| Malissori uprising | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Depiction of the revolt by The Illustrated Tribute (April, 1911) | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ottoman Empire | Albanian tribes Support: Kingdom of Montenegro[1][2] | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Shevket Turgut Pasha Enver Pasha | Gjin Pjetër Pervizi | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~28,000 (atBattle of Deçiq) | 3,000–3,300 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 8,000 killed or wounded[3] 12 captured[4] | Unknown | ||||||
TheMalissori uprising or theAlbanian revolt of 1911[5] was one of manyAlbanian revolts in theOttoman Empire and lasted from 24 March 1911 until 4 August 1911 in the region ofMalësia (also spelled Malissori).[6][7]
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The main headquarters of the rebels were inPodgorica and King Nikola provided weapons for the insurgents.[8] King Nicholas promised to support Malësor with arms and to provide a shelter to their families before the revolt began.[9]
Although both kingNikola and princeDanilo were assuring Ottoman ambassador that they are observing "the strictest neutrality" it was obvious that Kingdom of Montenegro was involved in this revolt. GeneralVukotić organized passing out the weapon to the rebels.[10]
Nikola's strategy was to stimulate unrest in northern Albania and north-westernKosovo to the point where he could intervene and annex more territory for Montenegro.[11] Most of contemporary studies confirm that this uprising was supported by Montenegro.[12][13][14]
At the end of March 1911 theKingdom of Montenegro forced them to return to Kosovo Vilayet.[15] Thousands of refugees together with the Albanian Catholic tribes staged the Albanian Revolt of 1911.[16]
The Albanian National Committee was founded inPodgorica in February 1911.[17] In a meeting of the Committee held in Podgorica from 2 to 4 February 1911, under the leadership ofNikolla bey Ivanaj andSokol Baci Ivezaj, it was decided to organize an Albanian uprising.[18]
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Troops of Montenegro supported the revolt and captured 12 Ottoman soldiers and imprisoned them inPodgorica.[19]
The first serious attempt of the Ottoman government to suppress the revolt resulted with theBattle of Deçiq.Terenzio Tocci gathered theMirdite chieftains on 26 April 1911 inOrosh, proclaimed the independence of Albania, raised theflag of Albania (according toRobert Elsie it was raised for the first time afterSkanderbeg's death) and established the provisional government.[20] Shefqet Turgut Pasha wanted to meet this threat and returned to the region with 8.000 soldiers. As soon as he reached Shkodër on 11 May, he issued a general proclamation which declared martial law and offered an amnesty for all rebels (except for Malisor chieftains) if they immediately return to their homes.[21] After Ottoman troops entered the area Tocci fled the empire abandoning his activities.[22]
On 14 May, three days after his proclamation, Shefqet Turgut Pasha ordered his troops to seize Dečić, hill that overlookedTuzi.[23] Sixty Albanian chieftains rejected Turgut Pasha's proclamation on their meeting inPodgorica on 18 May.[24] After almost a month of intense fightings rebels were trapped and their only choices were either to die fighting, to surrender or to flee to Montenegro.[25] Most of the rebels chose to flee to Montenegro which became a base for large number of rebels determined to attack the Ottoman Empire.[26] Ismail Kemal Bey and Tiranli Cemal bey traveled from Italy to Montenegro at the end of May and met the rebels to convince them to adopt the nationalistic agenda which they eventually did.[27][28] On 12 JunePorte prematurely proclaimed that the revolt had ended.[29]
At initiative Ismail Qemali[30] the assembly of the tribal leaders of the revolt was held in a village in Montenegro (Gerče) on 23 June 1911 to adopt the "Gërçe Memorandum" (sometimes referred to as "Red Book"(Libri i Kuq) because of the color of its covers[31]) with their requests both toOttoman Empire and Europe (in particular to the Great Britain).[32] This memorandum was signed by 22 Albanian chieftains, four from each tribe of Hoti, Grude and Skrel, five fromKastrati, three from Klementi and two from Shale.[33]
Requests of memorandum included:[34]
The Memorandum was submitted to the representatives of Great Powers in Cetinje, Montenegro.[35] It was basically a reply to amnesty offered by Ottoman military commander Shefqet Turgut Pasha.[36]
At the end of May 1911Russia protested against military moves ofOttoman army near the border ofMontenegro and sent a note to the Ottoman foreign minister.[37]Russian Empire was very willing to participate in efforts to resolve the crisis because it was afraid that Austria-Hungary might increase its influence inMontenegro and use the crisis to invade and annexAlbania.[38]Serbia andItaly also believed thatAustria-Hungary was responsible for the revolt in Albania and suspected that Austria had plans to intervene in Albania.[39][40] The British ambassador inVienna rejected the possibility that Austria-Hungary caused the revolt.[41]
On 8 June,von Aehrenthal, theforeign minister of Austria-Hungary, issued a semi-official note to the Ottoman Empire[42] and informed thePorte that Ottoman repression of theCatholic tribes will not be ignored and in case it is continuedAustria-Hungary will take an action.[43] Austrian intervention to support the rebels was urged by Catholic journals inVienna as well.[44]
The Albanian revolts in the period before theFirst Balkan War were organized mostly in the region ofMalesia.Isa Boletini, one of the leaders of the Albanian insurgents in Kosovo vilayet, wrote a proclamation on 23 March 1911 to the Albanians in the south to join Albanians from theKosovo vilayet in their uprising. He sent his emissaries on 15 April 1911 to pass his proclamation to the southern insurgents.[45] One of the main tasks of theBlack Society for Salvation was to organize uprisings in the southern territories.[46] The members of the society organized a meeting inKolonjë. The meeting was attended by the emissaries from the Kosovo vilayet who brought the proclamation of Isa Boletini.[47] The leaders of the society decided in that meeting to organize groups of armedrebels and to launch theuprising in the south in early June 1911.[48] The society managed to establish committees in several towns includingKorçë,Elbasan,Debar andOhrid, but it failed to maintain control over them because each committee acted on its own direction.[49]
After theBattle of Deçiq Ottoman government decided for peaceful means of suppression of the revolt because frequent clashes with Albanians attracted the attention of the European Great Powers.[50]
On 11 June sultanMehmed V visitedSkopje where he was greeted enthusiastically by the local population together with two Albanian chieftains who swore their allegiance to the Ottoman sultan.[51] On 15 June, the date of theBattle of Kosovo, he visited the site of the historical battle greeted by 100.000 people. During his visit toKosovo vilayet he signed a generalamnesty for all participants of theAlbanian revolts of 1910 and 1911.[52] He was welcomed by the choir of theSerbian Orthodox Seminary with Turkish songs and vice-consulMilan Rakić had gathered a large contingent of Serbs, but many Albanians boycotted the event.[53]
Ottoman representatives managed to deal with the leaders of Albanian rebels inKosovo Vilayet andScutari Vilayet separately, because they were not united and lacked central control.[54] The Ottoman Empire first managed to pacify the northern Albanian malësorë (highlanders) fromScutari Vilayet reaching a compromise during a meeting inPodgorica. In order to resolve the problems in the south, the Ottoman representatives invited Albanian southern leaders to a meeting inTepelenë on 18 August 1911. They promised to meet most of their demands, like generalamnesty, the opening of Albanian language schools, and the restriction that military service was to be performed only in the territory of the vilayets with substantial Albanian population. Other demands included requiring administrative officers to learn theAlbanian language, and that the possession of weapons would be permitted.[55]
The Albanian Revolt of 1911 stimulated Albanian nationalism because it proved that it was impossible to maintain the unity of the population of theOttoman Empire even in the case of aMuslim community.[56] Montenegrin king Nikola composed a poemThe Uprising of Malisores (Serbian:Малисорски устанак 1911) in honor of this uprising.[57]
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In the spring of 1911, teacher and poetPalok Traboini, then serving as personal secretary toDed Gjo Luli, while journing throughDalmatia brought along with him three flags[58] and delivered them to Ded Gjo Luli ofHoti, Dok Ujka ofGruda and Prel Luca ofTriepshi respectively. The flags had been fabricated inVienna,Austria at the request ofAladro Kastriota and were a gift for the fighting insurgents ofMalesia. One of the flags was first unfurled at the Church of Traboini in Hot on 6 April 1911 by Kol Ded Gjoni, son of Ded Gjo Luli and later raised several times by his fighters on top of the Bratila peak.[59]Placed on the flag was a piece of cloth with the inscription "Flamuri i Liris" Mars 1911 and on the carrying spear can be seen the figurine of aneagle with flapping wings. The flag appeared in the form of alabarum, in the style of Roman legions.
On 13 July 1911, theBasque magazineEuskal-Herria published a letter addressed to the senior editor of the magazine that was written by Juan Aladro de Kastriota and signed inEuskara:[60]
«The signs of sympathy that I have received from everywhere on the occasion of my last campaign, are to me comforting in a high degree and give me strength to continue the titanic and unequal struggle to give my poor Albania her freedom. God will have mercy on us and he will surely help us. TheBattle of Derelik, new AlbanianCovadonga, confirms my faith. Now I am here, resting my old bones and ready to start the fight, if theTurks do not give us the promised autonomy."
Milloi bat ezker bere maitagarria gatik ta eskumuñak.
— ALADRO.»
The only remaining evidence of the flag is a photograph byKel Marubi which is presently archived at theNational Museum of Photography.
Nicholas assured the Ottoman ambassador that his government was observing "the strictest neutrality" while his eldest son claimed that "we Montenegrins most sincerely desire peace". Despite these denials, it became increasingly clear that Montenegro did have a hand in the new revolt. In particular general Vukotić aided the rebels by passing out weapons, which the Malsors used against Turks.
Montenegrin troops also captured twelve Turkish soldiers on their own initiative and took them to Podgorica
..."Albanian revolt of 1911"
The uprising went on from 24 March 1911, to 4 August 1911.
The Malësori Uprising of 1911
... Podgorica became the headquarters of the insurgents, due to support the Albanians received from King Nicholas of Montenegro... who ensured they got the weapons...
Nicholas assured the Ottoman ambassador that his government was observing "the strictest neutrality" while his eldest son claimed that "we Montenegrins most sincerely desire peace". Despite these denials, it became increasingly clear that Montenegro did have a hand in the new revolt. In particular general Vukotić aided the rebels by passing out weapons, which the Malsors used against Turks.
But his basic strategy, clearly, was the same as before: to stimulate unrest in northern Albania and north-western Kosovo, to the point where he could intervene and annex more territory for Montenegro.
In the opinion of foreign observers, reproduced in most of the contemporary studies, the Malesori uprising in the spring of 191 1 was inspired by Montenegro.
... yet another revolt took place at the end of March 1911, when Kingdom of Montenegro forced the mountain people who had taken refugee there, to return across the frontier
In March 1911 the Catholic tribes together with the thousands of refugees from Kosova who had fled to Montenegro, staged a general insurrection
dhe mbas themelimit të Komitetit Nacional Shqiptarë në Podgoricë në shkurt 1911 në krye të së cilit vëndoset Sokol Baci Ivezaj dhe që drejtohej nga Nikollë Ivanaj...
Në mbledhjen e Podgoricës (2–4 shkurt 1911) do të vëndoset që kryengritja do të fillojë me sigurimin e armës, afer Shën Gjergjit.
Montenegrin troops also captured twelve Turkish soldiers on their own initiative and took them to Podgorica
Tocci Torenzio....On 26 April 1911 he gathered the chieftains of Mirdita near Orosh and proclaimed independence of Albania, hoisting the Albanian flag for the first time after the death of Skanderbeg
government called upon Shefqet Turgut Pasha...on 11 May he proclaimed martial law...On the third day however, the impatient general ordered his troops to seize the important hill of Dečić overlooking Tuzi.
In they Podgorica declarationof 18 May sixty Albanian chiefs rejected Turgut's demands...
During the month of intense fighting...By the end of June the Catholic insurgents jointed by the powerful Mirdite clans, were trapped...They had but three choices left to them: to surrender, to die where they were or to flee across the border into Montenegro.
Most chose the last option. Once again became a haven for large body of insurgent forces determined to make war on Ottoman Empire.
The memorandum adopted at a general assembly in Gerçë a month later doubtless bears the penmanship of Ismail Qemali, who arrived in Montenegro from Italy at the end of May.
Meanwhile Ismail Kemal and Tiranli Cemal Bey personally visited rebellious Malisors in Montenegro to encourage them to accept a nationalistic program.... The Ghegs of Iskodra had embraced nationalistic program.
... the Turkish government prematurely announced on 12 June, that the revolt was over
У то време стигао je у Црну Гору албански нрвак Исмаил Кемал Bej да би се састао са главарима побушених Малисора. На н>егову инищцативу дошло je до састанка побунэених Малисора у селу Герче у Црно) Гори.
The Gerche memorandum, referred to often as "The Red Book" because of the color of its covers
Twenty two Albanians signed the memorandum, including four each from the fises of Grude, Hoti and Skrel; five from Kastrati; three from Klement, and two from Shale
The demands included a guarantee of immunity from punishment for all Albanians, the recognition of "the national existence of Albanians",... selecting Albanian deputies ...according to the principle of proportional representation...Albanian language in ... schools, ...
У исто време су Албанци емигранти у Црној Гори, на челу са Исмаилом Кемалом и Луибијем Гуракућијем, образложили своје захтеве под називом »Меморандум из Герче« или »Црвена књига« и предали их представницима великих сила на Цетињу.
...Russians so anxious to keep in touch... they were afraid that Austrians, if left to themselves might assume the role of sole protectors of Montenegro, or even exploit the crisis to invade and annex Albania.
Serbia still blamed Aehrenthal for the "Albanian troubles" and Italy doubted the sincerity of the foreign ministers pledges of nonintervention in Albanian imbroglio.
"Ове устанке изазивала је Аустрија у циљу да изненади балканске државе интервенцијом у Албанији" [Revolts were caused by Austria with aim to surprise Balkan countries with its military intervention in Albania]
The British ambassador in Vienna, however, rightly discounted the possibility of Austrian government's having encouraged the rebellion in any way...
...on 8 June the semi-official Fremdenblatt carried a summons to the Young Turks to put their house in order.
Eventually, Austria Hungary,..., let the Porte know that she could no longer ignore the savage repression of the Catholic tribes and would have to take action if this continued.
The Catholic papers of Vienna are vehemently urging Austrian intervention in favor of the Malissori Christian tribes
Më 15 prill 1911 përfaqësues të Kosovës çuan në viset jugore thirrjen që Isa Boletini e kishte lëshuar disa kohë më parë (më 23 mars) nga malet e Shqipërisë, në të cilën thuhej: "
Këtu u vendos të shpejtohej organizimi i çetave dhe në fillim të qershorit të niste kryengritja edhe në jug të vendit.
Në Kolonjë u mbajt një mbledhje e udhëheqësve të lëvizjes, ku morën pjesë edhe emisarët kosovarë që sollën letrën e Isa Boletinit.
Këtu u vendos të shpejtohej organizimi i çetave dhe në fillim të qershorit të niste kryengritja edhe në jug të vendit.
Me këtë qëllim u formua në jugë një organizatë e fshehtë, e quajtur "Shoqëria e Zezë për Shpëtim", e cila desh të merrte drejtimin e lëvizjes, dhe krijoi disa degë aty-këtu, por nuk arriti dot t'a bashkonte as t'a kumandonte vepërimin e shpërndarë të çetavet
As perpetual clashes between Albanians and Ottoman government were attracting European attention, the Ottoman government turned to peaceful means.
...he was welcomed by the choir of the Serbian Orthodox Seminary, serenading him with Turkish songs; vice-consul Rakić had gathered a large contingent of Serbs, but the Albanians of many areas of Kosovo boycotted the event.
Turqit të bënin marrëveshje krahinore të veçanta me kryengritësit si në vitin 1911.
Por n'atë kohë u muarën vesh propozimet e reja që po iu bënte qeveria turke malësorëvet të Mbishkodrës t'arratisur në Podgoricë...Premtimet ishin pak më të gjera nga ato që iu qenë bërë malësorëvet të Mbishkodrës, sepse parashikohej një falje e përgjithshme, hapja e shkollave shqipe me ndihmën financiare të shtetit dhe mësimi i shqipes në shkollat turqishte. Taksat do të caktohëshin sipas gjendjes së popullit, shërbimi ushtarak do të kryhej në vilajetet shqiptare, nëpunësit e administratës duhej të dinin gjuhën dhe zakonet e vendit, armët mund të mbahëshin me lejë.
Устанку Албанаца краљ Никола је посветмо спјев Малисорски устанак 1911...
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)... Podgorica became the headquarters of the insurgents, due to support the Albanians received from King Nicholas of Montenegro... who ensured they got the weapons...
| Rise(1299–1453) |
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| Classical Age(1453–1550) |
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| Transformation(1550–1700) |
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| Old Regime(1700–1789) |
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| Decline(1789–1908) |
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| Dissolution(1908–1922) |
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Albanians under the Ottoman Empire | |||||||||||
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