The Albanian revolt of 1912 (, "Uprising of 1912") was the last revolt against the Ottoman Empire's rule in Albania and lasted from January until August 1912. The revolt ended when the Ottoman government agreed to fulfill the rebels' demands on 4 September 1912. Generally, Muslim Albanians fought against the Ottomans then governed by the Committee of Union and Progress. The Albanian revolt was supported by Kingdom of Serbia, which sought to exploit the revolt in order to weaken the Ottoman Empire. Serbia played an important role in aiding the rebels, both military and financially.
Prelude
The main reasons for all these revolts were changes for Albanians introduced by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), including tax increases, conscription for Albanians in the Ottoman army, and the disarming of the Albanian civil population.
Albanians were not the only group to start a rebellion against the CUP government. There were insurgencies in Syria and on the Arab peninsula.
The first major Albanian revolt in 1910 led by Isa Boletini and Idriz Seferi was supported by Bulgaria and Montenegro. After two weeks of fierce fighting the Albanian rebels and Isa Boletini withdrew to the Drenicë region, while Idriz Seferi withdrew with his remaining soldiers to the Karadak region, where he continued his resistance. Sultan Mehmed V visited Pristina in June 1911 and declared an amnesty for all of those who had participated in the revolt, except for the ones who had committed murder. In order to calm the situation, the sultan introduced a number of concessions, including:: In June 1911 the sultan himself visited Kosova to calm the situation, signing decree of amnesty and introducing many concessions, including Albanians schools, military service to be performed only in the province, suspension of all conscriptions and taxes for two years, and the use of the officials conversant in Albanian. The establishment of Albanian schools. Military service was to be restricted to the territory of Kosovo Vilayet. Suspension of all conscription and taxes for two years. Appointment of government officials who speak the Albanian language.
At the end of 1911 a group of Albanian Members, led by Ismail Qemali, started a debate in the Ottoman parliament. They requested additional rights for Albanians in the cultural and administrative spheres.
In January 1912, Hasan Prishtina, an Albanian deputy in the Ottoman parliament, publicly warned MPs that the policy of the CUP government would lead to a revolution in Albania. After that speech Qemali proposed a meeting with Prishtina. They met the same evening in Prishtina's house and agreed to organize an Albanian uprising.: Ismail Kemal Bey ... proposed that we meet for dinner at my house... We discussed ... and finally decided to put an end to Turkish outrages with an uprising. The following day they met in the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul with Mufid Bey Libohova, Essad Pasha Toptani, Aziz Pasha Vrioni and Syreja Bey Vlora. They agreed to unite their organizations and lead the Albanian uprising. Subsequently, they took an oath on this promise at a meeting in Syreja Bey's house in Taxim.: on the next day at the Pera Palace Hotel... meeting with the following men: Mufid Bey Libohova, Essad Pasha Toptani, Aziz Pasha Vrioni and Syreja Bey Vlora.... we realised that they held the same views as we did, we decided to hold a meeting at the home of Syreja Bey, in Taksim... we all swear an oath... decided to organise an uprising.
Events It was decided that Ismail Qemali should organize the delivery of 15,000 Mauser rifles to the Kosovo Vilayet via the Kingdom of Montenegro.: Kosovo was to play a central role in the matter. For this reason, it was decided to find and send fifteen thousand Mauser rifles into Kosovo, through Montenegro. Hassan Prishtina attempted to get the support of Bulgaria by proposing the creation of an Albanian–Macedonian state to Pavlof, the Bulgarian deputy, who met him in the British Consulate in Skopje.: I went to meet Mr Pavlof, one-time deputy for Skopje ... for the rights of the Albanians and Bulgarians... I believe that the time has come to ... joint uprising with a view to creating an autonomous Albanian-Macedonian state. The British Consul from Skopje promised that the United Kingdom would provide strong support to the Albanians.: providing strong support for an Albania taking up arms for the cause of freedom. Serbian representatives also supplied weapons to some Albanian rebels, including Isa Boletini and Riza Bey Gjakova. Hasan Prishtina regarded Serbian intervention as contributing to divisions among the Albanian rebels and weakening their movement. He stated that the Serbian consul and Ottoman officials had succeeded in “sowing the seeds of division” among the Albanian leadership. Prishtina describes the Serbian consul's intervention with Riza Bey and Isa Boletini, the subsequent receipt of rifles from Serbia, and the role of the Serbian consul in contributing to divisions among the Albanian leaders. Malcolm describes Serbian efforts to cultivate Albanian leaders during the 1912 uprising, including contacts with Isa Boletini and the supply of large quantities of weapons to him.
The revolt started in the western part of Kosovo Vilayet and was led by Hasan Pristina, Nexhip Draga, Bajram Curri, Riza bej Gjakova and others. Prishtina who was in the Kosovo Vilayet during the revolt, and Qemali who was in Europe gathering weapons and money and attempting to win over European public opinion to the cause of the uprising, maintained communication through the British Consulate in Skopje.: Ismail Kemal was ... staying in Europe to help gather weapons and money and to win over European public opinion ... agreed to keep in contact through the British Consulate in Skopje. Essad Pasha Toptani obliged himself to organize the uprising in Central Albania and Mirdita.: Essad Pasha assured us that he could manage things in Central Albania and Mirdita.
Albanian soldiers and officers deserted the Ottoman military service and joined the insurgents.
List of demands The Albanian rebels in Kosovo Vilayet demanded a number of actions from the Young Turk administration. These demands were printed in emigrant newspapers published in Bulgaria in the middle of March 1912, including the appointment of Albanians in government administration, schools with Albanian as the medium of instruction, and the restriction of Albanians' conscription in the Ottoman Army to the Kosovo Vilayet.
Albanian rebels were divided; some supported the CUP government, others the Freedom and Accord Party, while some even wished to return to Abdul Hamid's autocracy.: The Albanians themselves were divided, some supporting the CUP and others Liberal Union, with some even wishing to return to Abdulahmid's autocracy... Therefore, with only the final point being ignored, on September 4, 1912, the government accepted proposals and the Albanian revolt was over.
On 9 August 1912, Albanian rebels presented a new list of demands (the so-called list of Fourteen Points), related to a hypothetical Albanian Vilayet, that can be summarized as follows: an autonomous system of administration and justice in four vilayets populated with Albanians (Albanian Vilayet), Albanians to perform military service only in the four principally-Albanian vilayets, except in time of war, employment of officials who knew local language and customs (though not necessarily Albanians), new lycées and agricultural schools in the bigger districts, reorganization and modernization of the religious schools and the use of the Albanian language in secular schools, freedom to establish private schools and societies, the development of trade, agriculture and public works, general amnesty for all the Albanians involved in the revolt, court martial of those Ottoman officers who had attempted to suppress the revolt.
On 17 July, the rebels took over Gjakova. On 21-22 they held Pristina and Novi Pazar. By the end of the month, they had also captured Mitrovica, Vucitrn, Peja, Gjilan and Ferizaj. Some 25,000 of them held Pristina while another 20,000 held the south-eastern corner of Kosovo. By 14 August, they occupied Skopje, putting additional pressure on the Ottomans.
The Ottoman government ended the Albanian revolts by accepting all demands (ignoring only the last) on 4 September 1912. Prishtina was planning to start another revolt in three or four months and then declare Albanian independence but the First Balkan War broke out soon and destroyed his plans.: I told the honored gentlemen that we would organise another uprising in three or four months’ time and would then declare independence ... the Balkan War soon broke out, which destroyed all of our plans.
Aftermath
The success of the Albanian Revolt and news from the Italo-Turkish War sent a strong signal to the neighboring countries that the Ottoman Empire was weak. The members of the Balkan League decided that they could not waste such a golden opportunity to strike at a weakened Ottoman state.Glenny, Misha. The Balkans 1804–1999: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804–1999. p. 228 The prospect of Albanian autonomy was incompatible with Serbian ambitions for the annexation of these territories. The Kingdom of Serbia opposed the plan for this rather large Albanian state (whose territories are now considered to be the concept of Greater Albania). The European territory of the Ottoman Empire was eventually taken by the four Balkan allies.
See also Taksim meeting Albanian Revolt of 1910 Albanian historiography
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