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Kosovo Essay, Research Paper

Kosovo, the province of the previous Yugoslavia is in the center of attention of the whole world. Not many people know, what was really going on in the cruelest war in the Balkans of southeast Europe. Why Kosovars have been fighting for their independence-did they even have the right to do that? This is the most common question asked in many conversations of concerned people around the world. Kosovars, though they share a long common history with the Serbs, have a right and reasons to establish their own independence.

Kosovars history, language, religion, and their numbers in the province of Kosovo have defined them as a separate nation with a right of self-determination and sovereignty. For a long time in history of Yugoslavia “Kosovo Albanians were refused, by dominated by Serbs Yugoslavia’s government, their constitutional rights. Now, after peacefully waiting for some changes, they demand at least their recognition as republic quoting on “their homogeneity, their cultural distinctiveness, and the size of their population, which is no less than that of other communities considered as ‘nations’” (Samary 122).

Currently the majority of the Kosovars are ethnic Albanians. Practically all are Muslim. They converted to Islam from Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity during 500 years of Ottoman Empire rule. (Language 1) Islam has become a major role in the development of their culture and is a main element of their national individualism. Kosovo is a spectacular region with 2 million Albanian inhabitants (Pryce Jones 24). Today Ethnic Albanians create 90% of the whole population of Kosovo. Serbs, Montenegrins, Muslim Slavs and Croats compose the other 10%, with the majority of Serbs among (Curtis 293). Before the end of World War II Serbs made up about half of the population of Kosovo. Most of them left the region for more prosperous parts of Yugoslavia. The structure of Kosovo s population was changed by the fast growth of the Albanians. The least developed region of Yugoslavia had its population in demographic youth. Annual growth rates of Kosovo in 1986 was one of the highest in Europe (2.5%), unfortunately infant mortality rate, a key indicator of population s social, economic, health care, a cultural levels, was highest among all Yugoslavia s republics (63.1 compare to Vojvodina 12.0 infant deaths per thousand births) (Curtis 68-9).

The major characteristic that unifies a group of people is their language. The language is the factor that separates nationalities from each other and forms countries. Ethnic Albanians speak totally different language that any other ethnic group in previous Yugoslavia. They speak Indo-European language as old as Latin and as different I vocabulary and grammar from Serbian as Italian is from Russian. (Language 1). Since the early 1980s Albanians have boycotted state education system and they have been sending their children to schools funded by Albanians living abroad. As a reason of that many young Albanians do not speak Serbian and Serbs never learn Albanian (Language 1). The rules of the Serbian government brought even worse socioeconomic standards. In 1971 36% of Kosovo s Albanians were illiterate (Ramet 189).

The secondary reasons Kosovars seek to maintain their independence is their history and religion. Albanians are descendents of Illyrians, who came to this region from the east in at least 1000 BC. Slavic speakers arrived here by the sixth century ( Albanians and Serbs ). The Serbs dominated the Balkans under Stefan Dusan (1331-55). He conquered the land from Belgrade to present day southern Greece. After his death in 1355 rival nobles divided Serbia and switch loyalty to Turkish sultan in 1371. During that period large numbers of Turkish Muslims settled in the Balkans (Curtis 17). Later on, Serbs made an attempt to free themselves from Turkish patronage and the most powerful Serbian prince, Lazar Hrebeljanovic, raised a multinational force to engage the Turks in the battle of Kosovo Polje on St. Vitus Day in 1389. The Turks hardly defeated Lazar and both prince and sultan died (Curtis 17). Until today the Serbs endowed that battle with myths of honors and heroism that helped them preserve their own dignity and sense of nationhood. The anniversary of that battle is the Serbian National Holiday, Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day), June 28 (Curtis 17). What followed was a long Turkish dominance of Serbs that also resulted in a conversion of many Serbs and Albanians to Islam.

As much as the mosaic of the Balkans is shown in the multinationalism of the region, it is also strongly divided along the religious lines. Catholics of Slovenia and Croatia, Muslims of Bosnia and Kazoo, as well as Eastern Orthodox followers of Serbia are the three most important religions of the region. Judaism and Protestantism are also present but are numerically marginal and do not affect the ethnic relations. The followers of all major religions of the region believe in their special role and superiority over others. Serbs who s Orthodoxy is a distinctive sign of their identity are still proud that even in the hardest oppression time never changed their religion for that one of occupant (Samary 37). Many of them claim that they are Heavenly People and that God protects Serbs . Many Croats and Slovenes claim that God protects them , and that they are under the patronage of the Holy Virgin Mary and Muslims felt that it was they who were doing Allah s will, whereas Christians were infidels (Mojzes 43-4).

Ethnic conflicts and hatred were the negative results of a mixed nation under the power of the Serbian government. The hatred among the ethnic and religious groups of the Balkans became a target of a campaign of Josip Bros Tito. His policy was to unite all Balkan nations into a federation of equal and free people. His slogan of Brotherhood and Unity was not empty demagoguery in a

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