League of Prizren

The League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation, commonly known as the Prizren League (in Albanian: Lidhja and Prizrenit) was an Albanian political organization founded on June 10, 1878 in Prizren, of Kosovo of the Ottoman Empire.

The treaties of San Stefano and Berlin had assigned areas that were also inhabited by Albanians to other states. The inability of the Sublime Gate to protect the interests of a region that was Muslim at 70 per cent and largely loyal to the Empire forced the Albanian leaders not only to organize their defense but also to create an autonomous administration similar to the ones they had The League began a program of reform on five main areas: the defense of the territories claimed before the aspirations of Serbia, Montenegro and Greece; the creation of a single "supra-province" in the Empire that integrated the Valiates of Kosovo, Monastir, Ioánnina and Shkodra; a military service confined to Albania in normal times; establishment of national schools to develop national education in Albanian written with Latin alphabet; and also some control over provincial finances. It was formed by prominent personalities such as Sami Frashëri, Pashko Vasa, Abdyl Frashëri, Ali Beg Shabanagaj and 80 other delegates, including clan leaders and religious authorities.

The League successfully maneuvered politically against the annexation of Ottoman territories by Serbia (claiming Kosovo) and Montenegro (which claimed Shkodra). Greece, on the other hand, claimed the rich Valiato of Ioánnina, known today as Epirus. Although in the end these three countries annexed disputed territories as a result of their successes in the First Balkan War of 1912-1913, the League succeeded in awakening Albanian national consciousness. In addition to the activity of the Prizren League, the work of the founders of the League, such as Sami Frashëri, was also important for the foundation of the "Albanian Renaissance" (Rilindja Kombetarë). His plays, such as Besa Yahud Ahde Vefta, represented in front of Ottoman audiences and his encyclopedia written in Turkish and dedicated to the general history of the world but with special to the Albanians, raised the consideration of the contribution they had made to the Empire Ottoman. In addition, the distribution of petitions to cities such as London, Paris and Berlin showed in Europe that the Albanians of the Ottoman Empire were nationally mobilized and active, in a position to demand the independence of the dying Ottoman giant. The League was dissolved in 1881 and partially reorganized, but without success.

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