The Emigration of Muslims from the New Serbian Regions 1877/1878

Abstract

This work deals with the muslim emigration from the « new countries » of Serbia during, and after, the serbo-turkish war of 1877-1878. Muslims represented a third of the population of these areas in 1877. Muslim country population was, in majority, Albanian, whereas city population was Turkish. The biggest muslim exodus took place during military operations, only a small part of muslims has emigrated soon after. In this work, the main causes of emigration are underlined, and they indicate a deep intolerance between christians and muslims in the Balkans.Migratory flux (whose description is depending on relying sources) follow military advances of Serbian troops. Albanians have been, intentionally, placed in Kosovo, near the new Serbo-Turkish frontier, whereas Turkish settled in cities in the Ottoman empire.The author has carefully examined the number of emigrants. Since now, everyone believed that 30 000 Albanians have flued from Serbia. But the author estimates that 71 000 muslims have emigrated from the kingdom of Serbia, including 49 000 Albanians. These numbers derived from a detailed analysis of each region and city of the « new Serbian countries ». Emigrants have been replaced by Serbs from the nearest regions of the Ottoman empire and from regions that have suffered of the 1876’s war.The muslim emigration has a deep impact on Serbia and on the Serbians. Yet, it was, at a certain time, a natural evolution in the state-building process of Serbia, which has begun in the 19th century.