Ghegs

Ghegs
Regions with significant populations
Kosovo[lower-alpha 1] around 1,500,000[1]
Albania around 1,500,000
Macedonia around 100,000
Montenegro 30,439
Zadar, Croatia 4,000[2]
Serbia 50,000–70,000[3][4][5][6] Albanians live in Serbia out of whom majority live in the municipalities of Preševo (Albanian: Preshevë), Bujanovac (Albanian: Bujanoc), and part of the municipality of Medveđa (Albanian: Medvegjë).[7]
Languages
Gheg Albanian
Religion
Islam
Predominantly Sunni, Bektashi minority
Christianity
Predominantly Catholic, Orthodox minority
Irreligion

The Ghegs or Gegs (Albanian: Gegët) are one of two major ethnic subgroups of Albanians (the other being the Tosks)[8] differentiated by their cultural, linguistic, social and religious characteristics.[9][10] The Ghegs live in Albania (north of the Shkumbin river), Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro. The name Gheg is derived from the term initially used by Orthodox population of pre-Ottoman Albania for confessional denotation when referring to their Catholic neighbors who converted to Catholicism to better resist the Orthodox Serbs. The Ghegs speak Gheg Albanian, one of the two main dialects of Albanian language. The social organization of the Ghegs was traditionally tribal, with several distinct tribal groups of Ghegs.

The Ottoman Empire annexed and ruled the Tosk-inhabited south at the beginning of the 15th century, while territory populated by Ghegs remained out of the reach of the regular Ottoman civil administration until the beginning of the 20th century. As a consequence, the Ghegs evolved isolated from the Tosks.[11] Similarly, the Islamization of the Ghegs was incomplete, with a large area of northwestern Albania remaining Catholic. The Ottomans never completely subdued the northern Albanian tribes of Ghegs because they were more useful to them as a stable source of mercenaries. Instead, they implemented the bayraktar system, and granted some privileges to the bayraktars (banner chiefs) in exchange for their obligation to mobilize local fighters to support military actions of the Ottoman forces. After establishment the state of Albania in the 20th century its politics has been centered on the constant rivalry for superiority between the Tosks and the Ghegs.

Etymology

The etymology of the term Gheg is not completely clear. According to Arshi Pipa, the term Gegë was initially used for confessional denotation, being used in pre-Ottoman Albania by its Orthodox population when referring to their Catholic neighbors.[12] Some theories say that the term Gegë is derived from the onomatopoeic word for "babbling", in contrast to Shqiptare which is the Albanian word for those who speak clearly. This is sometimes considered illogical because the self-ethnonym Shqiptare seems to have been developed by Ghegs.[13]

Territory

The Ghegs predominantly live in the mountainous north, north of the Shkumbin river.[9] This territory is sometimes referred to as Ghegeria.[14] Little more than half of ethnic Albanians from Albania are Ghegs.[8] Except for a small Tosk population around lakes Prespa and Ohrid in Macedonia, all ethnic Albanians in the Balkans who live outside of Albania (Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro) are Ghegs.[15]

Language

A map showing Gheg speakers in green
Main article: Gheg Albanian

The Ghegs speak Gheg Albanian, one of the two main Albanian dialects. The Albanian communist regime based the standard Albanian language mostly on Tosk Albanian. This practice has been criticized, notably by Arshi Pipa, who claimed that this decision deprived the Albanian language of its richness at the expense of the Ghegs,[16] and referred to the literary Albanian language as a "monstrosity" produced by the Tosk communist leadership which conquered anti-Communist north Albania militarily, and imposed their Tosk Albanian dialect on the Ghegs.[17] Although Albanian writers in former Yugoslavia were almost all Ghegs, they chose to write in Tosk for political reasons.[18] This change of literary language has significant political and cultural consequences because the language is the main criterion for self-identification of the Albanians.[19]

Tribal social organization

The social organization of the Ghegs was traditionally tribal.[20] The Ghegs of Northern Albania are the only tribal society which survived in Europe until the middle of the 20th century.[21] The tribal organization was based on the clan system of loyalties, and the dispersed settlement pattern of separate, scattered, mostly fortified homesteads.[22] There are several distinct tribal groups of Ghegs which include Mirëdita, Kelmendi, Hoti, Kastrati, Pulti and Shala.[23]

The Ghegs, particularly those who live in the north-eastern area, were the most faithful supporters of the set of traditional laws (Kanun), traditional hospitality, and blood feud.[22] The clan, also called the fis, was headed by the oldest male, and formed the basic unit of Gheg society. A political and territorial equivalent consisting of several clans was the bajrak (English: standard). The leader of a bajrak, whose position was hereditary, was referred to as bajraktar (standard bearer). Several bajraks composed a tribe, which was led by a man from a notable family, while major issues were decided by the tribe assembly whose members were male members of the tribe.[24]

The organization of once predominantly herder Gheg tribes was traditionally based on patrilineality (a system in which an individual belongs to his or her father's lineage), and on exogamy (a social arrangement where marriage is allowed only outside of a social group).[25] The land belongs to the clan, and families are traditionally extended, consisting of smaller families of many brothers who all live in one extended menage (Albanian: shtëpi).[25] Girls were married without their consent, while bride stealing still existed to some extent until the early 20th century.[26] Marriage was basically an economic and political deal arranged among the members of the tribe, while those who got married had no say in the matter.[27] Sworn virginity was occasionally practised among the Ghegs.[28] Child marriage was also practised by the Ghegs, sometimes even before birth.[28][29]

Religion

Initially the population of Albania was Orthodox Christian, but in the middle of the 13th century the Ghegs decided to convert to Catholicism to better resist those among the Serbs who belonged to the Orthodox Church.[30][31][32] During the Ottoman period in the history of Albania (1385 — 1912), the majority of Albanians converted to Islam. Today, the majority of Ghegs are Sunni Muslims, with a large minority being Catholic. The Catholics are most heavily concentrated in northwestern Albania and the Malesia region of Montenegro, in both of which they form of which, and have a thinner distribution in Central Albania, Kosovo, and Northeastern Albania. There are also Ghegs who practice Orthodox Christianity, mainly living in the southwest of the Gheg-speaking region, especially Durrës (where they formed 36% of the population in 1918) and Elbasan (where they formed 17% of the population in 1918).[33] Orthodox Ghegs were traditionally also heavily concentrated in the region of Reka e Epërme in Macedonia. There are also some Ghegs who practice Bektashism, living in areas such as Kruja and Bulqiza. Additionally, as is the case with all Albanians, there is a significant percentage of people who don't identify with any faith, and a large number of people do not usually attend the services of any religion.[34][35][36][37]

Culture

Albanian wedding ceremony in Valbona, northern Albania

In the second half of the 19th century, aiming to gain influence over Catholic Albanians Austria-Hungary, with Ottoman approval, opened and financed many schools on Albanian language and Franciscan seminaries and hospitals and trained native clergy which all resulted in development of literature on Albanian language.[38] The culture of the Ghegs blossomed at the beginning of 20th century. Gjergj Fishta and the Scutarine Catholic School of Letters led by Fishta significantly contributed to this blossoming.[39] The Ghegs are known for their epic poetry.[40]

The revival of Catholicism among Albanians gave a new and important impulse to the rise of Gheg culture.[41]

Physical anthropology

The Ghegs have often been described as taller, more slender and having a lighter skin color than the Tosks, who are described as being of a darker Mediterranean type.[42] The Tosks have smaller noses and rounder faces than Ghegs.[43] Some claim that this difference has been reduced because of population movement in the period after 1992.[44]

History

Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman period

There was a distinction between Ghegs and Tosks before the Ottomans appeared in Albania at the end of the 14th century.[30]

The Ghegs remained out of the reach of the regular Ottoman civil administration until the end of Ottoman rule.[45] The fact that the tribes of northern Albania were not completely subdued by the Ottomans is raised to the level of orthodoxy among the members of the tribes. A possible explanation is that the Ottomans did not have any real interest in subduing the northern Albanian tribes because they were more useful to them as a stable source of mercenaries. The Ottomans implemented the bayraktar system within northern Albanian tribes, and granted some privileges to the bayraktars (banner chiefs) in exchange for their obligation to mobilize local fighters to support military actions of the Ottoman forces.[46] Still many Ottoman officers thought that Ghegs, often referred to as "wild" (Turkish: vahşi), were burden for the empire.[38]

The Ghegs were dominant in the political life of Albania in the pre-communist period.[47]

Albania

Politics in Albania has been centered on the constant rivalry for superiority between the Tosks and the Ghegs.[48][49]

Before World War II, the dialect predominantly used for official purposes was Gheg Albanian. This was because Zog, the King of Albania, was the leader of the Ghegs.[50] Nazi Germany recruited Ghegs from the northern territory of the Albanian Kingdom into 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) during the World War II. This recruitment was also supported by some anthropological researches which considered Ghegs an Aryan race.[51]

At the end of World War II, communist forces predominantly composed of Tosks captured Albania after the retreat of the Wehrmacht. That was perceived by many Ghegs as the Tosk takeover of Gheg lands.[13] Most of the members of the post-war communist regime and three quarters of the communist party members were Tosks, while Ghegs were predominantly anti-communists. Therefore, the communist takeover was accompanied by the transfer of political power from the Ghegs to the Tosks.[52] The Albanian communist regime unsuccessfully attempted to make the presence of the Ghegs invisible by silencing the Gheg Albanian dialect through the introduction of a standard Albanian literary language predominantly based on the Tosk dialect.[9] The Ghegs were consistently persecuted by the predominantly Tosk regime, which saw them as traditionalist and less developed.[53] After Enver Hoxha died in 1985, he was succeeded by Ramiz Alia, who was one of the few Ghegs among the leaders of the country.[54] He took cautious steps towards changing direction on the national identity issue by gradually assuming the cause of the Ghegs from Kosovo.[55] This change was accompanied by a long-lasting fear that the introduction of "too-liberal" Albanians from Kosovo might disturb the fragile balance between the Tosk and Gheg sub-ethnic groups.[55] Absorbing Yugoslav Ghegs, who were almost as numerous as all Albanians from Albania, could have ruined the predominantly Tosk regime.[1][49]

A former president Sali Berisha, a Gheg from northern Albania, purged the state administration of antagonistic Tosks[56]

After the fall of the communist regime, religion was again the major factor which determined social identity, and rivalry between Ghegs and Tosks re-emerged.[57] The new political leaders of post-communist Albania appointed by Gheg[58] Sali Berisha were almost all Ghegs from northern Albania.[47][56] The administration of Sali Berisha was identified as northern nationalist Gheg in opposition to southern Socialist Tosk,[44] which additionally increased the contention between Tosks and Ghegs.[56] In 1998 Berisha exploited the traditional Gheg—Tosk rivalry when he encouraged armed anti-Government protesters in Shkodër in actions that forced the resignation of prime minister Fatos Nano.[59]

In the 1990s, the Ghegs of Albania were more sympathetic to the struggle of the Ghegs from Kosovo.[60] During the Kosovo War, rivalry between Ghegs and Tosks faded, and a huge number of refugees from Kosovo were catered for with no internal conflict, despite unavoidable grumbles about the disruption of the community and theft.[44]

See also

Notes and references

Notes:

  1. ↑ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has been recognised as an independent state by 108 out of 193 United Nations member states.

References:

  1. 1 2 Stefano Bianchini; Robert Craig Nation (1998). The Yugoslav Conflict and Its Implications for International Relations. Longo. p. 160. ISBN 978-88-8063-155-2. Retrieved 17 July 2013. 1 .5 million Ghegs from Kosovo
  2. ↑ "Pravo pripadnika nacionalnih manjina u Republici Hrvatskoj na zastupljenost u Hrvatskom saboru". Zakon o izborima zastupnika u Hrvatski sabor (in Croatian). Croatian Parliament. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  3. ↑ "South Serbia Albanians Seek Community of Municipalities". Retrieved 17 July 2013. South Serbia is home to 50,000 or so Albanians.
  4. ↑ . BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1043583.stm. Retrieved 24 October 2013. Initially, the guerrillas' publicly acknowledged objective was to protect the local ethnic Albanian population of some 70,000 people from the repressive actions of the Serb security forces. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ "The Presevo Valley of Southern Serbia alongside Kosovo The Case for Decentralisation and Minority Protection" (PDF). Retrieved 24 October 2013. The total population of the Valley is around 86,000 inhabitants of whom around 57,000 are Albanians and the rest are Serbs and Roma
  6. ↑ "Yugoslavia: Serbia Offers Peace Plan For Presevo Valley". Retrieved 24 October 2013. The Serbian peace proposal calls for integrating the Presevo valley's 70,000 ethnic Albanian residents into mainstream Serbian political and social life.
  7. ↑ (Serbian) Official Results of Serbian Census 2011–Population PDF (441 KB), pp. 12–13
  8. 1 2 Piotr Eberhardt (January 2003). Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, and Analysis. M.E. Sharpe. p. 433. ISBN 978-0-7656-1833-7. Retrieved 13 July 2013. The Albanians comprise two ethnic subgroups: the Ghegs, who generally occupy the area north of the Shkumbin river; and the Tosks, most of whom live south of the river.
  9. 1 2 3 Monika Shehi (2007). When East Meets West: Examining Classroom Discourse at the Albanian Socio-political Intersection. ProQuest. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-549-12813-7. Retrieved 13 July 2013. There were and there remain distinct cultural and linguistic differences between Albanian Ghegs and Tosks
  10. ↑ Hugh Poulton; Suha. Taji Faruqi (January 1997). Muslim Identity and the Balkan State. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-85065-276-2. Retrieved 13 July 2013. the two ethnic sub-groups to which Albanians actually belong: the Ghegs in the north and the Tosks in the south... The Ghegs and Tosks differ from each other in linguistic, historical-cultural and socio-religious character.
  11. ↑ Richard C. Frucht (2005). Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 698. ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Thus the Tosks and the Ghegs evolved virtually in isolation until Albania obtained its independence.
  12. ↑ Arshi Pipa (1989). The Politics of Language in Socialist Albania. East European Monographs. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-88033-168-5. Retrieved 15 July 2013. ...was a confessional name in pre-Ottoman Albania.
  13. 1 2 Tomasz Kamusella (15 January 2009). The politics of language and nationalism in modern Central Europe. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-230-55070-4. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Gheg (Gege) seems to be derived from an onomatopoeic word for 'babbling,' as contrasted with Shqiptare, or 'those who speak clearly, correctly.
  14. ↑ Jaroslav Krej cí; Vitězslav Velímský (1981). Ethnic And Political Nations In Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-85664-988-2. Retrieved 13 July 2013. ...the Ghegs in the north (Ghegeria) and the Tosks in the south (Toskeria)
  15. ↑ Simon Broughton; Mark Ellingham; Richard Trillo (1999). World music: the rough guide. Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Rough Guides. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-85828-635-8. Retrieved 13 July 2013. Most of the ethnic Albanians that live outside the country are Ghegs, although there is a small Tosk population clustered around the shores of lakes Presp and Ohrid in the south of Macedonia.
  16. ↑ Canadian review of studies in nationalism: Revue canadienne des études sur le nationalisme, Volume 19. University of Prince Edward Island. 1992. p. 206. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  17. ↑ Canadian review of studies in nationalism: Revue canadienne des études sur le nationalisme, Volume 19. University of Prince Edward Island. 1992. p. 207. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  18. ↑ Arshi Pipa (1978). Albanian literature: social perspectives. R. Trofenik. p. 173. ISBN 978-3-87828-106-1. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Although the Albanian population in Yugoslavia is almost exclusively Gheg, the Albanian writers there have chosen, for sheer political reasons, to write in Tosk
  19. ↑ Telos. Telos Press. 1989. p. 1. Retrieved 16 July 2013. The political-cultural relevance of the abolition of literary Gheg with literary Tosk....Albanians identify themselves with language...
  20. ↑ Mirela Bogdani; John Loughlin (15 March 2007). Albania and the European Union: The Tumultuous Journey Towards Integration and Accession. I.B.Tauris. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-84511-308-7. Retrieved 13 July 2013. The traditional social organization of the Ghegs was tribal
  21. ↑ I. M. Lewis (1970). History and social anthropology. Taylor & Francis. p. 254. Retrieved 12 May 2013. Ghegs of northern Albania present the only true example of a tribal system surviving in Europe until the mid-twentieth century.
  22. 1 2 Russell King; Nicola Mai (15 January 2011). Out of Albania: From Crisis Migration to Social Inclusion in Italy. Berghahn Books. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-85745-390-7. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  23. ↑ Great Britain. Admiralty (1916). A handbook of Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and adjacent parts of Greece. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 40. Retrieved 24 July 2013. ... the Ghegs being split up into a number of distinct tribal groups, such as the powerful and very independent Mirdite clan in the mountain fastnesses to the south-east of Scutari ; the Klementi, Hoti, Kastrati ; the Pulti, Shala,...
  24. ↑ Barbara Jelavich (29 July 1983). History of the Balkans:. Cambridge University Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-521-27458-6. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  25. 1 2 Jeffrey E. Cole (31 May 2011). Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-59884-303-3. Retrieved 14 July 2013. The Ghegs, who live in the northern mountainous regions, were traditionally herders and were organized around the exogamous, patrilineal
  26. ↑ Area Handbook for Yugoslavia. U.S. Government Pub. Press Office. 1973. p. 80. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  27. ↑ Douglas Saltmarshe (2001). Identity in a Post-Communist Balkan State: An Albanian Village Study. Ashgate Publishing, Limited. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-7546-1727-3. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  28. 1 2 Gary David Comstock; Susan E. Henking (1 February 1997). Que(e)rying Religion: A Critical Anthology. Continuum. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-8264-0924-9. Retrieved 16 July 2013. ...Albanian sworn virginity can never have been more than occasional phenomenon among Ghegs
  29. ↑ David Levinson (1992). Encyclopedia of world cultures. G.K. Hall. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-8168-8840-5. Retrieved 16 July 2013. Gheg clan society lasted until the 1950s in northern Albania. ... Children were betrothed sometimes even before birth, often in respect of an existing alliance or in order to establish friendship or piece
  30. 1 2 Leften Stavros Stavrianos (January 2000). The Balkans Since 1453. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 498. ISBN 978-1-85065-551-0. Retrieved 17 July 2013. Religious differences also existed before the coming of the Turks. Originally, all Albanians had belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church... Then the Ghegs in the North adopted in order to better resist the pressure of Orthodox Serbs.
  31. ↑ Hugh Chisholm (1910). Encyclopaedia britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information. Encyclopaedia Britannica. p. 485. Retrieved 18 July 2013. The Roman Catholic Ghegs appear to liave abandoned the Eastern for the Western Church in the middle of the 13th century
  32. ↑ Ramet, Sabrina P. (1989). Religion and Nationalism in Soviet and East European Politics. Duke University Press. p. 381. ISBN 0-8223-0891-6. Prior to the Turkish conquest, the ghegs (the chief tribal group in northern Albania) had found in Roman Catholicism a means of resisting the Slavs, and though Albanian Orthodoxy remained important among the tosks (the chief tribal group in southern Albania),...
  33. ↑ Gruber, Siegfried. Regional variation in marriage patterns in Albania at the beginning of the 20th century. Social Science History Association Annual Meeting St. Louis, October 24–27, 2002. Data ultimately from the 1918 Albanian census. Urban city data displayed on this map here: http://www-gewi.uni-graz.at/seiner/density.html.
  34. ↑ "Instantanés d’Albaníe, un autre regard sur les Balkans" (2005), Etudiants en Tourisme et Actions Patrimoniales. (Plus de 72 % irréligieux ou non pratiquants.) - http://www.membres.lycos.fr/instantanesdalbanie/image/dossierdepresse.pdf
  35. ↑ Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns ", chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK (2005) - http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_472.html
  36. ↑ O'Brien, Joanne and Martin Palmer (1993). The State of Religion Atlas. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster ("Over 50% of Albanians claim 'no religious alliance.'") - http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_472.html
  37. ↑ Goring, Rosemary (ed). Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions (Larousse: 1994); pg. 581-584. Table: "Population Distribution of Major Beliefs" (Nonreligious 74.00%) - http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_472.html
  38. 1 2 George Gawrych (26 December 2006). The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874-1913. I.B.Tauris. pp. 29, 30. ISBN 978-1-84511-287-5. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  39. ↑ Robert Elsie (19 March 2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania. Scarecrow Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-8108-7380-3. Retrieved 15 July 2013. ... a golden age in the first decades of the 20th century, and much credit for this blossoming of Gheg culture goes to him
  40. ↑ Richard Nidel (2005). World Music: The Basics. Routledge. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-415-96800-3. Retrieved 16 July 2013. The Ghegs are known for a distinctive variety of epic poetry called Rapsodi Kreshnike sung by elderly men.
  41. ↑ Archives de sciences sociales des religions. Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France). 2001. p. 179. Retrieved 16 July 2013. A new important impulse to the rise of Gheg culture is due to the revival of Albanian Catholicism, traditionally distinguished for ils highly prcstigious cultural tradition and generic Albanianism.
  42. ↑ Robin Hanbury-Tenison (15 July 2009). Land of eagles: riding through Europe's forgotten country. I. B. Tauris. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-84511-855-6. Retrieved 17 July 2013. Ghegs, who are often described as fair, are taller than Tosks, who are darker and more Mediterranean.
  43. ↑ Lear, Aaron (1 January 1987). Albania. Chelsea House. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-55546-166-9. The Tosk people are shorter and have rounder faces and smaller noses than the Ghegs.
  44. 1 2 3 Miranda Vickers (2007). The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans. I.B.Tauris. p. 270. ISBN 978-1-86064-974-5. Retrieved 17 July 2013. ... Ghegs speak a slightly different dialect of the language, and are often taller and thinner than Tosks, but these traditional differences (often exaggerated in vulgar anthropology) have been much diminished by population movement in the post-communist period
  45. ↑ Selçuk Akşin Somel (2001). The Modernization of Public Education in the Ottoman Empire, 1839-1908: Islamization, Autocracy, and Discipline. BRILL. p. 208. ISBN 978-90-04-11903-1. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  46. ↑ Helaine Silverman (1 January 2011). Contested Cultural Heritage: Religion, Nationalism, Erasure, and Exclusion in a Global World. Springer. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4419-7305-4. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  47. 1 2 Human Rights Watch. Helsinki Watch (1995). Albania the Greek Minority. Human Rights Watch. p. 6. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Ghegs dominated political life in pre-communist Albania
  48. ↑ Blagovest Zlatanov (2001). New publicity: Bulgarian debates in 2000. Soros Centre for the Arts Foundation. p. 146. ISBN 978-954-90378-7-6. Retrieved 15 July 2013. The relations between the two basic groups of Ghegs and Tosks represent a constant rivalry for superiority,
  49. 1 2 Donald L. Horowitz (1 January 1985). Ethnic Groups in Conflict. University of California Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-520-05385-4. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Albanian politics has revolved around the rivalry of Ghegs and Tosks.
  50. ↑ Peter John de la Fosse Wiles (1971). The Prediction of Communist Economic Performance. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-521-07885-6. Retrieved 15 July 2013. ... the late King Zog was a leader of the Ghegs and that the Gheg dialect predominated in official usage before the War
  51. ↑ Jonathan Trigg (1 April 2009). Hitler's Jihadis: Muslim volunteers of the Waffen-SS. History Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-86227-487-7. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  52. ↑ Miranda Vickers (1999). The Albanians: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9. Retrieved 15 July 2013. The Communist victory had realized the transference of political power from the Ghegs to the Tosks, and as around
  53. ↑ Caroline Hamilton (1 August 2007). The politics and aesthetics of refusal. Cambridge Scholars Pub. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-84718-244-9. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Northern Ghegs were consistently persecuted by the largely Tosk-run socialist regime, stereotyped as less developed, steeped in traditional culture and communal law
  54. ↑ Dennis Kavanagh (1998). "Alia, Ramiz". A Dictionary of Political Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 9. Retrieved 31 August 2013. – via Questia (subscription required)
  55. 1 2 Andrew C. Janos (2000). East Central Europe in the Modern World: The Politics of the Borderlands from Pre-To Postcommunism. Stanford University Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-8047-4688-5. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  56. 1 2 3 Hall Gardner; Elinore Schaffer; Oleg Kobtzeff (2000). Central and southeastern Europe in transition: perspectives on success and failure since 1989. Praeger. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-275-96460-3. Retrieved 15 July 2013. He purged the state apparatus of hostile Tosks, replacing them with partisan northerners
  57. ↑ Miranda Vickers; James Pettifer (1997). Albania. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-85065-279-3. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Religion was once again a major factor in social identity, and elements of traditional Gheg- Tosk, north-south rivalries re-emerged.
  58. ↑ The International Journal of Albanian Studies. Department of Political Science, Columbia University. 1997. p. 11. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Sali Berisha, a Gheg intellectual from the North-East
  59. ↑ Imogen Bell (2002). Central and South-Eastern Europe: 2003. Routledge. p. 641. ISBN 978-1-85743-136-0. Retrieved 15 July 2013. Exploiting the historic Gheg (north)-Tosk (south) rivalry, he encouraged rioters in the northern town of Shkoder (a traditional DPA stronghold) in February 1998 and, in September, led his armed supporters in anti-Government protests that led to resignation to prime minister Fatos Nano
  60. ↑ Maria Koinova (8 July 2013). Ethnonationalist Conflict in Postcommunist States: Varieties of Governance in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo. University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8122-0837-5. Retrieved 16 July 2013. Throughout the 19905, though, Ghegs became more sympathetic toward the Kosovo struggle

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