The Second League of Prizren was an organisation founded by Albanian officials in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

in September 1943 to campaign for the ethnic unification of Albanians in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

. From 1918, Kosovo was integrated into the newly formed

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 191 ...

and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo faced forced evacuation by the Yugoslav government to Albania or

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. As a result, the

Italian occupation of Albania Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

in 1939 encouraged many leading Albanians to lobby the Italians to incorporate areas with sizeable Albanian populations like Kosovo into Albania and were encouraged by

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until Fall of the Fascist re ...

's support of the

Greater Albania Greater Albania is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to unify the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in th ...

ideology. However, the Italian surrender on 3 September 1943 stymied these dreams temporarily and attention was turned to the Germans who had occupied

Debar Debar ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''Dibra'' or ''Dibra e Madhe;'' ) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has ...

and western Macedonia. Bedri Pejani, a political leader who supported an expanded Albanian state that included all Albanian people, wrote to Reichsfuehrer SS

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

to request his assistance in establishing a Greater Albania. In return he offered to help raise an Albanian fighting force to work with the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

to achieve this aim. Himmler agreed to the request and ordered the formation of two ethnic Albanian Waffen SS Divisions and sponsored the foundation of the Albanian nationalist organisation which became the Second League of Prizren. Named in honour of the original

League of Prizren The League of Prizren ( sq, Besëlidhja e Prizrenit), officially the League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation ( sq, Lidhja për mbrojtjen e të drejtave te kombit Shqiptar), was an Albanian political organization which was offi ...

, founded in 1878 to fight for Albania's independence, the aim of the Second League of Prizren was to ensure the continuation of

. Pejani was appointed President of the League and Albanian Prime Minister

Rexhep Mitrovica Rexhep Mitrovica (15 January 1888 – 21 May 1967) was a Prime Minister of Albania's government under Nazi Germany. A staunch nationalist, he was elected head of the Second League of Prizren. Biography Early life Rexhep was born to a wealthy ...

as chairman of the central committee. Aćif Hadžiahmetović and

Cafo Beg Ulqini Mustafa Osman Alibegu, OSK, (1893, Ulqin – December 25, 1977, Shkodër) known as Cafo Beg Ulqini, was a maritime sailor, politician and Albanian patriot. He served as the first Albanian mayor of Ulcinj for two decades, and deputy of Ulcinj i ...

were appointed as members of the central committee. The Albanian Quisling government campaigned unsuccessfully for the transfer of the northern tip of Kosovo to Albania which remained under direct German governance, but raised volunteers to fight against the army and police forces of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

. The Second of League of Prizren maintained the Albanian Ljuboten battalion initially formed by the Italian occupation forces. In conjunction with the

Waffen SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

, the Second League of Prizren also formed the Albanian Skanderbeg SS Division to maintain the military occupation of the Macedonian and

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous ( ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population ...

Slavic populations. As a result, 6,491 ethnic Albanians were drafted into the Waffen SS, as well as an additional 300 ethnic Albanians who were serving with the Bosnian Muslim 13th Waffen Gebirgs Division who were transferred to the Skanderbeg Division. The SS Skanderbeg was heavily fought by Albanian and Yugoslav partisans, including Kosovo partisans of

Fadil Hoxha Fadil Hoxha ( Serbian: Фадиљ Хоџа, ''Fadilj Hodža''; 15 March 1916 – 21 April 2001) was a Yugoslavian ethnic Albanian communist revolutionary and politician from Kosovo. He was a member of the Communist party and fought in the Yugosl ...

. The strength of the partisans in Kosovo had somehow increased after 1943 Italian surrender, but the pro-German units were an opponent especially when it came to recruiting people. SS Skanderbeg had a propagandist advantage which caused the partisan units to much trouble in recruiting, especially after summer of 1944 when the partisans of

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanians, Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was Secretary (title)#First secretary, First Secretary of t ...

agreed to Yugoslav claims of recognizing the borders of before World War II, which automatically left Kosovo and western Macedonia out of Albania. The Skanderbeg Division was poorly trained and ill suited to warfare and performed poorly. On 30 August 1944, the Skanderbeg Division was forced to retreat from Debar and the League began to lose any influence it had with Germany. The retreat of German forces from Albania ensured the end of the League, although Communist officials were methodical in their retribution against League members.

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