Kachaks

{{Short description|Albanian rebels against Serbia and Yugoslavia}}

File:Kacak chpoint.jpg rebels controlling a road in Kosovo, 1920s]]

Kachaks ({{langx|sq|kaçak}}, {{langx|sr|качаци}} / kačaci) is a term used for the Albanian rebels active in the late 19th and early 20th century in northern Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, and later as a term for the militias of Albanian revolutionary organizations against the Kingdom of Serbia (1910–18) Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–24), called the "Kachak Movement".

Etymology

The word is derived from Turkish kaçak for "outlaw".{{cite book|author=Cerwyn Moore|title=Contemporary Violence: Postmodern War in Kosovo and Chechnya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ab7JCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA117|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-7599-5|pages=117–|quote=The leading coordinator of the Kachak (outlaw, from the Turkish kachmak, meaning runaway or hide) movement was the Kosovo Committee.}}{{cite book|author1=Robert Bideleux|author2=Ian Jeffries|title=The Balkans: A Post-Communist History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G6iBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA522|date=24 January 2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-58328-7|pages=522–|quote=Kosovar resistance movement known as the Kachaks (derived from the Turkish word for outlaw, kachmak).}}

Background

History

=1920–24 Kachak movement=

The Committee for the National Defense of Kosovo ({{Langx|sq|Komiteti për Mbrojten Kombëtare të Kosovës}}) was created in Shkodër, under Hasan Prishtina, in 1918. The committee organizationally and financially supported the kachaks in Albanian-populated areas of Yugoslavia, in Kosovo and Skopje (the former Kosovo vilayet). Kachaks were also active around Ohrid and Bitola.{{cite book|author=Hugh Poulton|title=Who are the Macedonians?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_NbmSoRsRcC&pg=PA92|year=1995|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-238-0|pages=92–}} On 6 May 1919 the Committee called for a general uprising in Kosovo and other Albanian-inhabited regions in Yugoslavia. The Kachaks were popular among Albanians, and local support to them increased in the 1920s when Hasan Prishtina became a member of the Albanian parliament, Kadri Prishtina ("Hoxhe Kadriu") became Minister of Justice, and Bajram Curri became Minister of war (1921). All three were Kosovar Albanians.

During this time, Kosovar Albanians under Azem Galica began an armed struggle, also known as the "Kachak movement",{{cite book|author=Cerwyn Moore|title=Contemporary Violence: Postmodern War in Kosovo and Chechnya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ab7JCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA117|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-7599-5|pages=117–|quote=The greatest and most celebrated Kachak leader was Azam Bejta (1889–1924), who kept his native Drenica, the central district of Kosovo.}} a large-scale revolt in Drenica involving around 10,000 people under Galica. The uprising was quelled by the Royal Yugoslav Army{{citation | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pg-aeA-nUeAC&q=sali+nivica&pg=PA64| page=64|author=Robert Elsie| title=Historical Dictionary of Kosovo| series=Historical Dictionaries of Europe| volume=79|publisher=Scarecrow Press|date=November 15, 2010|isbn=978-0810872318|edition=2}} Armed conflicts between the Royal Yugoslav Army and the Kachaks took place in the years 1920 and 1921,{{citation| publisher=Dielli| url=http://gazetadielli.com/rrefimet-e-sekretarit-konfidencial-te-bajram-currit/| access-date=2014-01-31| language=sq| quote=Në vitin 1920 gazeta "Populli" do njoftonte se në Kosovë bëhen luftime të rrepta midis çetave kryengritëse dhe ushtrisë. Azem Galica bënte betejë, Idriz Seferi, po kështu Hasan Budakova ishin në krye të çetave. Tahir Zajmi e lajmëronte Bajram Currin se: Morali i shqiptarëve të Kosovës është aq i mirë saqë smund të tregohet…Kjo letër e entuziazmoi Bajram Currin. Edhe në vitin 1921 që mbahet mend si vit i masakrës së shfrenuar serbe mbi popullsinë, janë zhvilluar luftime në Gjilan, Tetovë, Prizren, Kaçanik, Prishtinë, Mitrovicë, Kumanovë etj.| author=Bujar Lulaj| date=2012-09-22| title=Rrefimet e sekretarit konfidencial te Bajram Currit| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://archive.today/20140201023504/http://gazetadielli.com/rrefimet-e-sekretarit-konfidencial-te-bajram-currit/| archive-date=2014-02-01}} 1923,{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBLUAAAAMAAJ&q=hysni+curri| title=Studia Albanica| page=29| publisher=Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës; Instituti i Historisë (Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë)| volume=26| year=1989|language=fr|issn= 0585-5047| oclc=1996482}}{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lJjiAAAAMAAJ&q=hysni+curri| page=63|language=sq | title=Studime historike| volume=41|publisher=Akademia e Shkencave, Instituti i Historisë| year=1987|issn= 0563-5799| oclc=3648264}} with a revival in 1924. One of the achievements was the creation of the "neutral zone" around Junik, which would serve to jeopardize the frontier and provide ammunition and other logistical support for the Kachaks.

Legacy

They are widely depicted in Albanian folklore.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rfM9AQAAIAAJ&q=ka%C3%A7ak+kenget+popullore| author=Dhimiter Shuteriqi| pages=101|volume=1-2| title=Historia e letërsisë shqipe|publisher=Enti i teksteve dhe i mjeteve mësimore i Krahinës Socialiste Autonome të Kosovës| year=1971|edition=2| oclc=8692190 }}{{cite book|title=Studime Filologjike|publisher=Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH, Instituti i Gjuhesise dhe i Letersise| author=Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë (Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë), Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës. Instituti i Historisë dhe Gjuhësisë|year=1970|pages=71–75|oclc= 29286220| issn=0563-5780}}{{cite book|author=Spiro Shetuni|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SjasqxAeHXAC&pg=PA78| page=78|title=Albanian Traditional Music: An Introduction, with Sheet Music and Lyrics for 48 Songs| publisher=Mcfarland| date=April 21, 2011|isbn=978-0786464494}} Albanian collaborationists in Yugoslavia during World War II were also sometimes known as Kachaks.Hans-Christian Petersen, Samuel Salzborn (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=k6sqlTGHpsAC&pg=PA97 Antisemitism in Eastern Europe: History and Present in Comparison]. Bern: Peter Lang. p. 97.

Notable people

Bajram Curri (1862–1925)
Azem Galica (1889–1924)
Qerime Shotë Galica (1895–1927) {{cite web |last1=Papleka |first1=Feride |title=Shotë Galica, një Zhan d'Ark shqiptare |url=https://www.gazeta-shqip.com/2014/03/08/shote-galica-nje-zhan-dark-shqiptare/#img=1 |website=Gazeta-Shqip.com |publisher=Gazeta Shqip |access-date=1 May 2020}}
Zef Kol Ndoka (1883–1924)
Hysni Curri (?–1925)
Ajet Sopi Bllata (1861–1938)
Agan Koja (1892–1929)
Mehmet Pashë Deralla (1843–1918)
Sali Butka (1852–1938)
Osman Taka (?–1887)
Asllan Curri (?–1925)
Idriz Seferi (1847–1927)
Bajram Balota (?–?)
Sadik Rama (1879–1944)
Isa Boletini (1864–1916)
Jusuf Mehonja (1883–1926)
Xhel Guri (?–1927)