Italian invasion of Kosovo

The Italian invasion of Kosovo, also called Operation "Marita", was an invasion that took part during the Invasion of Yugoslavia in World War II, when Italian soldiers marched through Kosovo and occupied the region. After the invasion, a conference was held in Vienna (21–24 April 1941) which decided that the majority of Kosovo would have been given to Italian-controlled Albania, including Pristina after the Germans withdrew from taking the city.



Background
On 7 April 1939 Italian troops invaded Albania, five months before the start of World War II. The Albanian armed resistance was poor against the Italians and, after a short defense, the country was occupied. On 9 April 1939 Zog I, King of the Albanians, fled to Greece. Although Albania had been under strong Italian influence since 1927, Italy's political leader, Benito Mussolini wanted direct control over the country to increase his and Italy's prestige.

Albania became an Italian protectorate subordinated to Italian interests, and Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed king of Albania, creating a personal union with Italy. After this occupation, Mussolini wanted to get the local population's support, and he started being interested in Albanian irredentism.

While Victor Emmanuel ruled as king, Shefqet Vërlaci served as the prime minister. On 3 December 1941, however, he was replaced as prime minister by Mustafa Merlika-Kruja. The country's natural resources too came under direct control of Italy. All petroleum resources in Albania went Agip, Italy's state petroleum company.

Albania was important culturally and historically to the nationalist aims of the Italian Fascists, as the territory of Albania had long been part of the Roman Empire, even prior to the annexation of northern Italy by the Romans. Later, during the High Middle Ages some coastal areas (like Durazzo) had been influenced and owned by Italian powers, chiefly the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Venice for many years (cf. Albania Veneta). The Italian Fascist regime legitimized its claim to Albania through studies proclaiming the racial affinity of Albanians and Italians, especially as opposed to the Slavic Yugoslavs. Italian Fascists claimed that Albanians were linked through ethnic heritage to Italians, not to Slavs, and that the major influence exhibited by the Roman and Venetian empires over Albania justified Italy's right to possess it.



Italian forces
The Italian forces during the invasion included parts of the 2nd Army and 9th Army, with a total of 22 divisions, comprising around 300,000 troops.



The Italian 2nd Army was commanded by Vittorio Ambrosio, while the 9th Army by Alessandro Pirzio Biroli, and consisted of two infantry corps and some sector troops assembled in northern Albania.

Yugoslav forces
The 1st Army Group took part in the defense of Kosovo. It was commanded by Armijski đeneral Milorad Petrović and consisted of the 4th Army of Armijski đeneral Petar Nedeljković, responsible for the Yugoslav-Hungarian border and deployed behind the Drava between Varaždin and Slatina, and the 7th Army of Divizijski đeneral (Major General) Dušan Trifunović, which was responsible for the defence of the northwestern border with Italy and the Third Reich, but both where involved in Kosovo.



Course of the invasion
After repelling the Yugoslav offensive in Albania, the 18th Infantry Division "Messina" took Cetinje, Dubrovnik and Kotor on 17 April, meeting with the Italian units of the Motorized Corps. During the night between 16 and 17 April the III battalion of the 72nd regiment of the 38th Infantry Division "Puglie" entered Prizren which, at that time, was being plundered and sacked by the Yugoslav rearguards who, after the arrival of the Italians, were immediately forced to surrender. Between 17 and 18 April, the Italians finished their conquest of the most important cities in Kosovo, arriving in Pristina, Peć and Đakovica.