Abstract: This paper analyzes the political and social status of the Albanian language in Kosovo and Metohija during the first half of communist rule in Yugoslavia. The research is based on documents from the Archives of Yugoslavia, the Central State Archive of Albania, the Diplomatic Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, as well as other relevant sources. It demonstrates that, contrary to claims of the “inequality” of the Albanian language advanced in some studies, Albanian during this period enjoyed constitutional and legal equality with Serbo-Croatian in Kosovo and Metohija, while the authorities actively sought to expand its use. After the Brioni Plenum in 1966, the issue of the status of the Albanian language in the province was used as an instrument of political pressure by Albanian communists seeking to further strengthen their position within the Yugoslav state.

Keywords: Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Metohija, Albanian language, language policy, national equality, Fadil Hoxha

Summary: This article examines the political and social status of the Albanian language in Yugoslavia during the first half of the communist period. The research is based on documents from the Archives of Yugoslavia, the Albanian Archives in Tirana, as well as other relevant sources. It shows that, contrary to claims of linguistic inequality put forward in some studies, Albanian enjoyed full constitutional and legal parity with Serbo-Croatian in Kosovo and Metohija during the period under examination. The raising of the issue of the Albanian language’s status in the province in the late 1960s primarily served the purposes of a national and political campaign launched after the Brioni Plenum of 1966. At that time, the Albanian leadership in the province used the language issue to pursue several different objectives. The issue of the “equality” of languages was employed as a pretext for constitutional changes and for strengthening the position of Kosovo’s autonomy. In addition, it was also used as a justification for altering the national composition of employees within the judicial system and the state bureaucracy in Kosovo.