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Italian invasion of Kosovo

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Italian invasion of Kosovo
Part of the Invasion of Yugoslavia of World War II

Italian Bersaglieri during the invasion
Date5–18 April 1941
Location
Kosovo, at the time Yugoslavia
Result

Italian-Albanian victory

Territorial
changes		 Italian-Albanian occupation of Kosovo
Belligerents

 Italy

 Yugoslavia
Local Slavic residents
Commanders and leaders
Fascist Italy Vittorio Ambrosio
Fascist Italy Alessandro Pirzio Biroli (WIA)
Fascist Italy Ugo Cavallero
Prenk Pervizi
Nazi Germany Enno von Rintelen		 Kingdom of Yugoslavia Dušan Simović Surrendered
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Danilo Kalafatović Surrendered
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Milorad Petrović Surrendered
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Petar Nedeljković Surrendered
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Dušan Trifunović Surrendered
Units involved
Strength
c. 300,000 men[2] in 22 divisions[3][4]
Around 600 aircraft[5]		 c. 700,000 men on all fronts[6]
110[7]–200 tanks[8]
(50[8]–54[7] of which were modern)
460[9]–505 aircraft
(including 103 modern bombers[8] and 107 modern fighters[10])
Casualties and losses
800 killed[11]
2,500 wounded[12]
c. 10 aircraft shot down
22 aircraft damaged		 c. 30,000 captured[13][14]
49 aircraft shot down[15]
210–300 aircraft captured[16]

The Italian invasion of Kosovo, also called Operation "Marita",[17] was an invasion that took part during the Invasion of Yugoslavia in World War II, when Italian soldiers marched through Kosovo and occupied the region.[18] After the invasion, a conference was held in Vienna (21–24 April 1941)[18] which decided that the majority of Kosovo would have been given to Italian-controlled Albania, including Pristina after the Germans withdrew from taking the city.[19]

Map of Kosovo after the conferences in Vienna; the light-gray part is the territory assigned to Italian-controlled Albania.

Background

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On 7 April 1939 Italian troops invaded Albania,[20] five months before the start of World War II. The Albanian armed resistance was poor against the Italians and, after a short defense, the country was occupied. On 9 April 1939 Zog I, King of the Albanians, fled to Greece.[21] Although Albania had been under strong Italian influence since 1927,[22][23][24] Italy's political leader, Benito Mussolini wanted direct control over the country to increase his and Italy's prestige.

Albania became an Italian protectorate subordinated to Italian interests,[25] and Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed king of Albania, creating a personal union with Italy. After this occupation, Mussolini wanted to get the local population's support, and he started being interested in Albanian irredentism.[26]

"The Kosovars are 850,000 Albanians, strong of body, firm in spirit, and enthusiastic about the idea of a Union with their Homeland. Apparently, the Serbians are terrified of them. Today one must ... chloroform the Yugoslavians. But later on one must adopt a politics of deep interest in Kosovo. This will help to keep alive in the Balkans an irredentist problem which will polarize the attention of the Albanians themselves and be a knife at the back of Yugoslavia..."

Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaking of Albanian claims to Kosovo as valuable to Italy's objectives.[26]

While Victor Emmanuel ruled as king, Shefqet Vërlaci served as the prime minister. On 3 December 1941, however, he was replaced as prime minister by Mustafa Merlika-Kruja.[27] The country's natural resources too came under direct control of Italy. All petroleum resources in Albania went Agip, Italy's state petroleum company.[28]

Albania was important culturally and historically to the nationalist aims of the Italian Fascists, as the territory of Albania had long been part of the Roman Empire, even prior to the annexation of northern Italy by the Romans. Later, during the High Middle Ages some coastal areas (like Durazzo) had been influenced and owned by Italian powers, chiefly the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Venice for many years (cf. Albania Veneta). The Italian Fascist regime legitimized its claim to Albania through studies proclaiming the racial affinity of Albanians and Italians, especially as opposed to the Slavic Yugoslavs.[29] Italian Fascists claimed that Albanians were linked through ethnic heritage to Italians, not to Slavs, and that the major influence exhibited by the Roman and Venetian empires over Albania justified Italy's right to possess it.[30]

Albania during World War II

Order of battle

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Italian forces

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Main article: Invasion of Yugoslavia order of battle: Axis § Italian

The Italian forces during the invasion included parts of the 2nd Army and 9th Army, with a total of 22 divisions,[3] comprising around 300,000 troops.[2]

an artillery piece with no gun shield standing on gravel.
The World War I-vintage Obice 149/13 heavy howitzer was used by several Italian artillery battalions during the invasion of Yugoslavia

The Italian 2nd Army was commanded by Vittorio Ambrosio, while the 9th Army by Alessandro Pirzio Biroli, and consisted of two infantry corps and some sector troops assembled in northern Albania.[31][1]

Yugoslav forces

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Main article: Invasion of Yugoslavia order of battle: Yugoslav § 1st Army Group

The 1st Army Group took part in the defense of Kosovo. It was commanded by Armijski đeneral Milorad Petrović and consisted of the 4th Army of Armijski đeneral Petar Nedeljković,[32] responsible for the Yugoslav-Hungarian border and deployed behind the Drava between Varaždin and Slatina,[33] and the 7th Army of Divizijski đeneral (Major General) Dušan Trifunović,[34][35] which was responsible for the defence of the northwestern border with Italy and the Third Reich,[36] but both where involved in Kosovo.

Italian soldiers entering Yugoslavia.

Course of the invasion

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After repelling the Yugoslav offensive in Albania, the 18th Infantry Division "Messina" took Cetinje, Dubrovnik and Kotor on 17 April, meeting with the Italian units of the Motorized Corps.[37] During the night between 16 and 17 April the III battalion of the 72nd regiment of the 38th Infantry Division "Puglie" entered Prizren which, at that time, was being plundered and sacked by the Yugoslav rearguards who, after the arrival of the Italians, were immediately forced to surrender.[18] Between 17 and 18 April, the Italians finished their conquest of the most important cities in Kosovo, arriving in Pristina, Peć and Đakovica.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b Loi 1978, p. 76.
  2. ^ a b Krzak 2006, p. 573.
  3. ^ a b Niehorster 2013a.
  4. ^ Zajac 1993, p. 50.
  5. ^ Zajac 1993, p. 50–51.
  6. ^ Tomasevich 1975, p. 64.
  7. ^ a b Tomasevich 1975, p. 59.
  8. ^ a b c Zajac 1993, p. 47.
  9. ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987, p. 174.
  10. ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987, p. 173.
  11. ^ Enrico Cernuschi, Le operazioni aeronavali contro la Jugoslavia, 6–8 aprile 1941, in Storia Militare no. 242, p. 32.
  12. ^ Fatutta & Covelli, 1975. p. 47
  13. ^ Geschichte, p. 325
  14. ^ US Army 1986, p. 64.
  15. ^ Goss 2005, p. 10.
  16. ^ Shores, Cull & Malizia 1987, p. 310.
  17. ^ Krzak 2006.
  18. ^ a b c d Lorenzo Salimbeni (2008). "L'occupazione italiana del Kosovo nella seconda guerra mondiale" (PDF) (in Italian).
  19. ^ Malcolm 1998, p. 310–312.
  20. ^ Keegan, John; Churchill, Winston (1986). The Second World War (Six Volume Boxed Set). Boston: Mariner Books. ISBN 039541685X.
  21. ^ Zabecki, David T. (1999). World War II in Europe: an encyclopedia. New York: Garland Pub. p. 1353. ISBN 0824070291.
  22. ^ Roy Palmer Domenico. Remaking Italy in the twentieth century. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002. p. 74.
  23. ^ Kallis, Aristotle A. (2000), Fascist ideology: territory and expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922–1945, Routledge, p. 132, ISBN 978-0415216128
  24. ^ Steiner, Zara S. (2005), The lights that failed: European international history, 1919–1933, Oxford University Press, p. 499, ISBN 978-0198221142
  25. ^ "Zog I | king of Albania". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  26. ^ a b Zolo, Danilo. Invoking humanity: war, law, and global order. London; New York: Continuum International Publishing Group (2002), p. 24 [ISBN missing]
  27. ^ Owen Pearson (2006). Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History : Volume II: Albania in Occupation and War, 1939–45. London: I. B. Tauris. p. 167. ISBN 1845111044.
  28. ^ Pearson, Owen (2006). Albania in Occupation and War: From Fascism to Communism 1940–1945. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1845111045.
  29. ^ Kallis, Aristotle A. (2000), Fascist ideology: territory and expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922–1945, Routledge, pp. 132–133, ISBN 978-0415216128
  30. ^ Rodogno., Davide (2006). Fascism's European empire: Italian occupation during the Second World War. Cambridge University Press. p. 106. ISBN 0521845157.
  31. ^ Jowett 2000, p. 10.
  32. ^ Niehorster 2013b.
  33. ^ US Army 1986, p. 37.
  34. ^ Loi 1978, p. 43.
  35. ^ Niehorster 2013c.
  36. ^ US Army 1986, pp. 36–37.
  37. ^ Enrico Cernuschi, Le operazioni aeronavali contro la Jugoslavia, 6–8 aprile 1941, in Storia Militare no. 242, p. 33.

Sources

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