a week of uninterrupted advance, only hindered by snow or the rubble of the war, the Anglo-Yugoslav forces arrive at Ripanj, the scene of the first fighting between repentant Chetniks and Axis forces. From the wooded hilltops, Serbian soldiers can almost see the misty silhouettes of Belgrade's buildings. In the evening, the leading elements come into contact with the insurgents in the capital, who swear, hand on heart to have gone down towards the south to make the junction with the royal troops... The Defense Committee of Belgrade will be very quickly informed of the news.
Nevertheless, the allied troops wait cautiously until the next day to enter the city. Indeed, many units have to be detached to clean the localities between the Sava and Romania, which reduces the power of the advanced elements that marched north. The soldiers of Peter II take thus possession with drum and trumpet of every corner of eastern Serbia - a region long deserted by the enemy. Thus, when entering the town of Požarevac, the men of Mihailovic's 2nd Infantry Division are greeted by an enthusiastic crowd that knows very little about recent events. Among them, a child of barely two years, son of an Orthodox priest and of a communist teacher (!), observes the soldiers with round eyes. The little Slobodan Milošević will later play an important role in the political evolution of the country.
.........
Southern Serbia - The 6th Armoured Division resumes its advance towards the north, now covered in its rear by the arrival of the main forces of ANZAC and, later, of the arrival of the Greek 2nd Corps under Tsolakoglou. Gairdner's tanks reach Kragujevac before nightfall, while the 1st Australian Armoured and the 2nd New-Zealand relay them in Kraljevo.
The 6th Australian starts to catch up with its comrades. Inspired by this long journey from Macedonia in the rain and snow, Corporal Matthew improvises once again improvises a heady tune on the harmonica: "Riders on the storm, Riders on the storm, Into this house we're born, Into this world we're thrown Like a dog without a bone, An actor out on loan, Riders on the storm ! There's a killer on the road. His brain is squirmin' like a toad. Take a long holiday, Let your children play, If you give this man a ride, Sweet family will die, Killer on the road!"
Retreat or withdrawal
Serbia - The forces of the 12. Armee have almost completed their redeployment: if the XXII. GAK of Fehn still has some way to go from Brgule to reach its destination, the XXI. GAK of Felber starts to take its winter quarters. Thus, KG Braun moves to Valjevo, while the other formations of the corps are only 20 to 30 kilometers from their destinations, camped in the vicinity of Ub.
As usual, the 297. ID alone closes the march to Aranđelovac. The 12. Armee is soon out of the woods.
A clever man, a clever man and a half
Sarajevo - General Slavko Štancer reports to the city hall, to the offices of Rudolf Lüters, who is peacefully wintering like his XV. GAK while watching the Miljacka River. Calmness reigns on the front and even in the whole of Bosnia - it will not last, but the Hessian officer enjoys the spectacle of the ice blocks drifting on the bottom of the river
drifting on the waves at the bottom of the snowy valleys.
The Croat is expecting a long meeting, certain that his German colleague is in a "constructive" frame of mind. But unfortunately this is not the case. The Ustashi's demands - equipment, deadlines, command - all come up against a wall of obtuse indifference. Finally, the leader of the XV. GAK concludes: "My dear Štancer, you have kindly offered your services to help the Reich to maintain order in this country. In your country, I would even say, because it seems to me that your Poglavnik claims a not inconsiderable part of the territories for which I am responsible. It is up to you to prove that you are capable of assuming the noble ambitions of your leader. For my part, I do my duty, and I invite you to submit your requests to a higher authority. "
The Ustashi will get nothing more. The face marked by a bitter disappointment, vitez* Štancer takes leave, wondering how he will be able to get his grievances to Berlin without looking incompetent in Pavelic's eyes.
Peace on earth
Kosovo - The Allies continue to suffer setbacks in the Valley of the Crows. The death toll from the already dramatic local Bloody Christmas has now risen to more than ten thousand dead. There is talk of more than thirty thousand houses of Serbs or Montenegrins burned.
.........
Skopje - Informed of the events of the day before, the Yugoslav government screams through the voice of its Sovereign to a new treason and proclaims that the blood of these innocent victims cries out for vengeance. Forgetting that its ancestors were not themselves very kind to the local populations, Peter II appeals to the spirits of the victims of the insurrections of 1912 and asks the allied powers to eliminate the Balli Kombëtar, whose duplicity does not make any more doubt.
Faced with this request, which it is difficult to dismiss out of hand, the United Nations - at least those concerned and aware of the issue - are divided. Certainly, the actions of the ballists are eminently condemnable and the dead deserve to be given justice. But wouldn't taking sides in the internal problems of Kosovo create a dangerous precedent when we end up in Bosnia or, worse, in Croatia? And, more prosaically, can the 18th AAG afford the luxury of an unprecedented anti-partisan campaign in this conflict, with all that this implies in terms of image damage and the risk of the pro-communist forces taking power?
Necessity is the law, and so is Realpolitik. And Churchill, duly informed of the very recent Montgomery-Peter Karađorđević face-off, announces to the Yugoslavs through the voice of Anthony Eden that "the forces of the 18th Allied Army Group could not launch a large-scale police operation without a proper judicial warrant and without the cover of prior civilian requisitions. It would also be appropriate for the troops involved should be mainly Yugoslavian." All these conditions are obviously impossible to meet in the current context. Justice is an internal affair of the country, and so is revenge - the sovereign discovered this, to his great displeasure.
Nevertheless, it would be dishonest to say that Montgomery and his staff were totally indifferent to the future of minorities in Kosovo. Moreover, in addition to the strict humanitarian aspect, the question also has a military aspect. Who could say what would happen in Albania, Macedonia or Greece if every tiny group of people could see that in Pristina everyone does what they like. However, the context of Kosovo is not that of Albania - being a matter reputedly internal to Yugoslavia, it is even more complex! It is therefore necessary to act with finesse.
The irreplaceable SOE, through the intermediary of the local contacts set up by Col. MacLean, sends a very severe warning to Safet Butka, who has long asserted that his primary goal was to avoid a civil war between Albanians. It is becoming urgent to clarify who this term refers to. The British secret services announce an immediate and unlimited halt to arms deliveries to Balli Kombëtar, the continuation of these deliveries to other Albanian forces - including the CP! - and (above all) the threat to put Kosovo under military administration, later relayed by the royal administration. The rigorous application of this trusteeship would deprive the ballists of their rear bases in the upcoming conflict which is announced for Tirana.
Obviously, the persons in charge of the Balli Kombëtar will confound themselves in excuses and protestations of innocence, swearing that the main responsible are uncontrolled elements formerly affiliated to the Communist Party. At this stage of the negotiations, the Kryesiu brothers and their men go in a flash from welcome brothers in arms to traitors to be hunted - they will remember this when the time comes. But it doesn't matter to the Westerners!
.........
"The Christmas massacres were a bad deal for the Balli Kombëtar, which lost both the little credibility it had with the West and the confidence of many border tribes, without gaining anything decisive in return.
The non-Muslim minorities of the province were indeed permanently weakened and the province were permanently weakened and represented hardly 10 to 15 per cent of the total population - but the province was still legally Yugoslav! And the ballists, not even assured of the support of Albania in what was still a territorial conflict with an allied power, had to mute their claims in a way quite similar to the one adopted at the end of the Tirana conference: the United Nations ignored the ethnic conflicts as long as they did not degenerate, postponing any negotiation until later... but did not demand the disarmament of the militias either. Militias that they continued to supply with discretion and sparingly, with a view to appeasement and maintaining the balance of power. Despite a few rather frequent but discreet hiccups, this baroque arrangement - one more! - held together until 1945.
Obviously, with the end of the war and the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country, the armed peace did not last any longer than it did in Albania. Unwilling to make so many enemies, the Balli Kombëtar was unable, even with the support of the Legaliteli, to confront both the Royal Yugoslav Army, Tito's forces and Enver Hoxha's men! By April 1945, the region of Kosovo was militarily occupied, which obviously did not mean that it was under Belgrade's control. For three years, reprisals followed attacks, the Yugoslav regime not being able to afford the excesses that the president of the very new Popular Republic of Albania allowed himself, on the other side of the mountains.
Finally, in January 1948, noting that the civil war had ended on the lands of the stirring small Albanian neighbor and that calm reigned there (that of the cemeteries, but it did not matter), Marshal Tito (recently appointed to this dignity by the King, on the proposal of his Prime Minister Josip Broz), once again took an unexpected initiative. He was anxious to finally unify his country, which had been so divided by decades of war and perhaps having misunderstood the profound nature of the Hoxha regime, he recognized at the Bujan conference "the right of the province of Kosovo-Metohia to self-determination". The astonishment was general, even if it must be said that the province in question was far from including all the lands claimed by the local lords. Discussions were held and a referendum was considered: it seemed that a peaceful solution was in the offing, a banal exchange of territory between friendly countries.
However, this fragile edifice was shattered on June 28th, 1948, when Enver Hoxha decided to take Stalin's side and broke with his neighbor, unilaterally closing the border between the two countries so that he could quietly liquidate all his opponents, including Koçi Xoxe (supporter of an Albanian-Yugoslav confederation). Taking note of this unexpected stiffening, which moreover led to a brief and sudden revival of popularity of Yugoslavia in the province, Tito declared Kosovo an "autonomous province", thus keeping it in his fold and gave it a privileged status.
However, this regime did not prevent close control of the region by Belgrade, whose government, represented by Aleksandar Ranković, multiplied the acts of repression for fear of an "Albanian ideological contagion".
In 1968, as everyone knows, the Popular Republic of Albania tried, in order to end it, to annex the province militarily, counting on the collapse of the "corrupt regime of Belgrade" and on the support of the USSR, two fantasies which did not come true. The Yugoslav counter-offensive swept away the Albanian regime and its army.
The recapture of Pristina was then the occasion for numerous trials of Kosovar collaborators and Albanian communists, trials that were more or less fair and more or less staged. At that time, many Muslims did not hesitate to call the Orthodox "colonialists", although the Yugoslavs quickly handed over Albania to the direct administration of the UN.
In the process, in a constant effort to appease, the political regime in Kosovo was regularly amended, until the constitutional revision of 1974, which integrated the province into the Yugoslav Federal Kingdom, on an equal footing with the "provincial states" that make up the federation.
These changes were commendable - but they did not solve Kosovo's deep-seated problems: most of the wealth remained concentrated in Serbian or Montenegrin, i.e., Orthodox, hands, while the majority of Kosovars were kept in poverty and did not feel in any way Yugoslav. The ethnic tensions persisted under the veneer of successful integration.
The dislocation of Yugoslavia after the death of Marshal Tito provided the hoped-for opportunity. Kosovo was one of the first provinces to declare its independence, but Belgrade could not really oppose it. It was in vain that the government of the Kingdom of Serbia tried to invoke the "ancient and ante-federal" nature of Kosovo's attachment to Serbia to demand its recovery by Belgrade. Obviously, such an approach had no chance of succeeding in a country that is now 98 per cent populated by Albanian-speaking Muslims - but for the Serbs, it was a matter of domestic politics.
In the end, and with great cynicism, one could say that Balli Kombëtar was seventy years late in achieving its goal. A party with this name openly claims the legacy of Safet Butka; it is now almost in power in the Republic of Albania. It is likely to negotiate in the next few years for an Albanian-Kosovar federation. General Pervizi (who died in exile in 1977) was even given a memorial recently inaugurated in his hometown of Skuraj (Kurbin district), which evokes at length the fate of his family decimated by the Hoxha regime. But many innocent victims of all ethnicities, in this small province or in the Blackbird Valley, are still waiting, for even a simple burial." (Robert Stan Pratsky, op. cit.)
* "Knight" - one of many titles earned during his military career, during which he served three nations.
Italian campaign
Discrimination
Washington - Colonel O' Davis goes before the Senate Committee today. He gives the whole story of the group's creation, including, for example, the results of his men in the air combat course during the initial training, and correcting biased data with real numbers.
Since it has been on the front lines, the 99th has received only 26 new pilots, against 35 in the other squadrons. The average number of missions reached 40, when a normal average for American pilots is no more than 25. Some pilots even had to fly six missions in the same day. The colonel also reads operations reports from officers of other squadrons of the 27th FG, and even from the Armee de l'Air - which he reminds us has been employing pilots of all origins for the past two years, to his great satisfaction.
Without knowing it, Colonel Davis has a strong ally. The reporter of the debates to the White House, Colonel O'Donnell, will include a memo in his report formally contradicting the conclusions of the Momyer report and pointing out the absurdity of segregation - especially in a time of war... He will also recommend a complete re-examination of the figures by the Pentagon's G3s. The latter will soon conclude that the 99th FS's performance relative to other groups operating on the same equipment are about the same, or even a little better if we also refer to the types of missions.
The decision is quickly made, supported by the Oval Office: the black pilots who train in America would leave for the front as soon as possible, allowing the constitution of a complete fighter group (the equivalent of a French squadron), the 332nd Fighter Group. This group will be assigned to the 15th Air Force for the escort of heavy bombers operating over Germany from southern Europe.
Upon hearing the news, the colored pilots in Italy were more than satisfied: in addition to the approval of this news, escort and pure fighter missions are much more glamorous than ground support missions.
Balkan campaign
Cautious pursuit
Northern Serbia - After almost a week of uninterrupted advance, only hindered by snow or the rubble of the war, the Anglo-Yugoslav forces arrive at Ripanj, the scene of the first fighting between repentant Chetniks and Axis forces. From the wooded hilltops, Serbian soldiers can almost see the misty silhouettes of Belgrade's buildings. In the evening, the leading elements come into contact with the insurgents in the capital, who swear, hand on heart to have gone down towards the south to make the junction with the royal troops... The Defense Committee of Belgrade will be very quickly informed of the news.
Nevertheless, the allied troops wait cautiously until the next day to enter the city. Indeed, many units have to be detached to clean the localities between the Sava and Romania, which reduces the power of the advanced elements that marched north. The soldiers of Peter II take thus possession with drum and trumpet of every corner of eastern Serbia - a region long deserted by the enemy. Thus, when entering the town of Požarevac, the men of Mihailovic's 2nd Infantry Division are greeted by an enthusiastic crowd that knows very little about recent events. Among them, a child of barely two years, son of an Orthodox priest and of a communist teacher (!), observes the soldiers with round eyes. The little Slobodan Milošević will later play an important role in the political evolution of the country.
.........
Southern Serbia - The 6th Armoured Division resumes its advance towards the north, now covered in its rear by the arrival of the main forces of ANZAC and, later, of the arrival of the Greek 2nd Corps under Tsolakoglou. Gairdner's tanks reach Kragujevac before nightfall, while the 1st Australian Armoured and the 2nd New-Zealand relay them in Kraljevo.
The 6th Australian starts to catch up with its comrades. Inspired by this long journey from Macedonia in the rain and snow, Corporal Matthew improvises once again improvises a heady tune on the harmonica: "Riders on the storm, Riders on the storm, Into this house we're born, Into this world we're thrown Like a dog without a bone, An actor out on loan, Riders on the storm ! There's a killer on the road. His brain is squirmin' like a toad. Take a long holiday, Let your children play, If you give this man a ride, Sweet family will die, Killer on the road!"
Retreat or withdrawal
Serbia - The forces of the 12. Armee have almost completed their redeployment: if the XXII. GAK of Fehn still has some way to go from Brgule to reach its destination, the XXI. GAK of Felber starts to take its winter quarters. Thus, KG Braun moves to Valjevo, while the other formations of the corps are only 20 to 30 kilometers from their destinations, camped in the vicinity of Ub.
As usual, the 297. ID alone closes the march to Aranđelovac. The 12. Armee is soon out of the woods.
A clever man, a clever man and a half
Sarajevo - General Slavko Štancer reports to the city hall, to the offices of Rudolf Lüters, who is peacefully wintering like his XV. GAK while watching the Miljacka River. Calmness reigns on the front and even in the whole of Bosnia - it will not last, but the Hessian officer enjoys the spectacle of the ice blocks drifting on the bottom of the river
drifting on the waves at the bottom of the snowy valleys.
The Croat is expecting a long meeting, certain that his German colleague is in a "constructive" frame of mind. But unfortunately this is not the case. The Ustashi's demands - equipment, deadlines, command - all come up against a wall of obtuse indifference. Finally, the leader of the XV. GAK concludes: "My dear Štancer, you have kindly offered your services to help the Reich to maintain order in this country. In your country, I would even say, because it seems to me that your Poglavnik claims a not inconsiderable part of the territories for which I am responsible. It is up to you to prove that you are capable of assuming the noble ambitions of your leader. For my part, I do my duty, and I invite you to submit your requests to a higher authority. "
The Ustashi will get nothing more. The face marked by a bitter disappointment, vitez* Štancer takes leave, wondering how he will be able to get his grievances to Berlin without looking incompetent in Pavelic's eyes.
Peace on earth
Kosovo - The Allies continue to suffer setbacks in the Valley of the Crows. The death toll from the already dramatic local Bloody Christmas has now risen to more than ten thousand dead. There is talk of more than thirty thousand houses of Serbs or Montenegrins burned.
.........
Skopje - Informed of the events of the day before, the Yugoslav government screams through the voice of its Sovereign to a new treason and proclaims that the blood of these innocent victims cries out for vengeance. Forgetting that its ancestors were not themselves very kind to the local populations, Peter II appeals to the spirits of the victims of the insurrections of 1912 and asks the allied powers to eliminate the Balli Kombëtar, whose duplicity does not make any more doubt.
Faced with this request, which it is difficult to dismiss out of hand, the United Nations - at least those concerned and aware of the issue - are divided. Certainly, the actions of the ballists are eminently condemnable and the dead deserve to be given justice. But wouldn't taking sides in the internal problems of Kosovo create a dangerous precedent when we end up in Bosnia or, worse, in Croatia? And, more prosaically, can the 18th AAG afford the luxury of an unprecedented anti-partisan campaign in this conflict, with all that this implies in terms of image damage and the risk of the pro-communist forces taking power?
Necessity is the law, and so is Realpolitik. And Churchill, duly informed of the very recent Montgomery-Peter Karađorđević face-off, announces to the Yugoslavs through the voice of Anthony Eden that "the forces of the 18th Allied Army Group could not launch a large-scale police operation without a proper judicial warrant and without the cover of prior civilian requisitions. It would also be appropriate for the troops involved should be mainly Yugoslavian." All these conditions are obviously impossible to meet in the current context. Justice is an internal affair of the country, and so is revenge - the sovereign discovered this, to his great displeasure.
Nevertheless, it would be dishonest to say that Montgomery and his staff were totally indifferent to the future of minorities in Kosovo. Moreover, in addition to the strict humanitarian aspect, the question also has a military aspect. Who could say what would happen in Albania, Macedonia or Greece if every tiny group of people could see that in Pristina everyone does what they like. However, the context of Kosovo is not that of Albania - being a matter reputedly internal to Yugoslavia, it is even more complex! It is therefore necessary to act with finesse.
The irreplaceable SOE, through the intermediary of the local contacts set up by Col. MacLean, sends a very severe warning to Safet Butka, who has long asserted that his primary goal was to avoid a civil war between Albanians. It is becoming urgent to clarify who this term refers to. The British secret services announce an immediate and unlimited halt to arms deliveries to Balli Kombëtar, the continuation of these deliveries to other Albanian forces - including the CP! - and (above all) the threat to put Kosovo under military administration, later relayed by the royal administration. The rigorous application of this trusteeship would deprive the ballists of their rear bases in the upcoming conflict which is announced for Tirana.
Obviously, the persons in charge of the Balli Kombëtar will confound themselves in excuses and protestations of innocence, swearing that the main responsible are uncontrolled elements formerly affiliated to the Communist Party. At this stage of the negotiations, the Kryesiu brothers and their men go in a flash from welcome brothers in arms to traitors to be hunted - they will remember this when the time comes. But it doesn't matter to the Westerners!
.........
"The Christmas massacres were a bad deal for the Balli Kombëtar, which lost both the little credibility it had with the West and the confidence of many border tribes, without gaining anything decisive in return.
The non-Muslim minorities of the province were indeed permanently weakened and the province were permanently weakened and represented hardly 10 to 15 per cent of the total population - but the province was still legally Yugoslav! And the ballists, not even assured of the support of Albania in what was still a territorial conflict with an allied power, had to mute their claims in a way quite similar to the one adopted at the end of the Tirana conference: the United Nations ignored the ethnic conflicts as long as they did not degenerate, postponing any negotiation until later... but did not demand the disarmament of the militias either. Militias that they continued to supply with discretion and sparingly, with a view to appeasement and maintaining the balance of power. Despite a few rather frequent but discreet hiccups, this baroque arrangement - one more! - held together until 1945.
Obviously, with the end of the war and the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country, the armed peace did not last any longer than it did in Albania. Unwilling to make so many enemies, the Balli Kombëtar was unable, even with the support of the Legaliteli, to confront both the Royal Yugoslav Army, Tito's forces and Enver Hoxha's men! By April 1945, the region of Kosovo was militarily occupied, which obviously did not mean that it was under Belgrade's control. For three years, reprisals followed attacks, the Yugoslav regime not being able to afford the excesses that the president of the very new Popular Republic of Albania allowed himself, on the other side of the mountains.
Finally, in January 1948, noting that the civil war had ended on the lands of the stirring small Albanian neighbor and that calm reigned there (that of the cemeteries, but it did not matter), Marshal Tito (recently appointed to this dignity by the King, on the proposal of his Prime Minister Josip Broz), once again took an unexpected initiative. He was anxious to finally unify his country, which had been so divided by decades of war and perhaps having misunderstood the profound nature of the Hoxha regime, he recognized at the Bujan conference "the right of the province of Kosovo-Metohia to self-determination". The astonishment was general, even if it must be said that the province in question was far from including all the lands claimed by the local lords. Discussions were held and a referendum was considered: it seemed that a peaceful solution was in the offing, a banal exchange of territory between friendly countries.
However, this fragile edifice was shattered on June 28th, 1948, when Enver Hoxha decided to take Stalin's side and broke with his neighbor, unilaterally closing the border between the two countries so that he could quietly liquidate all his opponents, including Koçi Xoxe (supporter of an Albanian-Yugoslav confederation). Taking note of this unexpected stiffening, which moreover led to a brief and sudden revival of popularity of Yugoslavia in the province, Tito declared Kosovo an "autonomous province", thus keeping it in his fold and gave it a privileged status.
However, this regime did not prevent close control of the region by Belgrade, whose government, represented by Aleksandar Ranković, multiplied the acts of repression for fear of an "Albanian ideological contagion".
In 1968, as everyone knows, the Popular Republic of Albania tried, in order to end it, to annex the province militarily, counting on the collapse of the "corrupt regime of Belgrade" and on the support of the USSR, two fantasies which did not come true. The Yugoslav counter-offensive swept away the Albanian regime and its army.
The recapture of Pristina was then the occasion for numerous trials of Kosovar collaborators and Albanian communists, trials that were more or less fair and more or less staged. At that time, many Muslims did not hesitate to call the Orthodox "colonialists", although the Yugoslavs quickly handed over Albania to the direct administration of the UN.
In the process, in a constant effort to appease, the political regime in Kosovo was regularly amended, until the constitutional revision of 1974, which integrated the province into the Yugoslav Federal Kingdom, on an equal footing with the "provincial states" that make up the federation.
These changes were commendable - but they did not solve Kosovo's deep-seated problems: most of the wealth remained concentrated in Serbian or Montenegrin, i.e., Orthodox, hands, while the majority of Kosovars were kept in poverty and did not feel in any way Yugoslav. The ethnic tensions persisted under the veneer of successful integration.
The dislocation of Yugoslavia after the death of Marshal Tito provided the hoped-for opportunity. Kosovo was one of the first provinces to declare its independence, but Belgrade could not really oppose it. It was in vain that the government of the Kingdom of Serbia tried to invoke the "ancient and ante-federal" nature of Kosovo's attachment to Serbia to demand its recovery by Belgrade. Obviously, such an approach had no chance of succeeding in a country that is now 98 per cent populated by Albanian-speaking Muslims - but for the Serbs, it was a matter of domestic politics.
In the end, and with great cynicism, one could say that Balli Kombëtar was seventy years late in achieving its goal. A party with this name openly claims the legacy of Safet Butka; it is now almost in power in the Republic of Albania. It is likely to negotiate in the next few years for an Albanian-Kosovar federation. General Pervizi (who died in exile in 1977) was even given a memorial recently inaugurated in his hometown of Skuraj (Kurbin district), which evokes at length the fate of his family decimated by the Hoxha regime. But many innocent victims of all ethnicities, in this small province or in the Blackbird Valley, are still waiting, for even a simple burial." (Robert Stan Pratsky, op. cit.)
* "Knight" - one of many titles earned during his military career, during which he served three nations.
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