Kosovo and Metohija in 1929 - an attempt to solve the national question by dividing the Yugoslav state into banovinas

Abstract

The territory of Kosovo and Metohija in the period after the First World War until the introduction of the personal regime of King Alexander was part of the province of South Serbia within the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, until it became part of the Vranje, Kosovo, Raška and Zeta regions. According to the 1921 census, the largest number of inhabitants were Serbs and Albanians, but more than half of the population spoke the Albanian language. In the period before 1929, this area was characterized by cultural neglect, national separation, economic underdevelopment, traffic disconnection with other parts of the country, insufficient state control, tolerance of financial and legal malfeasance, and an uneasy border with the Albanian neighbour. In order to solve the national question and state crisis, the Yugoslav state was divided into nine banovinas, and Kosovo and Metohija became part of the Vardar, Moravian and Zeta banovinas. The Yugoslav idea in Kosovo and Metohija was opposed by the idea of a Greater Albanian state, which the members of the Kachaks movement and then the Kosovo Committee tried to achieve with the support of Germany and Italy. They augmented their activities with the approach of the Second World War. Propaganda was spread that Kosovo and Metohija should belong to Albania, by means of distributed books, brochures, and posters with a picture of the Albanian royal couple. The Albanians were hiding weapons, which was confirmed by the results of searches of the Albanian population at the border, where everything unusable was handed over to the authorities. They used Albanian flags and Albanian initials. During the Second World War, the path was opened for the creation of Greater Albania, and the banovinas ceased to exist.