MIRDITI IZMEĐU ITALIJANA, ARBANAŠKiH NACIONALISTA I SRBA (1918. - 1921.)
MIRDITS BETWEEN ITALIANS, ALBANIAN NATIONALISTS AND SERBS (1918 - 1921)

Summary/Abstract: The most numerous Albanian tribe, the Mirdits, whose territory spread from Lješ to the tribe of Djakovička Malesija, gained internationally recognized autonomy at the Berlin Congress in 1878 and made efforts to preserve this autonomy in the course of events which took place in the beginning of the 20th century, in 1920 the Mirdits again strove to keep their autonomy which had always been disputed by Albanian nationalists who, backed first by Austria and from 1919 by Italy, attempted to create a centralized Great Albania through the influence of the major powers. Following the murder of Essad-Pasha in the middle of 1920, Serbs became the only party with which a political course could be accorded. Contacts had been made between Mirdit captains and Serbs as far back as 1849, then again in 1876 -78, 1912 - 15 and 1918. Serbs respected tribal autonomy which made Mark Ghioni a supporter of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians did not offer military assistance to this uprithe autumns of 1920 and 1921. His inclination towards the Serbs resulted in the agreement signed in Prizren on 21 May, 1921 and subsequently to the poorly organized Mirdit uprising, needed more by Nikola Pašić for his political purposes than by the Mirdits themselves. The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians did not offer military assistance to this uprising and consequently lost the alliance with the Mirdits.

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