Kosovo
Historie
The earliest archaeological evidence of organized settlement, which have been found in Kosovo, belong to the Neolithic
Starčevo culture (6200-4500 BC) and Vinča-Turdaş culture (5700–4500 BC). Vlashnjë and Runik
are important sites of the Neolithic era with the rock art paintings at Mrrizi i Kobajës near Vlashnjë being the first find
of prehistoric art in Kosovo.
During the late 3rd millennium BC, Proto-Indo-European tribes migrated and settled in the region alongside the existing Neolithic
population. Co-existence and intermingling of these populations gave rise to the material culture which developed in the Bronze
Age (2100-1100 BC). In the Iron Age habitation further developed with the emergence of the Glasinac-Mat culture (1600—300 BC),
an Illyrian material culture. The Dardani - as they became known in classical antiquity - were one of the particular groups
of the Glasinac-Mat culture.
The Dardani became one of the most powerful Illyrian states of their time under their king Bardylis (393–358 BC). Under the
leadership of Bardylis, the Dardani defeated the Macedonians and Molossians several times, reigning over upper Macedonia
and Lynkestis. Along with the Ardiaei and Autariatae, the Dardani are mentioned in Roman times by ancient Greek and Roman
sources as one of the three strongest "Illyrian peoples".
The region of Illyria was conquered by Rome in 168 BC, and made into the Roman province of Illyricum in 59 BC. The Kosovo region
probably became part of Moesia Superior in AD 87.
The Hunnic invasions of 441 and 447–49 were the first barbarian invasions that were able to take Eastern Roman fortified centres
and cities. Most Balkan cities were sacked by Attila, and recovered only partially if at all.
Justinian I, who assumed the throne of the Byzantine Empire in 527, oversaw a period of Byzantine expansion into former
Roman territories, and re-absorbed the area of Kosovo into the empire. The region was exposed to an increasing number of raids from the
4th century AD onward, culminating with the Slavic migrations of the 6th and 7th centuries.
The region of Kosovo was incorporated into the Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Khan Presian (836–852). It remained
within the borders of Bulgaria for 150 years until 1018, when it was retaken by the Byzantine Empire under Basil II (976–1025) after
half a century of campaigning.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, Kosovo was a political, cultural and religious centre of the Serbian Kingdom (1217–1346). In the
late 13th century, the seat of the Serbian Archbishopric was moved to Peja, and rulers centred themselves between Prizren and Skopje,
during which time thousands of Christian monasteries and feudal-style forts and castles were erected.
The Serbian Empire (1346–1371) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by
Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expanded the state. Stefan Dušan using Prizren Fortress as one of his temporary courts for a time.
When the Serbian Empire fragmented into a conglomeration of principalities in 1371, Kosovo became the hereditary land of the House of
Branković. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries, parts of Kosovo, the easternmost area located near Pristina, were part of
the Principality of Dukagjini, which was later incorporated into an anti-Ottoman federation of all Albanian principalities, the
League of Lezhë.
In 1389, as the Ottoman Empire expanded northwards through the Balkans, Ottoman forces under Sultan Murad I met with a
Christian coalition led by Moravian Serbia under Prince Lazar in the Battle of Kosovo. Both sides suffered heavy losses and
the battle was a stalemate and it was even reported as a Christian victory at first, but Serbian manpower was depleted and de facto Serbian
rulers couldn't raise another equal force to the Ottoman army. Different parts of Kosovo were ruled directly or indirectly by the Ottomans
in this early period. By 1455-57, the Ottoman Empire assumed direct control of all of Kosovo and the region remained part of the empire until
1912.
During this period, Islam was introduced to the region. As Ottoman rule spread, Christian Serbs fled Kosovo to leave westwards
and northwards causing the population of Kosovo to fall dramatically. The continuous emigration from Kosovo reached its peak at the
Great Migrations of the Serbs, which included some Christian Albanians. To compensate for the population loss, the Turks encouraged
settlement of non-Slav muslim Albanians in the wider region of Kosovo.
By the end of 18th century, Kosovo would attain an Albanian majority - with Peja, Prizren, Prishtina becoming especially
important towns for the local muslim population.
In the 19th century, there was an awakening of ethnic nationalism throughout the Balkans. The underlying ethnic tensions became part
of a broader struggle of Christian Serbs against Muslim Albanians. The ethnic Albanian nationalism movement was centred in Kosovo.
In 1878 the League of Prizren was formed, a political organisation that sought to unify all the Albanians of the Ottoman Empire in
a common struggle for autonomy and greater cultural rights, although they generally desired the continuation of the Ottoman Empire.
The League was dis-established in 1881 but enabled the awakening of a national identity among Albanians, whose ambitions competed with those
of the Serbs, the Kingdom of Serbia (1882–1918) wishing to incorporate this land that had formerly been within its empire.
The Albanian revolt of 1912 weakened the Ottoman Empire and resulted in an Albanian victory. This further persuaded other Balkan states
that it was time for an anti-Ottoman war, thus starting the First Balkan War. After the Ottomans' defeat, the 1913 Treaty of
London was signed with Metohija ceded to the Kingdom of Montenegro and eastern Kosovo ceded to the Kingdom of Serbia.
In the winter of 1915–16, during World War I, Kosovo saw the retreat of the Serbian army as Kosovo was occupied by Bulgaria and
Austria-Hungary. In 1918, the Allied Powers pushed the Central Powers out of Kosovo.
The 1918–1929 period of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians witnessed a rise of the Serbian population in the region and a
decline in the non-Serbian. In 1929, the country was transformed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
After the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, most of Kosovo was assigned to Italian-controlled Albania, and the rest was controlled
by Germany and Bulgaria. Following the end of the war and the establishment of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
Kosovo was granted the status of an autonomous region of Serbia in 1946 and became an autonomous province in 1963.
Inter-ethnic tensions continued to worsen in Kosovo throughout the 1980s. In 1989, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, employing
a mix of intimidation and political maneuvering, drastically reduced Kosovo's special autonomous status within Serbia and started cultural
oppression of the ethnic Albanian population.
In July 1990, the Kosovo Albanians proclaimed the existence of the Republic of Kosova, and declared it a sovereign and independent
state in September 1992. In May 1992, Ibrahim Rugova was elected its president in an election in which only Kosovo Albanians participated.
During its lifetime, the Republic of Kosova was only officially recognised by Albania.
By 1996, the Kosovo Liberation Army, an ethnic Albanian guerrilla paramilitary group that sought the separation of Kosovo and the
eventual creation of a Greater Albania, had prevailed over the Rugova's non-violent resistance movement and launched attacks against
the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police in Kosovo, resulting in the Kosovo War.
On 10 June 1999, the UN Security Council passed UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which placed Kosovo under transitional UN
administration (UNMIK) and authorised Kosovo Force (KFOR), a NATO-led peacekeeping force. Resolution 1244 provided that
Kosovo would have autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and affirmed the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia, which has
been legally succeeded by the Republic of Serbia.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. As of 4 September 2020, 114 UN states recognised its independence,
including all of its immediate neighbours, with the exception of Serbia.
I I have visited Kosovo several times
The pictures of these trips, are not yet available; i have to digatalize them first.
Please let me know when you're having questions.
i would be pleased to help you.
Things to do and other tips
