ABSTRACT
The Muslim Albanian residents of Kosovo were granted cultural and social autonomy; the Albanian language was taught at schools, and until the collapse of Yugoslavia, life in the region generally ran undisturbed. In 1981, a national and religious Albanian awakening began in Kosovo resulting in the demand to recognize Kosovo as the seventh republic of the Yugoslavian Federation. The Albanian demonstrations and riots that followed were ruthlessly oppressed by the Yugoslavian authorities, and order was restored in the region. However, the tension continued.3 As stated earlier, in 1989, when Yugoslavia began to crumble and split up into several independent countries, the Yugoslavian authorities (today only Serbia and Montenegro) aspired to turn the region into an integral part of Yugoslavia. They feared that the Albanian majority in Kosovo would also demand independence or annexation to Albania, which shared its border. This decision increased the tension in Kosovo, causing the formation of organizations for national liberation.4
