other · Balkans and Hungary

League of Prizren

1878 CE – 1881 CE · capital Prizren

Albanian political and military league formed in 1878 to defend Albanian-inhabited lands from partition, and the starting point of the Albanian national movement.

Origins

The treaties of San Stefano and Berlin in 1878 assigned Albanian-inhabited districts to Montenegro, Serbia and Greece. On 10 June 1878 Albanian notables met in Prizren and formed a league to resist the partition, at first with tacit Ottoman approval, under leaders such as Ymer Prizreni, Abdyl Frashëri and Sulejman Vokshi.

Rule and society

The league raised armed volunteers and set up local committees, mainly among Muslim landowners and highland clans, though Catholic Albanians also took part. It fought Montenegro over Plav and Gusinje and Ulcinj. Under Abdyl Frashëri it moved from defending Ottoman territory to demanding a single autonomous Albanian province, and in 1880 it took over administration in Kosovo.

Decline and legacy

Alarmed by the league's autonomy demands and under European pressure, the Ottoman government sent Dervish Pasha's army, which crushed it in 1881. Its leaders were imprisoned or exiled, but its programme inspired Albanian nationalists until independence in 1912.

Connections (1)

More states of Balkans and Hungary →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). League of Prizren. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/league-of-prizren
MLA
“League of Prizren.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/league-of-prizren. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “League of Prizren.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/league-of-prizren.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘League of Prizren’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/league-of-prizren (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻