Texts and Documents of Albanian History

Robert Elsie

Texts and Documents of Albanian History
1990 until today

1994 Rexhep Qosja: The Albanian Question and its Solution Kosovar intellectual figure Rexhep Qosja provides an overview of the Albanian question in Yugoslavia, written during the last decade of Serb rule in Kosovo.

1998 Jusuf Vrioni: Back to Tirana, 1943-1947 Jusuf Vrioni was an Albanian nobleman and a well-known literary translator who was raised in Paris. He made the mistake of returning to Albania during the Second World War and was not able to get away when the communists took power. In this chapter from his memoirs, he describes the atmosphere immediately after the war and the moment of his arrest.

1999 The Hague Tribunal (ICTY): The Attack on Celina Village in March 1999 An account of the attack by Serb forces on the Kosovo village of Celina in March 1999, taken from a Judgement of The Hague Tribunal.

1999 The Hague Tribunal (ICTY): The Events in Gjakova in early April 1999 An account of a Serbian police operation in a neighbourhood of Gjakova in western Kosovo in April 1999, taken from a Judgement of The Hague Tribunal.

1999 The Hague Tribunal (ICTY): The Victims of Vushtrria An account of the attack by Serbian forces on the town of Vushtrria in northern Kosovo in late March 1999, taken from a Judgement of The Hague Tribunal.

2002 Miranda Vickers: The Cham Issue British writer and analyst Miranda Vickers presents a lucid overview of the issue of the Chams, the Albanian minority expelled from Greece during the First and Second World Wars and still not allowed to return.

2002 Dayrell R. Oakley-Hill: An Englishmen in the Service of King Zog British Colonel Oakley-Hill was involved in organising the Albanian gendarmerie in the 1930s. In this chapter from his memoirs, he describes the situation in the country under King Zog.

2008 Oliver Jens Schmitt: Scanderbeg: an Uprising and its Leader In 2008, Swiss historian Oliver Schmitt published a scholarly and highly controversial biography of the Albanian national hero Scanderbeg. The concluding chapter of the book, given here, provides a synthesis of his interpretation of Scanderbeg as a tragic figure.

2008 Declaration of Independence of Kosova After five centuries as part of the Ottoman Empire and 87 years under Serbian rule, Kosova (Kosovo) declared its independence in February 2008. Given here is the text of the declaration as read out in Parliament in Prishtina.

2010 Kolec Topalli: Communist Persecution in Albanian Studies Albanian linguist Kolec Topalli provides an overview of suffering and terror in Albanian intellectual circles during the Stalinist dictatorship. He was one of its victims.

 

The translations in this anthology may be copied, downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes if the source is appropriately documented. | Robert Elsie

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