Hasan Berisha, later known as Hasan Prishtina, was an Albanian patriot and politician who played a prominent role in the Albanian national movements of the early 20th century. Born in Vushtrri on September 27, 1873 to a family that originated from Polac in Drenicë, he received a formal education in Thessaloniki and later Istanbul before becoming involved in Ottoman politics.
In 1908, he was elected to the Ottoman Parliament as a representative of Prishtina. During this time, he was affiliated with the CUP, also known as the Young Turks, whose revolution in July of that year had already brought about a new period of constitutional parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire. The revolution was strongly supported by many Albanians as the Young Turks promised to respect their traditional rights and give them greater autonomy within the Ottoman empire. Prishtina was crucial in rallying Albanian support for the Young Turks, based on the belief that the issues of the Albanians would be addressed, ultimately helping to secure their victory. Once the revolution succeeded, however, the Young Turks became uneasy at the widespread and growing expression of Albanian national sentiments and the possibility of Albanian independence.
Prishtina along with other prominent leaders such as Ismail Qemali, Shahin Kolonja, and Nexhip Draga formed a coalition advocating for the political rights of the Albanians. After securing the abdication of the Sultan in April of 1909 following a failed counterrevolution, the CUP began to take more aggressive measures against Albanian figures and groups who expressed such sentiments. They began to outlaw Albanian nationalist societies, deny the existence of an Albanian nationality, and levy taxes to increase Ottoman control over the Albanian tribes. Additionally, certain laws that were considered extreme cultural affronts to the Albanians were put in place, such as banning the carrying of a rifle, which was not only considered crucial for self-defense but also an integral aspect of Albanian masculinity and culture at the time.
In the spring of 1909, the CUP attempted to strengthen Ottoman control in Kosova and sought to capture the legendary Kosovar Albanian fighter Isa Boletini. Boletini, who had supported the Sultan’s counterrevolution, was targeted by the CUP at the behest of Nexhip Draga, a prominent Kosovar Albanian politician who saw him as a nuisance particularly after the two men disagreed on the restoration of the constitution. Eventually, a small detachment was sent to Boletini’s kulla (tower house) and presented him with a court order ordering him to face charges. Boletini scoffed at the charges, cursed the Young Turk revolution and threw out the officer and his men. The Turks returned with a battalion, attacking and burning down Boletini’s kulla but Boletini managed to escape after a fierce battle. In their search for Boletini, the Ottoman troops burnt down many kullas throughout the region, disarmed local Albanians, imposed taxes and military conscription and moved against numerous Kosovar Albanian chieftains.
The Minister of Interior, Mehmed Ferid Pasha, also an Albanian, defended the repressive actions taken in Kosova by Ottoman forces despite the concerns of various Albanian figures in parliament. Two days later, Hasan Prishtina published an article titled "Albanians" in the Young Turk newspaper Tanin in which he emphasized that brute force would not bring security to the region and that education and justice were just as important. Prishtina, like many other Albanian deputies, was not happy with the Ottoman government's handling of the situation thus far.
The provocative and oppressive actions of the Ottoman forces against the Kosovar Albanians ultimately resulted in the Albanian revolt of 1910, in which Albanian rebels, led by Isa Boletini and Idriz Seferi, engaged in an armed uprising against the Ottoman state. To quell the revolt, many further reprisals were taken against the Albanians by the Ottomans, such as executions and the burning down of villages and properties. Albanian-language schools, which were initially allowed by the CUP, were closed, and publications in the Albanian language were outlawed. The Kanun, the traditional Albanian code of laws (also known as the Law of Lekë), was abrogated by the Ottoman state, and although martial order had been established for the most part in the lowlands, the rebellion was never fully quashed in the mountainous regions.
Throughout this period, Hasan Prishtina was an avid supporter of Albanian education and was one of 10 Albanian deputies in the Ottoman parliament to support the use of the Latin alphabet for the Albanian language. The CUP, however, attempted to use Islam as a tool to suppress Albanian identity and prohibited the use of a Latin script, unsuccessfully attempting to encourage the Albanians to use the Arabic script instead. In a pro-Albanian book titled Musavver Arnavud (“The Illustrated Albanian”) consisting of different chapters discussing the plight of the Albanians, Hasan Prishtina wrote a chapter on the Malësor revolt in Shkodër and the importance of the Malësors in defending the border regions.
Albanian deputies continued to advocate for reforms, and in early May 1911, Hasan Prishtina spoke to parliament and provided an analogy in which “This country is a business owned by Turks, Albanians and other peoples, [all] with equal shares…” This highlighted Prishtina’s belief that no ethnic group should receive preferential treatment under the empire, a concept which had increased since the CUP came to power. Later that year, on November 21, Hasan Prishtina participated in the founding of the Party of Freedom and Entente, which advocated for the rights of ethnic minorities in the empire. He was one of the eleven initial founders and was joined by other prominent Albanian figures. It was clear that by this time, the sense of friendship and solidarity between the Albanians and the CUP was no longer existent. In fact, by December of 1911, Hasan Prishtina and Ismail Qemali held secret meetings to plan a widespread insurrection in Albania, many of which took place in the iconic Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul.
When the Ottoman parliament was finally dissolved by the new Sultan, Mehmed V on January 17, 1912, Hasan Prishtina left for Kosova to make preparations for the insurrection while Ismail Qemali traveled to Europe in search of financial and diplomatic support. New elections were held across the empire which ultimately resulted in a domineering victory for the CUP as their Albanian political opponents, such as Hasan Prishtina, were prevented from winning seats through underhanded methods. Nonetheless, the Albanian insurrection continued as planned and commenced in May of 1912 in Kosova under the leadership of Hasan Prishtina and other Kosovar Albanian leaders.
In 1921, Hasan Prishtina published a Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912. In this memoir, Prishtina outlined the reasons for the uprising:
There are many varied reasons, but let us assemble them in the following themes:
the chauvinism of the Young Turk committee,
the incompatibility of Turkish freedom with Albanian customs and traditions, in particular with those of the Ghegs,
pan-Islamic intrigues in the government administration,
the interference of the army in politics,
Turkish atrocities in 1910,
the evolution of national awareness in Albania,
the barbaric and illegal system implemented by the Young Turk government in the elections of 1912.
Prishtina led the rebels as they took control of the Kosova Vilayet, which included Prishtina, Shkupi, Sjenica, and Novi Pazar, as well as part of Shkodër Vilayet. On August 9, 1912, Prishtina and the other prominent Albanian leaders met with the Ottomans, where Prishtina presented fourteen demands known as Hasan Prishtina’s Fourteen Points. They are as follows:
That trained officials be employed in Albania who know the language and the customs of the country;
That military service be carried out only in Albania and Macedonia, except in wartime;
That laws be passed and implemented based on the ‘law of the mountains’ (djibal) for those regions where it has been shown by fact that judicial organs will never be productive;
That the Albanians be given enough modern arms. The modality of distribution will be left to the government. Arms depots will be constructed in sensitive regions from which the Albanians can get weapons, if needed;
That elementary schools be founded and opened in all towns of the prefectures of Kosovo, Monastir, Shkodra and Janina where there is a population of over 300,000 people; that agricultural schools be opened such as the one in Salonika since the country is essentially agricultural; and that the curriculum be taught in the language of the country;
That modern theological schools be opened where they are needed;
That private schools be allowed to be founded and opened in Albania;
That the language of the country be taught in elementary and secondary schools;
That particular attention be paid to commerce, agriculture and public works, and that railroads be constructed.
That regional organizations be set up;
That more attention be paid than earlier in preserving national traditions and customs;
That an amnesty be declared without distinction of class or race, for all Ottomans who took part in the uprising, for commanders, officers, public servants and soldiers who fled from the army and their homes, and for those freed or having escaped from prison during the uprising;
That the Turkish government give compensation, based on real value, for all the houses that were destroyed earlier and for which the owners did not receive compensation, and for those that were damaged and destroy this time;
That the members of the cabinet of Haki and Said Pasha be taken to the high court and tried.
The Ottoman government responded and prepared to accept twelve of the fourteen points with a number of stipulations, and this divided the Albanians into two factions. A more moderate faction, led by Hasan Prishtina and Nexhip Draga among others, sought to accept the Porte’s offer, whereas a more extreme faction led by figures such as Isa Boletini, Bajram Curri, and Idriz Seferi wished to continue the rebellion. The latter sought to return the deposed Sultan Abdülhamid to power and to restore the privileges held under his reign. Despite his conflicts with Isa Boletini and Riza Bey Gjakova regarding the re-appointment of Sultan Abdülhamid to the Ottoman throne, Hasan Prishtina protected them from military actions at the hands of Ibrahim Pasha “so as not to damage the reputation of the Albanians.” On August 18, however, the moderate faction managed to convince the others to accept the offer of the Sublime Porte, but Prishtina had hoped to continue his insurrection three to four months later and declare independence then.
According to Prishtina himself, “The Balkan War was the only reason why Vlora was to gain the laurels, and not Kosova, and why a Lesser and not a Greater Albania resulted.” Indeed, Hasan Prishtina and other Kosovar Albanians were taken prisoner by the Serbian army which had invaded Kosova with the onset of the First Balkan War. The Balkan War had destroyed Prishtina’s plans for independence. Isa Boletini, Bajram Curri, and Idriz Seferi attempted to resist the Serbian invasion and fought back against the invaders, but they were far too ill-prepared, ill-supplied and poorly-armed to effectively defeat them.
Ismail Qemali had landed in Durrës on November 19, 1912 after having traveled in Europe in an attempt to secure Albanian independence. Due to the encroaching Serbian forces, Qemali headed southwards to Vlorë, where he organized a meeting of representatives from across Albanian-inhabited territories. After two days of meetings and discussions, Ismail Qemali proclaimed Albania’s independence on November 28, 1912.
In December 1913, shortly after the conclusion of the Balkan Wars, Hasan Prishtina became the Minister of Agriculture of the independent Albania and later the Minister of Postal Services in 1914. During World War I, Prishtina aided in forming divisions of Albanian volunteers to fight on the side of the pro-Albanian Austria-Hungary, but when the war ended in 1918 and the Serbs occupied Kosova yet again, Hasan Prishtina, and Bajram Curri fled abroad to organize a resistance against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and their occupation of Albanian-inhabited territories such as Kosova. Hasan became a founder and a vital part of the Committee for the National Defence of Kosova, an organization of Albanian leaders who wished to unify Kosova with Albania.
On May 6, 1919, the Committee called for an uprising in Kosova that led to what is known as the Kaçak Movement. Hasan Prishtina and the Committee set strict guidelines for their kaçaks, ordering them to refrain from targeting unarmed Slavs and to avoid burning down homes and churches. The Yugoslav authorities responded by launching indiscriminate campaigns against the Kosovar Albanians, resulting in the deaths of approximately 12,000 Albanian civilians between 1918-1921. Prishtina attended the Paris Peace Conference in October 1919 as a representative of the Committee where he had hoped to plead the case of unification. Unfortunately, the Kosovar Albanian delegation was not permitted to participate in the conference.
Prishtina returned to Albania and began partaking more actively in Albanian politics, serving as an MP and continuing his efforts with the Kosova Committee and the Kaçak Movement. After the League of Nations established the Neutral Zone of Junik in November 1921 in response to the border disputes between Albania and Yugoslavia, Hasan Prishtina and many other members of the Kosova Committee relocated to Junik. In March 1922, Hasan Prishtina, alongside Bajram Curri and Elez Isufi, attempted to overthrow Ahmed Zogu (later the self-proclaimed King Zog I of Albania), who’s power as Minister of the Interior and Chief of the Military became increasingly dictatorial. Ahmed Zogu’s political rivals consisted of the remnants of the nucleus of the Rilindja (Albanian National Awakening) who sought to create a democratic Albania, including figures such as Fan Noli, Luigj Gurakuqi, Avni Rrustemi, and Hasan Prishtina.
Zogu’s quarrels with the members of the Kosova Committee made him a bitter adversary of the Kaçak Movement and of Kosova in general, and after he ascended to power as Prime Minister through electoral fraud on December 2, 1922, Albanian state support for Kosova crumbled. Hasan Prishtina and Zogu had attempted to assassinate each other, and in January 1923, Prishtina and Bajram Curri unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow Zogu yet again. Zogu had already allied himself with the Yugoslavs, and vowed to help them destroy the Kaçak Movement. In response to the attempted coup, Zogu invaded the Neutral Zone of Junik in coordination with the Yugoslavs and forced the Kachaks to move further into Kosova whilst Junik was ceded to Yugoslavia.
During the June Revolution of 1924, in which numerous Albanian figureheads united behind Fan Noli and rebelled against the Zogist regime, Prishtina returned to Tirana as a supporter of Fan Noli and accompanied him to the League of Nations in Geneva. Zogu was sent into exile with many of his allies, and Fan Noli became the Prime Minister of Albania and planned to introduce many radical reforms. In December 1924, Zogu returned from exile with the aid of Yugoslavian forces and White Russian troops, eventually occupying the capital of Tirana and declared himself as prime minister yet again.
The supporters of the June Revolution and the Kaçak Movement were scattered. Unable to remain in Albania or return to the occupied Kosova, Prishtina moved to Thessaloniki in Greece. Some time later, he was briefly imprisoned by the Yugoslav police but released in 1931. In 1933, Hasan Prishtina was assassinated in a cafe in Thessaloniki on the orders of Ahmed Zogu, who was now the self-declared King Zog.
Hasan Prishtina tirelessly dedicated his life to the cause of the Albanians, initially in the interest of upholding their rights and autonomy within the Ottoman Empire, and eventually in the interest of Albanian self-determination and independence. There are few figures in Albanian history that can be credited with such a prominent role in the movements for independence in the early 20th century.
His final years were marked by a relentless pursuit for the freedom of his homeland of Kosova and its unification with Albania through the Kaçak movement a sentiment that carried on through the rest of the century. Hasan Prishtina’s efforts in the face of constant adversity and opposition, at times from his own people, are a reminder of the incredible willpower of the Albanian people and their seemingly unceasing struggle for self-determination and prosperity.
Hasan Prishtina’s unwavering dedication to his people serves as a reminder that true patriotism is not defined by words, but rather by actions. Those of us today who wish to contribute to the Albanian national cause must look back on Prishtina’s life as an example of what it means to devote yourself to such a noble cause.
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