I read the history of Kosovo that Nathan posted. Informative as it was it really was only the mirror image of those Serb nationalist historiographies that trace the history back to the year dot (Illyria - that's a good one). After all the substance of this retrospective history is that Kosovo is _Albanian_ - a demand that is curiously missing from the KLA's repertoire, that, 'Union with Albania!'. Presumably they prefer dependency on the US tax base than on the Albanian.
Anyway, here is an article on the recent history of Kosovan independence written in LM, a year ago:
How Kosovo became a powder keg
Yugoslavia was founded in 1943, under the leadership of Marshal Tito's
communists, with six republics: Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Macedonia,
Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. In September 1945 two autonomous
provinces of Serbia - Vojvodina in the north and Kosovo in the south -
were constituted. In 1974 the status of Kosovo and Vojvodina was
enhanced under a new constitution, defining their pos-ition as federal
units within Yugoslavia, rather than just in relation to Serbia. The
special status of these two provinces was opposed by many Serbs, and
their reintegration into Serbia became a major focus for Serbian
nationalists in the late 1980s.
>From the 1960s onwards there was a gradual strengthening of nationalism
in the republics which laid the seeds for the eventual destruction of
Yugoslavia. In 1968 significant concessions were granted to Kosovo by
the federal authorities. These rights, which gave Kosovo de facto
autonomous republic status, were later enshrined in the new Yugoslav
constitution of 1974. The equality of all languages, the right to be
taught in the mother tongue and the right to their own educational
institutions (including a university) were guaranteed. Ethnic Albanians
made up the leadership of the local League of Communists and the
provincial administration, including the police force, was predominantly
Albanian. The demand for separation by Kosovo Albanians acquired
political momentum during the period when the province enjoyed its most
enhanced status in the federation (1968-1989).
Within a year of Tito's death there was a nationalist uprising in Pristina, in March-April 1981, demanding that Kosovo be made formally a republic. This was brutally repressed after a state of emergency was declared. Following the 1981 events the communist authorities introduced a policy of 'differen-tiation', which involved the purging of any party member or official who did not denounce the campaign for a republic. Between 1981 and 1990, according to Amnesty International, more than 7000 ethnic Albanians were arrested and imprisoned in Kosovo for nationalist activities.
In 1985 a group of Serbian intellectuals at the Serbian Academy of Sciences prepared a document known as the Memorandum. The document alleged that Serbia had been weakened greatly by the granting of autonomy to Vojvodina and Kosovo. The Memorandum paved the way for the emergence of Milosevic, who became leader of the Serbian League of Communists in 1986. In 1987 he denounced his former mentor, Ivan Stambolic, for having allowed Kosovo to remain self-governing.
That same year, in response to claims that the small Serbian popu-lation of Kosovo was being terrorised by the Albanian population, Milosevic whipped up Serbian popular indig-nation and promised to protect the local Serbs. In February 1989 an Albanian general strike was suppressed by Serbian police backed by the Yugoslav National Army (JNA), with the loss of 24 lives. In March 1989 Azem Vlasi and other Albanian leaders were arrested and charged with 'counter-revolutionary activities'. In 1990, as fears of secessionist movements mounted throughout Yugoslavia, Serbia assumed direct control of the Kosovo police force, causing the resignation of every ethnic Albanian member of the provincial government. The new Serbian constitution of 1990 removed the last vestiges of autonomy from Kosovo. On 5 July 1990 the Serbian authorities dissolved the provincial assembly and the government. The Kosovo presidency resigned in protest and Serbia introduced a special administration. By September 1990, 15 000 ethnic Albanian officials had been dismissed.
On 7 September 1990 members of the former Kosovo assembly declared the assembly to have been reconvened and, six days later, proclaimed a basic law of the 'Republic of Kosovo'. As the Kosovo assembly in exile, based in Zagreb, it organised a referendum on independence from Serbia in September 1991. This registered overwhelming support among ethnic Albanians for Kosovo becoming a sovereign republic. Ethnic Albanian elections to the shadow assembly, declared illegal by the Serbian authorities, were held in the province in May 1992. Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) secured the most seats and Rugova was elected president of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo.
Throughout the 1990s the Kosovo Albanians pursued a policy of passive resistance, refusing to participate in the life of the Serbian state, not only abstaining from elections but also running their own parallel administration, health and education systems. They have rejected the goal of greater autonomy within Serbia and have continued to run their own affairs in a manner tantamount to a de facto secession. The escalation of the KLA's campaign over the past year is symptomatic of growing conflicts within the Albanian leadership over what course to pursue in the struggle for independence. The militants have raised the stakes by resorting to violence in an attempt to internationalise the conflict and provoke Western intervention to impose a settlement.
Reproduced from LM issue 110, May 1998 -- Jim heartfield