Editing Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija

{{Infobox settlement|conventional_long_name=Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija|native_name=Krahina Autonome e Kosovës dhe Metohisë (Albanian)<br>Аутономна Покрајина Косово и Метохиjа (Serbian)|official_languages=Albanian<br>Serbian|capital=Pristina|area_km2=10,887|population_census=1,780,021|population_census_year=2011|image_map=Kosovo map.png|map_width=200|map_caption=Location of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia}}

The '''Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija''', often shorted to '''Kosovo''', is an autonomous region of [[Republic of Serbia|Serbia]] that is currently occupied by [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] and controlled by the US-backed [[Republic of Kosovo]].<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Richard Becker|newspaper=[[Liberation School]]|title=Why the U.S. backs Kosovo ‘independence’|date=2007-12-14|url=https://www.liberationschool.org/07-12-14-why-us-backs-kosovo-independe-html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517133746/https://www.liberationschool.org/07-12-14-why-us-backs-kosovo-independe-html/|archive-date=2022-05-17|retrieved=2022-10-28}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Second World War ===
During the [[Second World War]], Albanian [[Fascism|fascists]] expelled 70,000 Serbs from Kosovo and brought in a similar number of Albanians from Albania. The [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Nazi]] 21st [[SS]] division murdered thousands of serbs in northeastern Kosovo.<ref name=":02">{{Citation|author=[[Michael Parenti]]|year=2000|title=To Kill a Nation|chapter=On to Kosovo|page=|pdf=https://leftychan.net/edu/src/1614706295182-3.pdf|publisher=Verso}}</ref><sup>:95</sup>

=== Yugoslavia ===
[[Josip Broz Tito|Tito]] made Kosovo an autonomous region after the war and then an autonomous province in 1963 in order to placate Albanian [[Nationalism|nationalists]]. In 1974, [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992)|Yugoslavia]] adopted a new constitution that weakened the central government and gave more power to regional authorities in Kosovo. Kosovo had its own flag and supreme court, and all non-university education was in Albanian. In 1987, the newly elected [[Slobodan Milošević]] began to take action against Albanian secessionists.<ref name=":02" /><sup>:96–98</sup>

=== Yugoslav Wars ===
Until 1992, Kosovo was an autonomous region of the [[Socialist Republic of Serbia (1944–1992)|Socialist Republic of Serbia]] within Yugoslavia. In 1999, Serbian leader [[Slobodan Milošević]] surrendered to NATO after the [[United States of America|United States]] bombed Serbia for 78 days. NATO divided Kosovo into five zones occupied by the USA, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|UK]], [[French Republic|France]], [[Federal Republic of Germany|Germany]], and [[Italian Republic|Italy]]. They installed the fascist [[Kosovo Liberation Army]] as the new government of Kosovo.<ref name=":0" />

=== U.S. occupation ===
[[File:Kosovo US flags.png|thumb|US-occupied Pristina]]
In early 2000, NATO occupied Kosovo, and the KLA developed into a police force that exiled 200,000 Serbs from Kosovo and killed hundreds. Serbs, [[Judaism|Jews]], [[Roma]], and other non-Albanian ethnicities suffered from hate crimes and looting. After the NATO occupation began, Albanian supremacists destroyed over two million Serbian-language books. The mafia became very powerful and kidnapped teenagers to send them to Western Europe.

KLA and NATO members assassinated supporters of the [[Kosovo Democratic League]] (a less violent separatist group) including its leader, [[Fehmi Agani]]. 379 people were murdered in the first five months of occupation: 135 Serbs, 145 Albanians, and 99 people of other ethnicities.<ref name=":022">{{Citation|author=[[Michael Parenti]]|year=2000|title=To Kill a Nation|chapter=Ethnic Cleansing, KLA-NATO Style|page=156–160|pdf=https://leftychan.net/edu/src/1614706295182-3.pdf|publisher=Verso}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
Between 1945 and 1998, the non-Albanian population of Kosovo dropped from 60% to 15%. Tito did not prevent Albanians from expelling Serbs and other ethnicities.<ref name=":02" /><sup>:96</sup> Serbs only make up 5% of Kosovo's population.<ref name=":022" />

== References ==