In early 1999, I don¡¯t know when a large number of Albanian residents gathered on the streets of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. They carried unified signs and slogans, chanted slogans, protested on the streets, and While claiming, the loudest words were ¡°independence¡±, ¡°sovereignty¡±, ¡°Albania¡±, etc.
At the beginning, there were not many large-scale protests in Pristina. After all, it is a small city with a population of less than 700,000 people. But slowly, Albanians from all over Kosovo, and even from Albania and other countries Albanian ethnic groups gathered in Kosovo to participate in this large-scale demonstration.
The demonstrations were jointly initiated by some scattered Kosovo Albanian political organizations, trade union organizations and other industry organizations, so they seemed to involve all walks of life and were highly representative. Some Kosovo CP people even participated in the demonstrations. , demanding that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia give up its oppression of Kosovo and grant Kosovo higher autonomy, even sovereignty, to allow Kosovo to be completely independent.
Slowly, more and more Albanian people participated in the demonstrations and rallies, and they came to the door of the government building. It was at this time that a dramatic thing happened. The governor of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo, Ibra Shin Rugova, chairman of the Democratic Union of Kosovo and one of the few local chiefs in Yugoslavia's local administrative units who are not cadres of the Yugoslav Communist Party, walked out of the government building and delivered a speech to the demonstrators.
¡°¡My fellow Albanians, I have heard your peaceful cry for independence, and it is my duty as your elected leader to stand up for what you stand for, since your insistence is to give Kosovo a sovereign and independent state. Long live Kosovo! Long live the Albanians!¡±
Rugova's speech completely ignited the atmosphere of the entire scene. The crowd excitedly shouted "Long live Kosovo! Long live the Albanians!" It seemed that from this moment they had achieved independence. The military and police officers of the Yugoslav security forces who were maintaining order at the scene, because most of them were not local Albanians, were livid when they saw this scene. The military and police commander even wanted to go up and negotiate with Rugova, but in this scene, Any rash action they take may lead to extremely bad consequences.
No one knows why things turned out like this or how they will develop. Since the political reform of Yugoslavia, especially after Novakovic came to power, Yugoslavia has not only failed to suppress some separatist forces in the region as hard as Milosevic was in charge of Yugoslavia on another side, but has continued to Make concessions, intending to win over these people through appeasement and obtain their satisfaction.
Kosovo¡¯s CP power is already weak, especially after the political reform, which allowed other political parties in some regions to participate in politics, especially in places with a high degree of autonomy. Even though the central power in Yugoslavia was still the dictatorship of the Yugoslav Communist Party, local governments allowed other parties to intervene. The ability of the Kosovo Democratic Union led by Rugova to become the ruling party of the Kosovo Autonomous Province is inseparable from Novakovic's appeasement and support.
Rugova is an unfamiliar white-eyed wolf. He belongs to the gzjy group in Kosovo and is naturally hostile to the Yugoslav Communist Party. No matter how Novakovic tries to win over him, it will not work. On the contrary, the Americans will always Throwing a meat bone over, this guy immediately joined the "Cuckoo Plan" of the United States to invade Yugoslavia.
He was an important part of this cuckoo plan. When the Americans joined forces with the Albanian people in Kosovo to demonstrate, he stepped out and dealt a fatal blow to the Yugoslav authorities. At this time, Kosovo has seen a situation in which public opinion and local government are all leaning toward independence. The Yugoslav authorities will be very embarrassed in how they respond.
And the Dujuan Project is not just that!
Just when people were cheering and seemed to be celebrating the upcoming independence of the country, suddenly several gunshots were fired in the square, and then several young Albanian students were seen lying in a pool of blood. Then naturally someone shouted: "The military police shot and killed, the military and police shot and killed!"
"Logging dogs! They don't want us to be independent!"
¡°Kill them, long live Kosovo¡¯s independence!¡±
The ignited Kosovars, with blood-red eyes, rushed towards the Yugoslav security forces who were maintaining order. At this moment, the Yugoslav security forces were also confused, because they had not shot anyone in the field just now, but there were people. Point the blame at them.
Several military police officers who failed to react were knocked down by the demonstrators. The angry demonstrators punched and kicked them, and even beat these poor military police officers to death. They took away the weapons of the soldiers and policemen, and some brave guys started shooting at the soldiers and policemen with their firearms. But the crowd is so dense, these bullets are useless?Hitting the military and police officers caused greater casualties to the demonstrators. The blame was placed on the Yugoslav security forces, and the demonstrators attacked them even more angrily.
Some of the military police who were closest to the masses were the most unlucky. Many of them were pulled down and beaten violently. Those who reacted wanted to fight back with rifle butts and batons, but there were too many people to fight back. Finally, one person couldn't bear this fear, picked up the Type 85-II automatic rifle in his hand, and opened fire at the demonstrators who rushed over. And it was extremely convenient. A reporter standing next to him raised his camera and took a picture of his ferocious face and the tongues of fire shooting at the Al people.
The slightly outer Yugoslav security forces, under the command of the on-site commander, lined up a shield wall with riot shields and covered the retreat of other military and police forces. A large number of demonstrators attacked the shield wall, but in the end the shield wall still held. . A group of Kosovans who had seized the weapons of the military and policemen shot at them with guns, injuring several military policemen. The on-site commander maintained great restraint and did not order to fire on the locals, because if he did so, even if In the future, it is judged that he has no problem, but he is also very likely to be harmed by extremists.
Rugova did not expect that things would turn out like this. More than 60 Kosovans were killed and injured, and more than 20 military and police officers were killed and injured. What he thought was a peaceful and non-violent demonstration eventually turned into a bloody conflict, and once the bloodshed Once it leaks out, things are out of his control.
Rugova appealed loudly: "Compatriots, please stay calm and do not use violence. The independence we strive for does not need to be watered with blood. Every life is precious!"
But at this time, his voice could no longer change the noisy crowd. Someone loudly sarcastically said: "Our relatives and friends have shed blood, and those shameless Serbians must pay for it with their blood!"
"Weakness cannot buy independence, and cowardice cannot buy respect. Everyone is rebelling and occupying the government. We don't need the Yugoslavs to recognize us. We will be the masters of our own country today!"
Such voices in the crowd came and went, and triggered a greater response from people. These people are actually members of the Kosovo Liberation Army who returned from the United States and were trained by the Americans. Unlike Rugova who advocates non-violent pacifism, what these people want is a war and revolution to seize Kosovo's independence.
It was this group of people who had just opened fire and caused chaos in the crowd, and they were the ones who had the most fun beating up the military and police. Soon they also grabbed a lot of weapons and formed a fighting force. Encouraged by the excited Kosovar people, the KLA militants began to storm the government buildings, and cheers and shouts for the liberation of Kosovo were heard everywhere.
A flag with a blue background and six five-star stars on a yellow Kosovo territorial shape was raised, and was later planted on the provincial government building in Pristina by KLA militants. More and more militants appeared out of nowhere and began to attack the Yugoslav security forces who did not have many weapons.
"Reinforcements, we need reinforcements. This is a premeditated and organized rebellion. The city is now full of mobs and armed rebels. We need reinforcements and heavy troops!" the commander said anxiously, starting from the conflict He lost many of his men.
The Yugoslav People¡¯s Army does not have many troops stationed in Kosovo, and the capital city of Pristina is just some ordinary internal defense troops. In order to show his sincerity, Prime Minister Novakovic has repeatedly moved the People's Army troops stationed in Kosovo to other places, which has also caused Kosovo's current defense to be relatively empty.
In the end, a small number of security forces withdrew from Pristina, and the Kosovo Liberation Army successfully occupied the capital city.
As soon as this news came out, it immediately shocked the world. At the same time, it also gave the Yugoslav authorities, especially Prime Minister Novakovic, a difficult problem. How to deal with this rebellion became their most difficult problem. After the rebellion broke out, many officials in the government who had been opposed to Novakovic's soft policy jumped out to think twice, believing that Novakovic was mainly responsible for what happened in Kosovo.
Novakovic has a soft temper, and he can't sit still when he is provoked by opponents. Novakovic gave a speech that night, saying that Yugoslavia's sovereignty and territorial integrity are inviolable. What happened in Kosovo was a shameful rebellion. The people of Yugoslavia will never allow such a thing to happen. The People's Army will respond quickly to the situation. , safeguarding Yugoslavia¡¯s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
This can be regarded as a 360-degree turn in his attitude towards Kosovo. His speech that night left no room for error and was tough. Although he received the support of many domestic nationalists, it also completely put Yugoslavia and Kosovo on opposite sides. . Soon, the Yugoslav People's Army received his order and set out to quell the chaos. Two heavy armored brigades and one internal defense brigade headed for Kosovo, and a civil war broke out.