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Italian invasion of Kosovo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 occupation of Kosovo
Belligerents
 Italy
 Albania
 Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Fascist Italy Ugo Cavallero
Fascist Italy Alessandro Pirzio Biroli
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Milan Nedić
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Ilija Brašić
Units involved
Fascist Italy 9th Army Kingdom of Yugoslavia 3rd Army
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Italian invasion of Kosovo, also called Operation "Marita",[1] 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.[2] After the invasion, a conference was held in Vienna (21–24 April 1941)[2] 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.[3]

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,[4] 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.[5] Although Albania had been under strong Italian influence since 1927,[6][7][8] 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,[9] 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.[10]

"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.[10]

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.[11] The country's natural resources too came under direct control of Italy. All petroleum resources in Albania went Agip, Italy's state petroleum company.[12]

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.[13] 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.[14]

Albania during World War II

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.[15] 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.[2] Between 17 and 18 April, the Italians finished their conquest of the most important cities in Kosovo, arriving in Pristina, Peć and Đakovica.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Krzak 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d Lorenzo Salimbeni (2008). "L'occupazione italiana del Kosovo nella seconda guerra mondiale" (PDF) (in Italian).
  3. ^ Malcolm 1998, p. 310–312.
  4. ^ Keegan, John; Churchill, Winston (1986). The Second World War (Six Volume Boxed Set). Boston: Mariner Books. ISBN 039541685X.
  5. ^ Zabecki, David T. (1999). World War II in Europe: an encyclopedia. New York: Garland Pub. p. 1353. ISBN 0824070291.
  6. ^ Roy Palmer Domenico. Remaking Italy in the twentieth century. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002. p. 74.
  7. ^ Kallis, Aristotle A. (2000), Fascist ideology: territory and expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922–1945, Routledge, p. 132, ISBN 978-0415216128
  8. ^ Steiner, Zara S. (2005), The lights that failed: European international history, 1919–1933, Oxford University Press, p. 499, ISBN 978-0198221142
  9. ^ "Zog I | king of Albania". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  10. ^ a b Zolo, Danilo. Invoking humanity: war, law, and global order. London; New York: Continuum International Publishing Group (2002), p. 24 [ISBN missing]
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Pearson, Owen (2006). Albania in Occupation and War: From Fascism to Communism 1940–1945. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1845111045.
  13. ^ Kallis, Aristotle A. (2000), Fascist ideology: territory and expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922–1945, Routledge, pp. 132–133, ISBN 978-0415216128
  14. ^ Rodogno., Davide (2006). Fascism's European empire: Italian occupation during the Second World War. Cambridge University Press. p. 106. ISBN 0521845157.
  15. ^ Enrico Cernuschi, Le operazioni aeronavali contro la Jugoslavia, 6–8 aprile 1941, in Storia Militare no. 242, p. 33.

Sources

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