Vilayet of Kosovo and Serb-ruled Kosovo in 742 reports

"Politik und Gesellschaft im Vilayet Kosovo und im serbisch beherrschten Kosovo 1870-1914. Berichte der Österreich-ungarischen Konsuln aus dem zentralen Balkan", seems to me a good answer to all the uses of the document and to the tendencies to "re-establish" history after the ideological upheavals that have occurred in the meantime: we have here in 4 books all the reports of Austro-Hungarian consuls for Kosovo from the Vilayet of Kosovo. The reports of the consuls are given in their original, mostly in German, but there are also French and Italian. Part of the reports are daily announcements by the consuls about what had happened in the space they covered, but very often there are also in-depth analyzes of the situation, of the relationships between different social actors and predictions of where things can move.

Dear friends and colleagues, today we are inaugurating a very important publication of the Austrian Academy of Sciences related to Kosovo: "Politik und Gesellschaft im Vilayet Kosovo und im serbisch beherrschten Kosovo 1870-1914. Berichte der Österreich-ungarischen Konsuln aus dem zentralen Balkan, (Politics and society in the Province of Kosovo and in Kosovo ruled by the Serbs. Notices of the Austro-Hungarian consuls from the Central Balkans), vol. IV, Wien 2020, with a total of over 2408 pages, prepared by Oliver Jens Schmitt and Eva Anne Frantz in collaboration with Sven Mörfsdorf, in five volumes, the last of which includes the critical apparatus of the publication, the various notes on the documents, the overview of documents, notes for places, for authors of reports, etc.

The Academy of Sciences of Austria is among the European institutions that are mostly concerned with the study of the issues of the Balkans and in this context also with Albanian issues, with history, with society, with culture, with geography, with their language and with their anthropology and has made valuable publications. The well-known Balkan Commission of this Academy has undertaken various research activities, made reports and published scientific works. Today, after the reforms, an institute has been created that is conceptually intended for Balkan studies, but which in fact deals intensively with Albanianology (there are included: Oliver Jens Schmitt, Michael Matzinger, Robert Pichler, Konrad Petrovszky, then also Stefan Schumacher and others ). In the framework of cooperation with this Institute, our Academy has participated twice in scientific conferences and the inauguration of ASHAK publications (the works of W. Fiedler and Jokl published by ASHAK). Since 2006, ASHAK has had a cooperation agreement with the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and today we are pleased to inaugurate a great work of hers before the scientific community.

The authors of the publication are: Oliver Jens Schmitt, regular member of the Austrian Academy, Chairman of the Commission for Social Sciences and member of the Presidency, professor of the University of Vienna for the history of Eastern Europe, external member of ASHAK since 2012 (this was not mentioned in the media these days), author of numerous works, among which are mentioned:

2001 Das venezianische Albanien (1392–1479), München 2001 (Albanian 2007);

2005 Levantine - Lebenswelten und Identitaten einer ethnoconfessionellen Gemeinschaft im Osmanischen Reich im "langen 19. Jahrhundert". München 2005 (French 2007).

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2008 Kosovo: kurze Geschichte einer zentralbalkanischen Landschaft, Vienna, 2008.

2011 Korčula under the domination of Venice in the 15th century, Paris 2011 (e-book).

2012 Die Albaner – eine Geschichte zwischen Orient und Occident, 2012, ed. second 2018 (Albanian 2012; Italian 2020).

2014 Skanderbeg – der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan, Regensburg 2009 (Albanian 2008, Romanian 2014).

2016 Căpitan Codreanu – Aufstieg und Fall des Rumänischen Faschistenführers. Wien 2016 (Romanian 2017).

2018 România în 100 de ani, Bucharest 2018.

2019: Der Balkan im 20. Jahrhundert. Eine postimperiale Geschichte, Stuttgart 2019 (translated into Italian 2021, Romanian 2021, Albanian 2022)

He has prepared for publication large volumes of summaries of studies on the history of Southeast Europe, on the Europe of the regions, etc. His studies stand out for the views of developments in wider European and Balkan contexts with support in historical analyses, in the most complete documentation, for all-round views and especially for controversial questions and issues, for which he has often sparked discussions. In a word, in the perception of us non-historians, we are talking about a researcher who not only brings positive knowledge to the issues he deals with, but also raises discussions and various issues, incites debates. The Albanian scientific opinion everywhere is aware of the Albanian scientific activity of OJ Schmitt: until now his works "Arbëria Venetice" (Tirana), "Kosova" (Pristina), "Skënderbeu" (Tirana), "Albanians" (Albanians) have been translated. Tirana) and now "The Balkans in sh. XX" (Pristina). In all his works, the wealth of archival materials, their review and critical analysis is striking. In ASHAK, in collaboration with Professor Schmitt, the project for Hasan Prishtina as a multidimensional political figure is aimed at, for which a part of the archival material has already been collected.

Eva Anne Frantz is the other historical researcher of the Southeast European space, also with studies in Munich, also in the department of the Albanian language (years '97-'99), participant of the Prishtina Seminar, outstanding researcher on the history of Albanian issues. In 2016, he published the book "Gewalt und Koexistenz. Muslime und Christen im spätosmanischen Kosovo (1870-1913)" (Violence and coexistence. Muslims and Christians in late Ottoman Kosovo) by Degruyter Oldenburg, in 430 pages, where he deals with the exact space and time for which the reports we have are included in previous editions. We are dealing with two outstanding connoisseurs of archival matter in general, and Austro-Hungarian archives in particular. Their collaborator Sven Mörsdorf is also a researcher with interests in the Balkans and South-Eastern Europe and connoisseur of archives.

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The volumes in front of us bring the reports of the Austro-Hungarian consuls mainly from Kosovo/Kosovo Province - specifically from Prizren, Skopje, Mitrovica, but sometimes also from Manastir, Shkodra, Thessaloniki, Belgrade, Vienna or Istanbul. So we have a first territorial definition: "Kosovo Province" from 1918 until the end of the Ottoman Empire, including the two turbulent Balkan years under Serbian rule. The Vilayet of Kosovo encompassed an area slightly wider than the Republic of Kosovo today - Sanjak and Jeni Pazar (today in Serbia/Montenegro), Plava and Gusina in Montenegro, Presheva and the valley in Serbia and parts of the northwestern area of ​​Macedonia of today's North. In a word, we are dealing with one of the most important parts of European Turkey in its last stages.

This in itself means that these broad reporting views include political, economic and other interests and reports that connect the majority Albanian people of this area with others - Serbs, Bulgarians, Slavic Muslims, Malaysians and relevant organizations within the country in relation to the Ottoman administration, on the one hand, but also in relation to the claimant states around - Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro. In this case, the interest of other great powers - Russia, Italy, as well as France, Germany, Britain, and especially Austria-Hungary - will not be forgotten. In addition to the direct sources of the Ottoman administration, which have not yet been completely clarified, the reports of the Russian consuls present since then, the reports of Italian sources, Serbian consuls, Bulgarian sources, and others, some of which have already been published, but may still be revealed. It seems that the reports of the Austro-Hungarian consuls, both in terms of intensity and quality of analysis, seem superior compared to others.

All of them have had their direct or indirect interests in these spaces. Of course, the most important aspect of these developments is that of the direct participants, which are the Albanians, even though they are the most absent. In order to create an objective overview of the situation and developments in this space at this time, it is necessary to take into account all these sources. Some of them have already been published, sometimes only in fragments, or with an interested selection, other times more complete, sometimes only in translations, which do not provide the possibility of verification, etc. It is a legitimate and fair request that, if possible, in order to create a complete overview of the developments and the situation in Kosovo at this time, all these source materials should be published, so that we can then judge taking into account the interests that represent the relevant resources, as well as the situation and developments in the country. Thus it becomes possible to avoid hasty judgments, sometimes based exclusively on the interests of an environment, of course, even for us who are not unacceptable historians, as was the case with Teodora Toleva's book "The influence of Austria-Hungary on the formation of the nation Albanian 1896-1908, dissertation defended in Barcelona, ​​published in German in Klagenfurt-Vienna-Ljubljana in 2013, translated into Bulgarian immediately and Serbian in 2016, Albanian in Tirana in 2018, with comments such as those of the Bulgarian academician Markov on the establishment, construction , the construction, to look more modern with Gellner's term, of the Albanian nation from Austria-Hungary (Markov said: four nations in the Balkans have their homes: the Turks - Ataryrk, the Macedonians and Bosniaks - Tito, while the Austrian Albanians -Hungary). And all this was propagated in the name of a new "positivism" based on the "truths" that the author finds through selected documents, or in other cases interpreted, with the aim of rejecting the entire "official" historiography about Albanians , which, according to her, was that of S. Skand, P. Bartl and D. Schanderl, who also took into account the documents in question. There is no doubt that the book in question by the author, who no longer lives, was used in circles interested in Kosovo, in Serbia and Bulgaria, as can be seen from the reactions on the networks.

The publication before us seems to me to be a good response to all the uses of the document and to the tendencies to "re-establish" history after the ideological upheavals that have occurred in the meantime: we have here in 4 books all the reports of the Austro-Hungarian consuls for Kosovo from Vilajeti of Kosovo. The reports of the consuls are given in their original, mostly in German, but there are also French and Italian. Part of the reports are daily announcements by the consuls about what had happened in the space they covered, but very often there are also in-depth analyzes of the situation, of the relationships between different social actors and predictions of where things can move. The last aspect gains weight especially when we know that often such consular representatives were connected or were immersed in the political developments in the country in different forms. In terms of knowing the state of the Vilayet at that time, both of these proceedings are of considerable importance. The inclusion of all the reports excludes the interested selection of documents, which often occurs in historiographical reviews. At the same time, they raise the need for recognition and other surrounding documents.

The rapporteurs are consuls of Austria-Hungary, who have received education and experience which rests on the interests of this multinational Empire. Beyond the instruction which must have been similar and which, according to the reports, seems to have been of a very high quality in terms of observing and interpreting social relations, we must take into account the equally important fact that the multinational character of the two-headed empire allowed the possibility of intervention in such reports and slightly more specific interests of reporters-analysts according to their affiliation. It is noticeable that these reporters, representatives of the state of Austria-Hungary, are often from other areas, which were either independent as states, or were in political-state processes that could be specifically interested in the developments in these parts of the Balkans. We meet there consuls who come from the Slovenian, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, even Serbian or Croatian areas, among others. It is understood that the reports were addressed to senior officials of the foreign ministry. However, I noticed that other interests could be related. Searching in this archive for cultural aspects such as the Literary Commission of Shkodra, I came across an unsigned letter from an Austrian soldier addressed to his superior in Vienna with the observation that in the command structures on the ground there were many officials who addressed Albanians in South Slavic languages . The explanation he had received – they understand, was not enough for him and begged the question: where does this lead? To avoid ambiguities of this kind, the authors of these summaries have chosen to provide the reader with brief biographical notes on each reporter and on their recipients. Volume V of the publication is filled with notes of this type.

after reading all this material, it remains necessary to draw important conclusions about the situation, to see the other materials, mentioned above, or the letters, letters and reactions of the Albanians themselves, as well as the developments on the ground. In one publication, let's say, on the basis of documents of this provenance, conclusions were drawn about the degree of lack of national/ethnic awareness among the inhabitants of the Vilayet at that time. But it is forgotten that it remains difficult in that case to explain organizations such as the League of Prizren, the League of Peja or the big explosions that took place in the years 1908-1910. Related to this is the assumption that processes of violence in the region will have arisen specifically after the 70s and after the migration of the Muhajirs from Sanxhak i Nis in 1878. It is understood that such movements of the population will have created concerns. But there have been such movements earlier, either towards the north or the opposite. Thus the Serbian ethnologist and historian Tihomir R. Ðorđević in Barić's "Archive", book I, 1-2, ff. 197-201, 1923, reported on the Arnauts in Serbia at the time of Knez Miloš (1815-1839) and on the processes of their expulsion from the town of Aleksinac to Niš e Leskovci and further to Arnautlluk, through violence, through the purchase of properties from the state, etc. It was about whole neighborhoods, which could have come there from Gollaku looking for a better life. A large part of those emigrants subsequently got involved in social and property conflict processes in the areas where they came, that is, in Albanian environments with Albanians and others. In those conflicts, religious differences, traditions, social situation, language, relations with the Ottoman government, etc. were connected.

The period referred to in the documents of this publication includes the first phase of the Eastern Question, the time of stabilization efforts by the Ottoman government, but also the Serbian-Bulgarian competition for the Ottoman heritage in the Balkans, the reactions of the Albanian population, generally the manifestations of ethnic-national identifications, the Serbo-Malaysian/Ottoman wars (1876), the Congress of Berlin, the League of Prizren, the League of Peja, the Greco-Ottoman wars, the appearance of Bulgarian-Macedonian committees and the Ilinden uprising, the overthrow of the Young Turks, the Albanian uprisings in 1910 -12, the fall of the Ottoman rule, the Serbian invasion, etc.

742 reports are included in these volumes, mostly from Prizren, then from Skopje, and later from Mitrovica, less from Belgrade, Shkodra, Manastir, Thessaloniki and Istanbul. The reports are written in German, but there are also French and Italian. The quality of the reports is high, reports of developments are clearly distinguished from analyzes of the situation or even from forecasts. In many cases, one can read real views with sociological sense about the situation. It seems that the reporters received special education for their work and in this respect they differ significantly from the reports found from other non-Austro-Hungarian environments and centers.

The publication is interrupted by a long preface by Oliver Jens Schmitt, where explanations are given for the space, for the Province, for the relations between the various population/state actors, the great powers, popular movements, conflicts, etc. There is also a note of a more technical archival nature by Eva Anne Frantz. All reports are accompanied by notes and explanations, whether geographical-toponomastic or other.

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all of which make the publication easier to use. Overall, we have before us a publication prepared to the highest criteria for the publication of archival documents, accompanied by instructions and extremely useful. From the scientific-cultural point of view, we must be grateful to the editors of the publication and the publisher – the Austrian Academy of Sciences for giving us such valuable help. From the cultural point of view, we would like to have them translated into Albanian and, of course, to have publications of other sources of this time - Ottoman, Italian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Greek and others with this quality of preparation. We congratulate the authors for the work they have done, while we wish the Austrian Academy not to end there.

Speech on the occasion of the inauguration of the publication Politik und Gesellschaft im Vilayet Kosovo und im serbisch beherrschten Kosovo 1870-1914. Berichte der Österreich-ungarischen Konsuln aus dem zentralen Balkan, IV, total 2408 ff., Hg. von Oliver Jens Schmitt und Eva Anne Frantz unter Mitarbeit von Sven Mörsdorf, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 2020, at the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Pristina, March 22, 2022. Published with permission of the author.