Italian invasion of Kosovo

Italian invasion of Kosovo
Part of the Invasion of Yugoslavia of World War II
Italian Bersaglieri during the invasion
Date 5–18 April 1941 Location Kosovo, at the time Yugoslavia Result Italian victory Italian Albania under Mustafa Merlika Kruja expells Yugoslav colonialists from Kosovo Territorial changes Occupation of Kosovo by the Italian protectorate of Albania
Belligerents
Italy  Albania	Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Ugo Cavallero Alessandro Pirzio Biroli	Milan Nedić Ilija Brašić
Units involved
9th Army Albanian volunteers	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

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

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

1. Krzak 2006.
2. 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. 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

• Zajac, Daniel L. (May 1993). "The German Invasion of Yugoslavia: Insights For Crisis Action Planning And Operational Art in A Combined Environment". Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: School of Advanced Military Studies, United States Army Command and General Staff College. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013.
• Tomasevich, Jozo (1975). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: The Chetniks. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0857-9.
• Shores, Christopher F.; Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola (1987). Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete, 1940–41. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-07-6.
• Krzak, Andrzej (2006). "Operation "Marita": The Attack Against Yugoslavia in 1941". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 19 (3): 543–600. doi:10.1080/13518040600868123. S2CID 219625930.
• Lennox, Dyer T. (May 1997). "Operational Analysis: German operations against Yugoslavia 1941". Newport, Rhode Island: Joint Military Operations Department, Naval War College. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013.
• Niehorster, Leo (2013a). "Balkan Operations Italian Order of Battle Italian Army 5th April 1941". Leo Niehorster. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
• Goss, Chris (2005). Dornier 17: In Focus. UK: Red Kite/Air Research. ISBN 0-9546201-4-3.
• Malcolm, Noel (1998). Kosovo: A Short History. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-66612-7.
• US Army (1986) [1953]. The German Campaigns in the Balkans (Spring 1941): A Model of Crisis Planning. Department of the Army Pamphlet No. 20–260. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. OCLC 16940402. CMH Pub 104-4. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009.
• Jowett, Phillip S. (2000). The Italian Army 1940–45 (1): Europe 1940–43. Oxford, United Kingdom: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-85532-864-8.
• Loi, Salvatore (1978). Le operazioni delle unità italiane in Jugoslavia (1941–1943): narrazione, documenti [The operations of Italian units in Yugoslavia (1941–1943): narrative, documents] (in Italian). Rome, Italy: Ministero della difesa (Ministry of Defence). OCLC 9194926.
• Niehorster, Dr. Leo (2013b). "Balkan Operations Order of Battle Royal Yugoslavian Army 4th Army 6th April 1941". Dr. Leo Niehorster. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
• Niehorster, Leo (2013c). "Balkan Operations Order of Battle Royal Yugoslavian Army 7th Army 6th April 1941". Leo Niehorster. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2014.