History History

Homo sapiens settled permanently in Greece and Bulgaria about 50,000 years ago, spreading to the rest of Europe via the Mediterranean and the Danube. But the oldest traces of a human presence in Kosovo date back only to the Neolithic, with the arrival of tribes from present-day Serbia. It is first the men of the Starčevo culture, originating from the region of Belgrade, who took root here around 6500 B.C. Hunter-gatherers, they mastered the rudiments of agriculture. Their presence is attested in the two oldest archaeological sites of the country, in Vlashnja/Vlašnja (municipality of Prizren) and in Runik/Rudnik (municipality of Skenderaj/Srbica). They were supplanted in the^5th millennium BC by the more structured Vinča culture, whose epicenter was also near Belgrade. Radiating from northern Greece to southeastern Hungary, this civilization is very advanced (agriculture, copper, lustrous ceramics, etc.) and may have developed the first alphabet of humanity as evidenced by the signs engraved on the tablets of Tărtăria (Romania), Dispilio (Greece) and Gradešnica (North Macedonia). In Kosovo, its trace is found in Vlashnja/Vlašnja and Runik/Rudnik. But it is especially the sites of Reshtan/Raštane (municipality of Theranda/Suva Reka) and Bardhosh (municipality of Pristina) that have delivered the most famous art objects of the country: female figurines in terracotta with an alien look, such as the Goddess on the throne exhibited in the Museum of Kosovo, in Pristina

During the Copper and Bronze Ages, Kosovo is populated by descendants of the Starčevo and Vinča cultures as well as by new Paleo-Balkan tribes from the Glasinac (from Bosnia and Herzegovina), Baden (from the Czech Republic) and Bubanj (from Serbia) cultures. This period is marked by the construction of fortresses and burial mounds, the remains of which can be found at about fifteen sites throughout the country, notably at Gadimja e Epërme/Gornje Gadimlje (municipality of Lipjan/Lipljan) and at Llashtica/Vlaštica (municipality of Gjilan/Gnjilane). Despite the development of metallurgy, few objects remain from this period in Kosovo. The understanding is also made difficult by the current nationalism: Albanian historians tend to attribute all local sites to the Glasinac culture, or even to the Dardanians (who emerged only much later), two peoples perceived by them as the ancestors of the Albanians. The objective is to prove the anteriority of the Albanian populating of Kosovo, by carrying out random connections between the men of Glasinac, the Dardanians, the Illyrians, then the Albanians.

During the Iron Age, Kosovo was first occupied by the Thracians. This very hierarchical people is present in the eastern Balkans and Asia Minor since the^fifth millennium BC. Less well known are the Dardanians and Illyrians who arrive from the eleventh century BC. According to Albanian historians, the two peoples are one and the direct ancestors of the Albanians. In fact, the Dardanians probably come from the Bosphorus (Dardanelles region). The Illyrians probably come from paleo-Balkanic tribes of present-day Croatia. If one finds traces of their languages in the current Albanian, the two people remain for a long time quite separated. Thus, Kosovo is then especially occupied by the Dardanians, whereas Illyrians are minority and united with Thracians (one speaks about tribes "thraco-illyriennes").

In 393 BC, the king Bardylis manages to unite different Dardanian tribes to found the kingdom of Dardania. Under Greek cultural influence, this one occupies mainly the current territory of Kosovo. Constantly in struggle, this new state is in war in the south against Molosses and the kingdom of Macedonia. In the east, it had to fight against the Thraco-illyrian tribes submitted by the Celts, in particular the Bastarnes and the Scordisques. The latter succeeded in establishing themselves in the east of Kosovo in 279 BC, giving their name to the Šar mountains(Scordus in Latin). The kingdom remains powerful and receives the reinforcement of some tribes of the kingdom of Illyria (north of Albania). From 201 BC, Dardania allied itself with Rome against the Macedonians and the Bastarnes. After several defeats and an occupation, the kingdom was re-established with the help of Rome in 168 BC. While the neighboring regions became Roman provinces, Dardania remained autonomous for more than a century. Apart from a few Dardanian drachmae on display in the museum of Kosovo, little remains of this period. However, it is believed that Damastion, the capital of the kingdom, was located on the site of the famous medieval fortress of Novo Brdo.

A Roman protectorate since 168 BC, Dardania was officially integrated into the Empire in 28 BC. Then populated by Dardanians, Thraco-Illyrians and Celts, the territory of Kosovo was first part of the province of Illyria along the Adriatic, before being divided between the new provinces of Dalmatia (Adriatic coast) and Upper Mesia (Danube region). The Romans built roads such as the one linking the port of Dyrrachium (Durrës, in Albania) to the capital of Upper Mesia, Naissus (Niš, in Serbia). They developed the silver mines of Metalla Dardania (Trepča, in the north) and Metalla Ulpiana (Novo Brdo, in the east). To better control these, two cities were founded: Municipium Dardanorum (27 km north of Mitrovica), recently rediscovered, and Ulpiana (near Pristina), which is today the most important archaeological site in the country. Ulpiana's position was strengthened in 284, when the emperor Diocletian made the city the capital of the new Roman district of Dardania, which included the eastern part of Kosovo and the northern part of North Macedonia. The west of Kosovo is attached to Prevalitania (northern Albania, Montenegro and southern Serbia). The fourth century was marked by the spread of Christianity in Kosovo and by a refocusing of the Empire towards the East and its Hellenic roots.

In 395, facing the invasions that threaten the Roman Empire, it is "temporarily" divided into two: in the west, the Western Roman Empire is led by Rome, in the east, the Eastern Roman Empire has as its capital Constantinople, a city founded in 330 by Emperor Constantine on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium. But this separation, which passes right next to Kosovo, will become lasting. After the fall of Rome (476), only the Eastern Roman Empire remained, called Byzantine, which lasted a thousand years. Like all the southern Balkans, the territory of Kosovo passed to the Byzantines. For the inhabitants, nothing changed except that Greek gradually replaced Latin as the administrative language. However, if Kosovo is rich thanks to its mines, it is far from Constantinople and difficult to defend. Thus, between 441 and 449, the territory was ravaged by the Huns. It was only reconquered a century later by the emperor Justinian. He established fortresses, such as Harilaq/Ariljača (municipality of Fusha Kosova), and refounded Ulpiana under the name of Justiniana Secunda. He made the city a powerful bishopric that contributed to the Christianization of the region. But the Justinian reconquest is weakened by an epidemic of plague which depopulates Kosovo and by the arrival of Slavs. Designated under the name of Sklavenes, they settle from the years 520 in Kosovo and are the ancestors of the Serbs. A new wave of Slavs swept through the Balkans in the 7th century. From the Danube to the Peloponnese, they formed sklavinies, colonies within the Byzantine Empire. If they vaguely recognize the authority of the emperor, they remain attached to their languages and their cults. Kosovo is then strongly dechristianized and escapes more and more from the Byzantines.

The presence of a large Slavic population in Kosovo facilitated the arrival of the Bulgarians, of Turkish-Slavic origin. The khan Pressiyan (836-852) conquered most of the territory in the years 830-840. His son Boris I converted to Christianity in 865 and adopted Byzantine customs, which allowed the return of the Church and better administration. However, Kosovo was constantly disputed by the Serbian princes of Rascia (southern Serbia), Dioclea (southern Montenegro and northern Albania) and Zeta (central Montenegro), vassals of Byzantium but under Latin influence. In the tenth century, Kosovo was thus divided between a Serbian region in the north-west and an area under Bulgarian domination in the south-east. Within the population, Catholics and Orthodox as well as Serbs, Bulgarians, Celts, people of Greco-Latin culture such as the Aroumains and "Albanians" (the term is used only from the sixteenth century) are mixed

In the year 1000, the Byzantine emperor Basil II the Bulgarocton ("Bulgar killer") launched the reconquest of the Balkans against the Bulgarians. After the decisive victory of the pass of Kleidion (Bulgaria), on July 29, 1014, the first Bulgarian Empire collapses in 1018. Basil II takes in hand an immense territory which extends from the Adriatic to the Danube. Kosovo is integrated into the theme (Byzantine military region) of Bulgaria with Skopje as chief town and Ohrid as orthodox archbishopric (two cities of the current Northern Macedonia). Basil II also reaffirms his authority vis-a-vis the Serbian princes, but concedes to those several autonomous fiefs. After the death of Basil II (1025), Kosovo and the Balkans are shaken by the Bulgarian and Aromanian revolts in 1040 and in 1071. The Byzantine armies also had to face the destructive raids of the Petchenegas (Turks of the Black Sea) and the new Bulgarian Empire in the 1080s.

Kosovo is the heart of the kingdom of the largest Serbian dynasty, the Nemanjić (pronounced "nemanicht"), which ruled a whole part of the Balkans for two centuries. It all began in 1163, when the Byzantines entrusted Rascia (just north of Kosovo) to the Vukanović, Serbian and Catholic vassals. But a war broke out between Prince Tihomir Vukanović and his brother Nemanja. In 1166, during the battle of Pantina (between Mitrovica and Vushtrri/Vučitrn), Tihomir was killed and Nemanja seized power. He takes the name of Stefan ("crowned") and converts to Orthodoxy to try to soften the Byzantines. It was a lost cause. In 1191, the Byzantines put down the Serbian revolt. An agreement was finally reached: Stefan Nemanja recognized the authority of the emperor, in exchange for which he received several territories, including Kosovo. Five years later, the old king became a monk and organized his succession: his son Stefan Nemanjić acceded to the throne, while his other son, the future saint Sava, took the head of the new Serbian Orthodox Church. From then on, the Nemanjić dynasty did not stop trying to emancipate itself from the Byzantines. It is Kosovo that will provide the means of their ambitions. This land, then largely populated by Slavs, was acquired by them. It escaped the Christian revolutionary movement of the Bogomils (the "Cathars of the Balkans"). And it is the monastery of Peć (Unesco World Heritage) that hosts from 1253 the headquarters of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Under the impetus of the "builder king" Milutin (1282-1321) and his son Stefan Dečanski (1321-1331), Pristina became for a time the capital of the kingdom and Kosovo was covered with sublime churches and monasteries such as those of Gračanica and Dečani, both listed as Unesco World Heritage sites. The ancient silver mines of Metalla Ulpiana are protected by the fortress of Novo Brdo and attract merchants from Venice and Ragusa (Dubrovnik, Croatia). Thanks to these riches, the Nemanjić crushed the Bulgarians at the Battle of Velbajd (1330) and dominated the Balkans. The last great king of the dynasty, Stefan Dušan (1331-1355), went so far as to crown himself emperor and attack the Byzantines. A decision that will cause the weakening of both the Byzantines and the Serbs and will leave the field free to the Ottomans.

Son of the French princess of Naples Hélène d'Anjou, Stefan Uroš II Milutin (or Étienne Milutine) was the longest reigning member of the Nemanjić dynasty (1282-1321) and the Serbian king who most profoundly transformed Kosovo. He was responsible for the choice of Pristina as the capital of the kingdom, the development of silver mines in Novo Brdo and the construction of the fortress of the same name. Leading the war against the Bulgars, the Mongols and his own brother Dragutin, he is above all a builder king. Artists from all over the Balkans joined the prestigious "school of King Milutin" and built for him some forty churches and monasteries in Serbia, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Italy. But his masterpiece remains the sumptuous Serbian Orthodox monastery of Gračanica (near Pristina), listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.

The Albanians of Albania have as national hero Skanderbeg (1405-1468). Those of Kosovo have Leka Dukagjin (or Lekë Dukagjini). This catholic lord was part of a powerful Albanian family that controlled southwestern Kosovo in the early Ottoman era (14th-15th centuries). Born around Lipjan/Lipljan, he continuously led battles from 1444. He first briefly joined the revolt against the Ottomans led by Skanderbeg. He then fought against Albanian lords and the Venetians established in the north of Albania and turned for a time against Skanderbeg. But, with the death of this last, he allied with Venice and took the head of the anti-Ottoman rebellion. Although he did not meet with any great military success, he developed the most famous Albanian customary law: the Kanun of Dukagjin, still followed by certain clans of Kosovo and northern Albania.

Turkish and Islamic dynasty founded in the current Turkey by Sultan Osman I in 1299, the Ottomans are the descendants of Oghuz tribes from the Aral Sea. Great admirers of the Byzantines, they were for a time their allies. But they will not stop conquering their territories until they seize Constantinople in 1453. The Ottomans gained a foothold in the Balkans in 1347 and progressed rapidly. The disappearance of the Nemanjić (1371) and the Serbian succession quarrels gave them the opportunity to push further. The decisive confrontation took place on June 28, 1389, near Pristina, and resulted in the defeat of the coalition led by the Serbs: the battle of Kosovo Polje thus marked the beginning of Ottoman domination over most of the Balkans. However, the new masters were content with a minimal presence, delegating power to Serbian kings (Lazarević) and Albanian lords (Dukagjin). We then note the installation of Turkish settlers, which coincides with the arrival of Roma who settle. But Kosovo remained poorly controlled: the last Christian bastion defended by Serbs and Albanians, the fortress of Novo Brdo fell in 1455. The Islamization of the population was late: it only really began in the sixteenth century and only through tax incentives. To administer the territory, the Ottomans are pragmatic and rely mainly on the Orthodox Church. This one sees rather a good eye the Catholic Albanians convert to Islam, since it harms the influence of the Pope. As for the mosques that were built during these five centuries, they were of modest construction compared to the masterpieces of Ottoman architecture found in Constantinople, for example. The sultans' lack of interest in Kosovo is even more striking when one considers the abandonment of the rich mines of Novo Brdo and Trepča. In fact, the Ottomans saw Kosovo mainly as an advanced base in the conflict between them and the Austrians and Hungarians (16th-18th centuries). On the spot, they were content to facilitate trade by maintaining the Roman roads and building charchias, the equivalent of Arab souks. Despite several Serbian-Albanian revolts and the brief capture of Kosovo by the Austrians and Hungarians in 1690, the populations enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. But the lack of economic development and the intellectual decline of the Ottoman Empire caused the rise of clan movements among the Albanians, the rise of national sentiment among the Serbs and the spread of haiduks (highwaymen). The situation became tense in 1878 when 60,000 Albanians were expelled from independent Serbia and found refuge in Kosovo. The demographic ratio was reversed: for the first time, the Slavs became a minority and demanded to be attached to Serbia. The Albanians, on the contrary, remained attached to the Ottoman tutelage and founded the League of Prizren. This movement took up arms until 1912, not to obtain independence, but to try to reform an empire in agony.

Anjeza Gonxha Bojaxhiu, canonized as Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 2016, is a contested symbol of the new Kosovar identity. Already, she is claimed as much by India (her adopted country), Northern Macedonia (her country of birth), Kosovo (the country of her parents) and Albania (her country of heart). If she "heard the call of God" in Kosovo, in Letnica (near Gjilan/Gnjilane), it is in India that the Catholic saint spent most of her life with the poor. She is also contested for her anti-Muslim stance and the embezzlement of money of which she is suspected. But in the eyes of a whole Albanian elite, the character has above all the merit of giving Kosovo and Albania the image of "less Muslim" countries. Since 2010, Pristina has the only cathedral in the world dedicated to Mother Teresa.

This war saw the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the face of the union formed by Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro. It resulted in the withdrawal of the Ottomans from the Balkans, the independence of Albania (November 28, 1912) and the annexation of territories by the victors. Serbia and Montenegro seized Kosovo in October 1912. The province then had 500,000 inhabitants, 50% of whom were Albanians, 25% Serbs and 10% Turks.

While the province was spared the Second Balkan War, which saw Bulgaria lose to its former allies, it was the scene of fighting between Serbian-Montenegrin forces and Albanian nationalists. Thousands of Muslims fled to Turkey and about 15,000 Albanians were killed in insurrections in Peja/Peć and Gjakova/Đakovica.

During the First World War, Serbia was invaded by Germany, Austria-Hungary and then Bulgaria in December 1915. About 400,000 Serbian soldiers and civilians fled to Corfu through Kosovo and Albania. Decimated by cold, hunger and constant attacks by Albanian armed bands, only 160,000 reached their destination. This "Albanian ordeal"(Albanska golgota) will remain engraved in the memory of the Serbian people. In Kosovo, under Bulgarian occupation, the communities were set against each other: while the first Albanian-language schools opened, Serbian schools were closed, Albanian paramilitaries patrolled the territory and 20,000 Serbs were massacred in 1917. In September 1918, the French army from Greece drove out the Bulgarians

Kosovo became part of the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. Serbia, traumatized by the war (it lost 20% of its population), ruled this "first Yugoslavia" with an iron fist and caused discontent everywhere. In Kosovo, Albanian schools were closed and 70,000 Serbian settlers moved in. However, the province benefited from an economic boom thanks to the restarting of mining activity in Trepča in 1920.

During World War II, the kingdom was invaded by Germany in April 1941. Throughout Yugoslavia, Serbs, Jews and Roma were targeted by Nazis and their Croatian and Albanian collaborators. A large part of Kosovo was incorporated into fascist Albania, which had been under Italian rule since 1939. While Tito's supporters waged a war of liberation in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, in Kosovo, armed actions were rare. It was mostly a question of massacres of Serbian partisans and civilians (about 30,000 dead) by the Vulnetari, local Albanian "volunteers. In 1943, the Germans took control of the entire province and created the SS Skanderbeg division, which recruited 6,500 Albanians locally. They participated in the deportation of Jews from Pristina and, from October 1944, they fought against Tito's army which entered Kosovo. The province was officially liberated on 22 November 1944. However, 10,000 Albanian nationalists and SS continued to fight until July 1945, some carrying out sporadic actions for another ten years

In 1945, Kosovo joined the Socialist Federation of Yugoslavia as a province of Serbia. Even though the Serbs were once again the main victims of the war (about 500,000 dead between 1941 and 1945), Tito intended not to repeat the mistakes of the "first Yugoslavia. Three objectives were set: reconciliation, autonomy and development. In Kosovo, reconciliation was achieved by glorifying the rare acts of resistance by Albanians during the war. This is evidenced by the large Miners' Monument in Mitrovica, which pays tribute to the Serbian and Albanian miners of Trepča who went on strike in April 1941. In fact, justice is implacable towards Albanians who collaborated with the Nazis. In 1963, the authorities also tried to curb the Albanian demographic boom (6 children per woman) by encouraging Muslims to go into exile in Turkey. But nothing happened. In 1991, the population reached 1.6 million, 81% of whom were Albanians. As for autonomy, it is more subtle. Kosovo is not a "republic" like Serbia, Croatia or small Macedonia, but an "autonomous region" of Serbia. This compromise makes it possible not to arouse Serb nationalism while offering advantages to other communities, such as education in local languages. Despite Tito's mistrust of the Albanians, Kosovo gradually gained a government (1963), a university (1969), a parliament, a court of justice and a protective status for Muslims (1974). Finally, Kosovo benefited from the tremendous economic development of Yugoslavia: 10% growth per year from 1950 to 1965. The province was modernized with the construction of roads, hospitals and new city centers that replaced the old Ottoman charchias. As for the Trepča conglomerate, it became the largest industrial group in the Federation with 23,000 employees in 1988. Kosovo nevertheless remains the poorest region of Yugoslavia. Weakened by the death of Tito (1980) and the financial crisis that hit the Federation, it became a hotbed of unrest.

In March 1981, following a series of violent attacks on Serbian symbols in Kosovo, including a fire at the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć, martial law was declared. This Albanian revolt resulted in 18 deaths and hundreds of arrests. In Serbia, the nationalist Slobodan Milošević used these tensions to come to power. Elected president in 1989, he immediately reduced the province's autonomy, then dissolved the Pristina parliament in 1990. In a show of bravado, Albanian deputies voted for a "Kosovo Constitution" and nationalist writer Ibrahim Rugova was soon elected "President of Kosovo" in a clandestine election. Milošević retaliated by strengthening police measures and attacking the rights of Albanians: the takeover of Kosovo should serve as an example to avoid the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was a lost cause: from 1991 onwards, all the republics, with the exception of Montenegro, declared their independence. This is the beginning of the Yugoslav wars. While the repression hardens in Kosovo, Serbian soldiers spread terror in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1995, Yugoslavia only includes Montenegro, Serbia and its province of Kosovo. But Milošević emerged victorious from the Bosnian conflict, which resulted in 100,000 deaths: thanks to Russia's diplomatic support, he obtained from the UN the creation of a vast semi-independent Serbian entity within Bosnia-Herzegovina. At the end of the Cold War, this was an affront to the United States. They will then do everything to punish Milošević and Serbia.

In June 1999, all Yugoslav civilian and military authorities withdrew from Kosovo. It was immediately placed under the supervision of the UN and NATO. The former manages the territory with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), which includes civil servants, police and judges. The latter deploys the Kosovo Force (KFOR), which initially has 50,000 soldiers, mainly British, American and French, to provide security. As for the KLA, officially dissolved, it gradually seized economic and political power, leaving only an honorary position to Rugova, Kosovo's first official president until his death in 2006. But the organization continued its armed actions against the Serbs in Kosovo (until December 2000) and in southern Serbia (until June 2001). It also triggered the last of the Yugoslav wars with the Albanian insurrection in Northern Macedonia (January-November 2001). Accused of war crimes, sexual abuse and even organ trafficking, the former leaders of the KLA were nevertheless covered by the West, led by the Frenchman Bernard Kouchner, head of UNMIK from 1999 to 2001. None of the so-called "commanders" have yet been convicted by international justice (a first trial began in late 2021), while most of the Serbian war criminals have already been tried and convicted, with the notable exception of Milošević, who died during his trial in 2006.

Despite significant financial aid from the European Union, Kosovo is sinking into poverty and unemployment (50% of the active population in 2006). KFOR and UNMIK are unable to enforce order. Victims of discrimination and violence, 300,000 Serbs, Roma and Gorans fled to Serbia, particularly after the anti-Serb riots of 2004 orchestrated by the "commanders. To satisfy the Albanian population, which had become the overwhelming majority (but which was leaving en masse for economic reasons), the latter unilaterally declared Kosovo's independence on February 17, 2008. The West, surprised and embarrassed, supported the former KLA: the United States and most of its allies recognized the new country, which nevertheless remained a part of Serbia under international law. The KFOR was reduced in size, and UNMIK was replaced by the European mission Eulex, which had fewer powers. The Kosovars now decide their own future. However, while corruption is at an all-time high, they continue to elect the "commanders" to power, election after election. These are the leaders of the country's two major Albanian parties (AAK on the right and PSD on the centre-left), and they blame Serbia for all their ills. However, after two decades of domination by the former KLA, things seem to be changing at last.

The "president-writer" is the most prominent figure in contemporary Kosovo. Polyglot and trained in Paris under Roland Barthes, Ibrahim Rugova was born in Cercë/Crnce (near Peja/Peć) into a nationalist Albanian and Muslim family that collaborated with the Nazis. From 1971, he wrote ten essays, one of which was translated into French, La Question du Kosovo (1994). An independent, he founded the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) in 1989, an Albanian party initially classified as far right. As a member of parliament in Pristina, he became the main local opponent of Milošević and was elected "President of Kosovo" in an unrecognized election in 1992. But he was gradually sidelined, as he was considered too pacifist by the KLA. However, he was appointed the first official president of Kosovo in 2002. Shortly before his death, he converted to Catholicism.

The Kosovars have elected a new parliamentary majority led by the Vetëvendosjel ("Self-determination" in Albanian) party. Born of a citizens' initiative, it intends to tackle corruption, poverty and unemployment in order to bring Kosovo into the EU. However, tensions remain high with Serbia. For example, at the end of 2021, the border was blocked following the ban on vehicles registered in Serbia entering Kosovo.