Drenica Uprising (1945)

The Drenica Uprising was an armed rebellion by ethnic Albanian fighters in the Drenica region of central Kosovo against the newly established Yugoslav Partisans and the communist government of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. The uprising began on 22 January 1945 and ended with its suppression on 18 February 1945.^[3] The revolt was led by Shaban Polluzha and involved local fighters resisting forced conscription, communist repression, and the centralization policies of the Yugoslav state.

The uprising was sparked after reports of mass killings carried out by Partisans against Albanian civilians in late 1944 and early 1945. One notable incident involved the execution of 75 Albanian notables, whose bodies were dumped into mass graves.^[3][4] The movement was made up of roughly 6,000 to 20,000 local fighters, including former Partisans who defected. They faced approximately 12 to 15 brigades of Yugoslav forces—an estimated 36,000 to 50,000 troops—including Serbs, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, and some Albanians.^[3][5]

By mid-February, the rebellion was crushed. Shaban Polluzha and other key leaders—including Miftar Bajraktari, Mehmet Gradica, and Gani Llaushi—were killed in battle alongside 430 albanian rebels.^[3][6] Yugoslav Partisans suffered heavy losses in the battle such as 2,550 killed 6,000 wounded and 850 captured.^[3] The Partisans responded with punitive actions, burning down more than 150 homes in Drenica and displacing over 6,000 civilians.^[3]

The uprising is remembered as one of the earliest armed resistances to communist Yugoslavia and a key symbol of Kosovo Albanian national sentiment.