DJAKOVICA 1929-1941: A BORDER TOWN OF THE YUGOSLAV AND ALBANIAN STATES

Abstract

After the administrative division of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia into banovinas, the territory of Kosovo and Metohija found itself within the Vardar, Morava, and Zeta banovinas. The Đakovica district became part of the Zeta Banovina, and Đakovica was the town with the most inhabitants in this banovina. It (like Prizren) was an important geostrategic point and political-economic center to which the entire cross-border zone of the Black and White Drin was economically oriented, and throughout the interwar period, it was the object of Albanian aspirations. Đakovica was a center for launching kaçak actions toward the southern part of Kosovo and Kačanik, as well as toward Peja thru Drenica and to the northern part of Kosovo in the area of Mitrovica. Jovan Cvijić described Djakovica as „a town under arms” and „a place of typical anarchy where people shot for minor reasons.” Therefore, during the agrarian reform and colonization, it was important to settle colonists in this area, which is why a large number of settlement houses were built there. Đakovica was a rich and fertile part of Metohija, and it maintained trade links with Shkodër, Podgorica, and places in Kosovo and Metohija. Crafts were well-developed, especially filigree and the production of luxurious silk fabrics. However, due to competition from factory-made goods, craftsmanship here, as in other parts of Kosovo and Metohija, began to decline. The trade links of Đakovica, as a border town, were quite dependent on the political ties between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Kingdom of Albania, and the occasional closure of the border. In Đakovica, industrial development and transformation into a modern city began after World War II.