The Resolutions of the League of Prizren

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1878The Resolutions of the League of Prizren

On 10 June 1878, delegates from all over Albania assembled in Prizren to work out a common

political platform to counter the Treaty of San Stefano and the resolutions of the Congress of

Berlin, which had ignored the Albanian wish for self-determination. The League of Prizren, Alb.Lidhja e Prizrenit, no doubt initially had the tacit support of the Ottoman government. Amongthe most prominent participants of the League of Prizren were Abdyl bey Frashri, Sulejman

Vokshi and Ymer Prizreni. On 13 June 1878, the League submitted an eighteen-pagememorandum to Benjamin Disraeli, the British representative at the Congress of Berlin,

announcing: Just as we are not and do not want to be Turks, so we shall oppose with all ourmight anyone who would like to turn us into Slavs or Austrians or Greeks. We want to be

Albanians. The Kararname, resolutions of the League of Prizren, were passed and signed byforty-seven Albanian beys on 18 June 1878.

After this historic meeting, which served to promote the national awakening, Abdyl bey Frashri

returned to southern Albania where he organized a League committee and began gatheringtroops to oppose the annexation of the south of the country by Greece. A key assembly of Muslim

and Christian landowners at the Bektashi monastery of his native village of Frashr adopted aprogram for autonomy, which was accepted by the League in Prizren on 27 November 1878. Its

agenda was later published by Sami bey Frashri in the Constantinople daily newspaperTercmn-i-ark (The Oriental Interpreter). In 1879, Abdyl bey travelled to Berlin, Paris,

Vienna and Rome with Mehmed Ali Vrioni to seek support for the Albanian cause and to submita memorandum of Albanian demands to the Great Powers. In mid-1880, a programme for

Albanian autonomy was passed by delegates of the national movement in Gjirokastra. By the endof April 1881, the Ottoman authorities had had enough and sent in troops to quell the uprising,

and the League of Prizren was suppressed.

The League of Prizren is considered the beginning of the long struggle against the Ottoman

Empire and against Albanias neighbours for the countrys self-determination andindependence. The original venue of the League of Prizren is commemorated by a small museum,

which has now been rebuilt, after being razed to the ground by Serb forces during the KosovaWar on 27 March 1999.

The texts provided here are: 1) the sixteen-point Resolutions (Kararname) of the League, 2) the

nineteen-point Instructions (Talimat) of the League on the organisation of a governmentadministration and the creation of an army, and 3) an auxiliary eight-point Decree on the

organisation of the army and its deployment.

Resolutions (Kararname) of the Prizren Committee for National Defence, signed by 47

Muslim deputies from the districts of Prizren, Gjakova, Ipek [Peja], Gucia, Yeni Pazar[Novi Pazar], Sjenica, Tashlidja [Plevlja], Mitrovica, Vuitrn [Vushtrria], Prishtina,


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Gjilan, Skopje, Kalkandelen [Tetova], Kirchova [Krova / Kievo], Gostivar, and Lowerand Upper Dibra.

Article 1Our league has come together to oppose any government other than that of the Sublime Porte and

to defend our territorial integrity by all possible means.Article 2It is our most earnest intention to preserve the imperial rights of our Lord, the irresponsibleperson of His Highness the Sultan. We will therefore regard as foes of our nation and fatherlandall those who counteract this intention and cause a disturbance, as well as all those whoendeavour to weaken the authority of the Government and those who assist in such endeavours,until they mend their ways, and we will eject from our territories those who make trouble for theloyal inhabitants of the country.

Article 3

We will willingly accept delegates from other districts who wish to join our League and willregister them in the national list as friends of the Government and the country.

Article 4In accordance with our noble religious law (sheriat), we will protect the lives, property andhonour of our loyal non-Muslim compatriots as our own, but yet we will act against rebels andpunished them according to circumstance and venue.

Article 5All expenditures for the troops to be mustered by the districts will be covered under directives tobe issued. Auxiliary troops from abroad will be gratefully welcomed into our ranks.

Article 6In view of the situation in the Balkans, we will not allow any foreign troops to enter our territory.We will not recognize Bulgaria and do not even wish to hear its name mentioned. If Serbia doesnot agree to give up the regions it has occupied illegally, we will deploy volunteer corps(akindjiler) against it and do our utmost to bring about the return of these regions. We will do thesame with Montenegro.

Article 7We will support our fellow countrymen and those faithful to the Government in the Balkans whohave shown that they support our League. We will assist one another in times of need. There willbe no lack of mutual support and understanding.

Article 8Should one district encounter opposition in carrying out the objectives of the League, theneighbouring districts will come to its aid and will provide requisite support to achieve thedesired objectives.


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Instructions (Talimat) from the Albanian League on the organization of the administrationand the creation of its army. The League assumes the functions of a government.

Article 1In implementation of the Resolutions of the League, a central administration will be set up in the

town of Prizren, consisting of persons elected as the best representatives of each sandjakgoverning the administration of all the kazas. In turn, local branches of the central administrationwill be set up in each kaza, using the most capable figures of the towns and municipalitiesthereof. In their written correspondence with one another, the members of this administrationwill use their personal seals.

Site of the League of Prizren, razedby Serb forces on 27 March 1999(Photo: Robert Elsie, July 1999).


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Article 2Apart from the deputies sworn in by the central administration, all the other functionaries willreturn to their homes and set up local branches of administration for the kazas as soon aspossible, and, within a period of 10-15 days, will make ready the armed forces mustered there.To this end, they are to inform the central administration of the sandjaks of their activities, and

act according to the responses they receive from it.Article 3Each kaza is to [recruit] the requisite number of soldiers in two phases and ensure that they bemade ready for duty.

Article 4In addition, should any of the local branches of the administration require armed forces, eachkaza will second regular troops to the place in question, corresponding to the number of soldiersthey have registered and who are able to bear arms.

Article 5Should our enemies attack before the Congress [of Berlin], currently underway, takes itsdecisions, the nearest kazas are to second a sufficient number of troops, recruiting them in a masscall-up. The kazas not situated in the immediate vicinity of the fighting are to second theirregular troops to the regions in question without delay, as soon as they are so informed hereof bythe central administration,

Article 6The head of command, major and other officers of the army, that is to be set up in an orderlyfashion in line with the registry carried out in each region, will be appointed with the approval ofthe local population.

Article 7The local branches of administration in the sandjaks and kazas must carry out a detailed check ofthe number of soldiers at their disposal, and none of the officers is to offer any opposition to this.

Article 8As soon as the deputies return to their homes, they are to carry out a detailed inventory of theamounts and kinds of weapons available to the population of each kaza, and are to inform thecentral administration thereof.

Article 9All men of the kaza deemed fit for military service shall be sent into battle immediately. Shouldany of these men refuse to go to battle, or should they set off and harm the local population ontheir way, or flee from the battlefield, their houses will be burnt down or, according to thegravity of the offense, they will be sentenced to death or deported to some distant region wherethey will do their military service in the ranks of the regular army. Should there be men amongthem who have no houses and who go into hiding at the homes of their relatives or in houses ofother people, the owners to these homes giving shelter to them will be severely punished in linewith the gravity of the offense.


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Article 10Should a soldier from a kaza flee the battlefield, or while on marching orders, take refuge inanotherkaza, the local population of that kaza must arrest him immediately and hand him over tothe local authorities. If the people of that kaza hide him, they will be severely punished.

Article 11The members of the councils of elders, together with the imams and muftis of each town, villageand hamlets in the kaza, are to provide detailed information, without any exception, on thenumber of men capable of bearing arms in their villages and hamlets. Anyone not obeying thisregulation or abusing his authority will be severely punished.

Article 12Each officer, irrespective of rank, is to provide his commanding officer with the exact number ofregistered and trained soldiers under his orders. Should he not inform his superior or exaggeratethe number of men under his command, he will be punished for abuse of power.

Article 13Committees for the distribution of booty are to be set up in the military camps that are to conductan inventory of the booty and distribute animals captured from the enemy as booty during thefighting.

Article 14Should at any given time one or more units sent from camp into battle capture animals as booty,this booty must be divided up in front of a special committee and shared with the other units thatdid not capture any booty, the distribution being made on the basis on the number of rifle-bearing men. The aforementioned committees must hand over the respective portion of theanimals to the officers to be distributed to the surviving soldiers or to the families of those who

fell in battle that day. Soldiers who remained at the camp and did not take part in the fightingwill not receive any animals captured from the enemy. Should the soldiers who originally seizedthe booty be put to flight and other soldiers come to their rescue, defending them and saving theseized animals, they will have a right to be counted in the distribution of the booty like theoriginal soldiers. All other objects taken from the enemy as booty, aside from the animals, willbelong to the person who captured them.

Article 15Should an officer or a soldier send home any animals that were seized from the enemy as booty,instead of handing them over to the booty committee, the local branch of the kaza administrationwill seize the animals and send them back to the camp. In such a case, the soldier havingcommitted this offense forfeits his right to any of the booty.

Article 16For the period during which the League is active, the local branches of the administration foreach kaza may recruit and employ as many people as they need.

Article 17Beasts of burden, ammunition and other military equipment needed by the army that are to be


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provided by each kaza will be made available with the approval and by decision of the localbranches of the kaza administration.

Article 18Should any officer, irrespective of rank, be relieved of his duties because of an offense he has

committed, another capable officer will be chosen and appointed to replace him, with theapproval of all the members of the committee set up to this end, made up of other officers of thedivision in question.

Article 19With regard to military organisation, each company must be composed of one hundred men, andhave a captain, a lieutenant, five sergeants, ten corporals and one emin [keeper of accounts]. Fourcompanies of infantry and one company of cavalry, a total of five hundred men, will make up abattalion that will have one commander, one deputy commander, one imam, one battalionsecretary and a sufficient number of flag-bearers. The beasts of burden of the battalion are to beincorporated into the cavalry units. For every four battalions there will be a colonel, a regiment

secretary and a lieutenant-colonel, and the forces of two colonels will be commanded by ageneral. Wages and other requisites for these officers will be regulated by State instructions forthe regular army. It was noted above that a commander and the officers under his orders willhave at their disposal five hundred men, but if needs be, this number may be reduced to threehundred. A person commanding over 2,500 men will have the rank of a general.

Decree on the organization of the army and the deployment of its units where they are

needed.

Article 1To defend the regions of Gucia [Gusinje] and Rugova, 2,000 soldiers from Gjakova are to beseconded to Gucia and 1,000 from Peja are to be seconded to Rugova. All these soldiers belongto the Kosova division.

Article 2Since Gjakova has enough forces to defend itself, 1,000 men are to be recruited in Novi Pazarand seconded to defend Kolashin [Kolain].

Article 3Since the local population is not in a position to defend ajnica [ajnie], Tashlidja [Pljevlja]and Foa [Foa], 2,000 men from the Novi Pazar army are to be sent those regions.

Article 4An army is also to be formed in Herzegovina. The troops of this army will consist of 30,000 menrecruited from the population of the Sandjak of Hercegovina and troops mustered in Sarajevo.This army will defend the region from Gacko to Trebinje.


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Article 7An army, made up of Albanians, is to be formed in Kosova. This army will defend the regionfrom Mitrovica to the kaza of Gjilan and will join forces with the army of Skopje in that area. Itwill consist of 70,000 men.

Article 8An army is also to be formed in Skopje that will march on Palanka with a view to joining forceswith the army of Kosova. It will consist of 40,000 men. The Shkodra Corps will consist of30,000 men. Thus, the total number of troops in the national army (not including the SarajevoCorps) will reach 190,000, divided into 380 battalions (150,200 infantrymen and 39,800cavalrymen).

We hereby sign and place our seals to these Instructions consisting of nineteen articles and to thisDecree consisting of eight articles, passed with our approval, so that the institutions concernedact in full accord with the contents thereof and that the provisions thereof be kept in force inwartime and in peacetime.

5/18 June 1878

/47 signatures/

The representative of Upper Dibra, Mirmiran Iljaz,The representative of Gjakova, Mirmiran Abdullah,The representative of Tetova, the noble Fevzi Rexhep,The representative of Tetova, Mehmet Esat (seal missing),

The representative of Tetova, Hasan Masharnuredin, mirallaj,The representative of Upper Dibra, the noble Mehmet Sadik,The representative of Prizren, the noble Hajrulla Nursin,The representative of Luma near Prizren, the noble Mehmet,The representative of Mat, the noble Hasan Riza,The representative of Ohrid, the nobel Mehmet Reshat,The representative of Skopje, the noble Adburrahmen Sirri,The representative of Skopje, the noble Mustafa Sabri,The representative of Peja, the noble Halil,The representative of Lower Dibra, the noble Ahmet Sabri,The representative of Mitrovica, the noble Osman Ali,The representative of Prishtina, the noble Esseid Mehmet,The representative of Yeni Pazar [Novi Pazar], Ali,The representative of Yeni Pazar [Novi Pazar], Ejup,The representative of Mitrovica, Osman Qahil [Qamil?],The representative of Sjenica, Mustafa Abdu,The representative of Sjenica, Masharnuredin Zejnelabedin,The representative of Prizren, Murteza,The representative of Tashlidja [Plevlja], the Musfti Esseid Mehmet Nuredin,


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The representative of Prizren, Abdylhalim Nefi,The representative of Prizren, Himi S[],The representative of Vushtrria, Hysein Shaip,The representative of Gjakova, Mehmet,The representative of Peja, Hamdi Shaban,

The representative of Dibra, Molla Iljaz,The representative of Dibra, Bajram Masharnuredin,The representative of Dibra, Enver Ismail Minhel [Binhel?]The representative of Dibra, MehmetThe representative of Tetova, Abdurreuf [Abdyl Reuf?],The representative of Tetova, Sadik,The representative of Tetova, Mehmet,The representative of Gostivar, el-Haxhi Zylbehar,The representative of Skopje, Esseid Mehmet Xheladin,The representative of Skopje, Jashar,The representative of Gjakova, Mehmet Kahreman,

The representative of Gjakova, Syleiman Vokshi [seal missing],The representative of Peja, Zejnel,The representative of Peja, Iljaz,The representative of Peja, Sali,The representative of Krova, Ahmet Syla,The representative of Gjilan, Sahit,The representative of Gjilan, Rashit,The representative of Vushtrria, Kadri,The representative of Vushtrria, Ilmi Abdurrahman,The representative of Gucia, Ibrahim Lutfi Masharnuredin,The representative of the Catholic population of Prizren [name and seal missing].

[from: HHStA, Vienna, Consulate of Shkodra, Note 64, AIH, A-VI-10, p. 73-77. Appendix to areport by Austro-Hungarian consul Jelinek of Prizren, to Consul Lippich in Shkodra, 13 July1878;Akte t Rilindjes Kombtare Shqiptare, 1878-1912 (Tirana: Instituti i Historis 1978), p.40-48; andLa Ligue albanaise de Prizren, 1878-1881 (Tirana: Institut dHistoire 1988), p. 55-65. Translated from the German, Albanian and French by Robert Elsie. The original OttomanTurkish version is missing.]

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The Resolutions of the League of Prizren