Third Kosovo War (1918-1924)–With the defeat of the Central Powers, Serbia joined with Montenegro and the formerly Austro-Hungarian areas of Slovenia, Bosnia and Croatia to form the new nation of Yugoslavia. The new kingdom’s government and army were dominated by Serbs. The king of Serbia became the first king of Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav army was created with the old Serb army as its nucleus.
The Serb/Yugoslav army reoccupied Kosovo in 1918 but faced resistance from the Albanian Kosovar kaçaks, who did not want a return to Serb rule. As the army re-imposed government rule, many atrocities occurred, in part fueled by Serb desire for revenge over the harassment they suffered in the retreat of 1915. Massacres and the burning of villages were tactics employed to break the back of the rebel resistance. The Yugoslav government also banned the teaching of the Albanian language in the schools and encouraged immigration of Serbs and Montenegrins into Kosovo from other parts of Yugoslavia.
The rebels based in northern Albania formed the Committee for National Defense of Kosovo, also known as the Kosovo Committee or "KK" for short. The KK smuggled arms across the border and conducted raids against government forces. In May, 1919, the KK called for a mass uprising in Kosovo, and nearly 10,000 poorly armed rebels were driven into the mountains by a Yugoslav army equipped with modern machine guns and artillery. The KK continued the guerrilla struggle from bases in northern Albania until 1924. In that year, Yugoslavia’s military helped Ahmed Zogu, Albania’s former Prime Minister, regain power. In 1923, the KK had aided in Zogu’s overthrow from their bases in northern Albania. In return for Yugoslavia’s military aid, Zogu (who later became King Zog), closed down the KK’s guerrilla bases and effectively ejected them from Albania. This brought an end to the armed struggle in Kosovo.
Drugi izvor
In March 1924, Zog was shot at and badly wounded on the steps of the parliament building. Later he discovered that the young student who shot at him, named Beqir Valter, was incited by a clique of young Albanians who saw in him a coming danger…
Later that year, in Yugoslav exile, Zog seized an opportunity and signed an agreement, whereby in the event of his being the victor, he would give Yugoslavia, Sh’Naum and the northern Albanian pastures of Vermoshi. Five hundred White Russian officers, refugees of the Vrangel Army, experts in field and machine guns, and five thousand Yugoslav Albanian civilians formed the army with which Zog marched against the equally strong, but badly equipped Albanians. After a fortnight of fighting, Zog entered Tirana, the capital, as the liberator from the communist plague. However, he was not recognised as such by the nationalists or any other party in the country, who were well aware of his real aim. December 24, 1924, is the date he entered Tirana, a sad day forever in the minds of the people of that perpetually persecuted and suffering country. The first thing he did was to elect himself President of Albania. At that time, he already showed signs of megalomania.