The question of Kosovan sovereignty and independence has a history which stretches far back beyond the outbreak of war in 1998. This volume is a compilation of key documents on Kosovo from the first half of the twentieth century. These texts, including numerous diplomatic despatches from the British Foreign Office, deal initially with the Albanian uprising against Ottoman rule in the spring of 1912 and, in particular, with the period of the Serbian invasion of Kosovo in late 1912 and the repercussions of the conquest for the Albanian population. The documents from 1918 to the early 1920s focus mainly on endeavours by Albanian leaders, including those of the so-called Kosovo Committee in exile, to bring the plight of their people to the attention of the outside world - endeavours which largely failed. Further documents reflect the situation in Kosovo up to the outbreak of World War II. This collection provides new perspectives on the Kosovo question and includes many documents which have been largely unavailable up to now. It sheds new light on many of the major and minor episodes that channelled and determined subsequent events, including the Kosovo War of 1998-1999 and the declaration of independence in February 2008.

The question of Kosovan sovereignty and independence has a history which stretches far back beyond the outbreak of war in 1998. This volume is a compilation of key documents on Kosovo from the first half of the twentieth century. These texts, including numerous diplomatic despatches from the British Foreign Office, deal initially with the Albanian uprising against Ottoman rule in the spring of 1912 and, in particular, with the period of the Serbian invasion of Kosovo in late 1912 and the repercussions of the conquest for the Albanian population. The documents from 1918 to the early 1920s focus mainly on endeavours by Albanian leaders, including those of the so-called Kosovo Committee in exile, to bring the plight of their people to the attention of the outside world - endeavours which largely failed. Further documents reflect the situation in Kosovo up to the outbreak of World War II. This collection provides new perspectives on the Kosovo question and includes many documents which have been largely unavailable up to now. It sheds new light on many of the major and minor episodes that channelled and determined subsequent events, including the Kosovo War of 1998-1999 and the declaration of independence in February 2008.

"Seldom does a book take readers so powerfully inside war crimes--both into the pain of the victims and, even more chilling, into the minds of the perpetrators. In a Washington so timid about supporting the international institutions designed to prevent such horrors, this book should be mandatory reading."--Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost: a Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa "This searing documentary takes those large abstractions--ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity--and confronts us with the anguishing reality: the faces of the alleged killers and their victims, stories of shattered families, desolation of a ruined community. The book is also a stunning example of careful, determined pursuit of evidence by frontline human rights workers, our best hope for accountability and justice in the wake of systematic evil. This unparalleled account thus records the worst--and the best--of human capacities."--H. Jack Geiger, M.D., founding member and past president of Physicians for Human Rights "Marshalling precision in the face of obfuscation, clarity in the face of desolation, and lucidity in the face of oblivion, the authors and creators of A Village Destroyed have somehow managed to meld witness and majesty. Truth is beauty--sometimes the only solace left to us--and this is a harrowingly beautiful book."--Lawrence Weschler, author of A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers "Gilles Peress's photographs take us where we have never gone before: into the killing zones of Kosovo where ethnic Albanians were tortured, executed, robbed, and driven from the land. Here is an astounding record that will make it impossible for us to say that we never knew what happened in Kosovo or how."--Gloria Emerson, author of Gaza: A Year in the Intifada "A Village Destroyed is a very important book, offering a revealing examination of how contemporary human rights investigations and international efforts to do justice are transforming the context in which great crimes are committed."--Aryeh Neier, President of the Open Society Institute "By some of the best investigators and reporters in the human rights movement, A Village Destroyed helps comfort the afflicted by letting them speak in their own voices. Let us hope it also serves to afflict the comforted."--Juan E. Mendez, Vice-President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights "This is a groundbreaking work. It is the anatomy of a crime: the destruction of a village. The photographs and witness accounts are of astounding power. The book is crucial for anyone who wants to know what happened in Kosovo."--Laura Silber, co-author of Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation

The war in Kosovo was a turning point: NATO deployed its armed forces in war for the first time, and placed the controversial doctrine of 'humanitarian intervention' squarely in the world's eye. It was an armed intervention for the purpose of implementing Security Council resolutions-but without Security Council authorization.This report tries to answer a number of burning questions, such as why the international community was unable to act earlier and prevent the escalation of the conflict, as well as focusing on the capacity of the United Nations to act as global peacekeeper.The Commission recommends a new status for Kosovo, 'conditional independence', with the goal of lasting peace and security for Kosovo-and for the Balkan region in general. But many of the conslusions may be beneficially applied to conflicts the world-over.

From the earliest times, also, many Balkan Muslim soldiers and bureaucrats, as well as scholars and poets, made an impact on the wider Islamic world, the most prominent being Mohammed Ali, the founder of modern Egypt.

Kosovo in the 1990s

This primary source reader assembles key documents and firsthand accounts that are emblematic of American life from the end of World War II to the present. Designed to complement a core text for a typical post-1945 U.S. history course, the book offers conciseness and selectivity with balanced coverage of domestic and foreign, societal and cultural issues grouped together chronologically. The readings afford students compelling and sometimes startling insights into the nation's postwar adaptation to its new position of global power and responsibility, wealth, and rapid social change; on through years of energy and ambition, conflict and tragedy, to the post-Vietnam malaise and the rise of Ronald Reagan, the frenzied nineties, and the arrival of the new millennium. Each chapter includes an introduction that sets the documents in historical context, a biographical sketch of a significant person of the time, study questions, and suggestions for further reading.