Resistance against Yugoslavia (1919-1920) By late 1918, Azem commanded a force of around 2,000 fighters. Azem and the other Kachak leaders presented a set of demands to Serbian officials: they asked the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia to stop killing Albanians, to recognise the
Kosovo Albanians' right to self-government, and to stop both the
Yugoslav colonization program of Kosovo and the military actions of Yugoslav forces on the pretext of disarmament. They also requested that Albanian schools were opened, that the
Albanian language was made an official administrative language, and that the families of the Albanian rebels were no longer interned by the authorities. The Yugoslavs responded to the attempts at communication with increased violence. Fighting blew up in
Drenica, Azem Galica's home territory. It was estimated that there were 10,000 active rebels under Azem's command at this time. By November of 1920, Yugoslav forces succeeded in suppressing a rebellion in the Drenica region, and Azem and Shote Galica fled to
Shkodra. The
Neutral Zone of Junik was established in November 1921 by the authority of the
League of Nations following constant border disputes between
Albania and the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the frequent military intrusion from the Yugoslav side since 1918 into the Albanian side as well as continuous skirmishes between the Albanian guerrillas and Yugoslavian army. Azem Galica's band of Kachaks used the Neutral Zone of Junik as their base, as did most of the other Kachak bands. He was housed by Tafë Hoxha, a local in
Junik. In March of 1922,
Bajram Curri,
Hasan Prishtina and
Elez Isufi led an unsuccessful attempt at overthrowing Zog, who eventually became the Prime Minister of Albania on 2 December 1922. His quarrels with the leaders of the
Kosovar Albanians made him a fierce opponent of the
Kachak Movement, and of
Kosova in particular. Zog's ascension to power resulted in the end of Albanian governmental support for Kosova, and he sentenced Azem Galica to death
in absentia and gradually assassinated the leaders of the
Kosova Committee. In January of 1923, Curri and Prishtina led another unsuccessful attempt at overthrowing Zog; in between these two unsuccessful attempts, Zogu entered into a secret agreement with the
Yugoslavs, promising to destroy the Kachak bands among other things. Azem Galica and his main force of around 1,000 Kachaks were betrayed to the Yugoslavs by Zogu's regime. In 1923, Zog's forces, in coordination with the Yugoslavs, invaded the Neutral Zone of Junik; the Kachaks left the zone and moved further into Kosovo, and the area was handed to the Yugoslavs.
Death and aftermath Aside from their control of the
Neutral Zone of Junik, the Kachak Movement succeeded in creating a "free zone" in Galica (Azem's hometown) and three nearby villages, which was called "Arberia e Vogel" (little Arberia). The Yugoslav kingdom, however, had no intention of letting this zone survive, and with superior firepower and troop numbers they moved into
Drenica. Bejta was seriously wounded in action by the
Royal Yugoslav Army and later died from his wounds on 15 July 1924. His last wish was for his body not to be found by the Serbs, and thus he was buried in a deep cave somewhere in Drenica. The death of Galica dealt a mortal blow to the armed resistance against Yugoslav military presence in Kosovo, which Azem had led for the past eight years. The Yugoslavs intensified their repression of the Albanian movement in Kosovo. After the assassination of Albanian patriot and activist
Avni Rustemi on the orders of Zog, the Kosova Committee leaders once again attempted to overthrow Zog. They succeeded during the June Revolution of 1924, and the progressive nationalist government of
Fan Noli was installed in Zog's place. However, with the help of the Yugoslavs, Zog managed to once again ascend to power on 24 December 1924 and proceeded to suppress the
Kosova Committee and either assassinate or force its leaders into exile. These Albanian patriots were only some of the Albanian nationalist activists and figures assassinated on the orders of Zog and his regime. Azem's wife,
Shote, took control of Azem's band of Kachak fighters upon his death and continued to fight against the Yugoslav occupation of Kosovo. She fought alongside Bajram Curri in
Has and
Luma against Serbian troops who had supported Zog during his return to power in December of 1924, and she continued to lead the fighting in Kosovo until 1926, when she was severely wounded and decided to move to Albania. Shote died in poverty in 1927, looking after the orphans left behind by her fellow fighters who were killed during the resistance. She received no medical or social support from Zog's regime. ==Legacy==