Italian invasion of Kosovo

Italian invasion of Kosovo
Part of the Invasion of Yugoslavia of World War II

Italian Bersaglieri during the invasion
Date5–18 April 1941
Location
Kosovo, at the time Yugoslavia
Result

Italian victory

Territorial
changes
Occupation of Kosovo by the Italian protectorate of Albania
Belligerents

 Italy

 Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Fascist Italy Ugo Cavallero
Fascist Italy Alessandro Pirzio Biroli
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Milan Nedić
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Ilija Brašić
Units involved

Fascist Italy 9th Army

Italian protectorate of Albania (1939–1943) albanian volunteers
Kingdom of Yugoslavia 3rd Army
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Italian invasion of Kosovo, also called Operation "Marita",[1] was an invasion that took part during the Invasion of Yugoslavia in World War II, when Italian soldiers marched through Kosovo and occupied the region.[2] After the invasion, a conference was held in Vienna (21–24 April 1941)[2] which decided that the majority of Kosovo would have been given to Italian-controlled Albania, including Pristina after the Germans withdrew from taking the city.[3]

Map of Kosovo after the conferences in Vienna; the light-gray part is the territory assigned to Italian-controlled Albania.
  1. ^ Krzak 2006.
  2. ^ a b Lorenzo Salimbeni (2008). "L'occupazione italiana del Kosovo nella seconda guerra mondiale" (PDF) (in Italian).
  3. ^ Malcolm 1998, p. 310–312.