By Eugen SHEHU
It was the autumn of 1879 when the Albanian highlanders of Plava, Gucia, and Rugova felt the winds of war. While for the Montenegrins these wars represented an opportunity to acquire new territories to the south, for the Albanians they were the ultimate test: would they allow their old and cunning neighbors to trample upon their hearths, or would they preserve their ancestral dreams and lands intact? By choosing the latter, the Albanians of these highlands ultimately demonstrated the extent of a freedom won at any cost, rather than accepting national humiliation. The first rifles between the two neighbors were fired in late autumn, while the final shots echoed wearily in April 1880. The battles were fierce, reaching almost surreal levels of mutual combat.
The rains and snows of the cold season could not wash away the blood shed by Montenegrins and Albanians alike. To call it a disaster would be an understatement. The people of those lands even gave that winter a chilling name: “The Winter of Blood!” The ancient Balkan stubbornness spared no thousands of human lives, and their blood made the mountain streams flow red instead of carrying the melting snows.
Amid this tragic winter, for thousands of Albanian fighters there was a man who shone like lightning, a fire that drove away fear, and ultimately a hope that never flickered during the wars. This was the brave leader Ali Pasha Gucia. But who was this giant of Albania’s northernmost regions?
He was born in Gucia on the eve of 1820, into the renowned lineage of the Shabanagaj family. Ali’s father, Hasan, had served as the kapedan (captain) of Gucia for ten consecutive years and was renowned for his bravery. Deeply patriotic, he raised his only son, Ali, with the intention of giving him a military education. Ali Pasha Gucia’s character was forged in the harsh environment of his birthplace, where the words of men gathered inside the stone kulla towers carried a weight several times heavier than lead.
He completed his military studies, during which his inclination toward the principles of popular warfare became evident, far removed from the pedantic academicism of Ottoman military theories. Deeply aware of the wars fought by his ancestors, their victories and defeats, his theoretical thinking remained firmly rooted in the Albanian terrain, the weapons, and the psychology of the people of Plava, Gucia, and Rugova.
In the early 1850s, he served as the kaymakam (district governor) of Gucia. Authoritative and attentive to the course of events, he managed to gather around himself a number of wealthy and honest men for whom the preservation of territorial integrity was everything. Although they lived under Ottoman rule, the small peoples of the Balkans were awakening. In this awakening, while the Albanians kept their eyes fixed on their borders, others rubbed their eyes, dazzled by chauvinistic dreams.
Knjaz Danilo, observing that the attention and activities of the northern Albanians were increasingly turning toward autonomy, sent numerous Montenegrin forces to Gucia under the command of Serdar Pletić. Supported by the large Vasojević tribe, Pletić immediately began repressing the Albanian tribes, attempting to suppress their revolts. Ali Pasha Gucia seized precisely this moment. He organized his allies and, together with the people of Plava, Gucia, and Rugova, issued a call to Krasniqi and Gashi, who responded immediately.
Thanks to his military prowess, Ali Pasha Gucia lured Serdar Pletić’s troops into terrifying gorges and struck them like lightning, inflicting heavy losses. The Montenegrin forces retreated, only to return to Albanian lands in the years 1856–1858. By then, however, the self-defense units of Plava and Gucia, under Ali Pasha Gucia’s command, knew how to receive their greedy neighbor. Fighting bravely for their hearths and homelands, the men of these regions simultaneously inspired all Albanians, not only to preserve their ethnic lands but also to keep alive the hope for an autonomous and sovereign Albania.
Faced with this determined Albanian stance, the Sublime Porte in Istanbul naturally could not remain silent. Numerous messages arrived, advising Ali Pasha Gucia to change his attitude toward the Empire and not betray the trust placed in him. Possessing profound strength of character, the hero of Gucia took the opportunity during a gathering of men to declare: “Word has reached me that the Sultan calls me a traitor. I do not consider myself one. But if until today I have served the Sultan with all my soul, from now on I will serve only Albania.”
The movements of Albanian patriots during the agony of the “Sick Man of the Bosphorus” had by then become comprehensive: political, diplomatic, and military. Their culmination was and remained the League of Prizren, which, through the tasks it undertook and the problems it sought to resolve, became a benchmark for other major events in Albania’s history.
While the Congress of Berlin in July 1878 initiated the great struggle over the occupation of Plava, Gucia, and Rugova by Montenegro, it was precisely the general headquarters of the League of Prizren that declared on August 22 of the same year: “No border change in Montenegro will be recognized without the participation… of the leaders of the Albanian League and without its decisions being approved by all of Albania.” (History of Albania, Volume Two, page 234).
The early days of December 1873 marked the first major confrontation between Montenegrin and Albanian forces. More than 10,000 Montenegrin troops commanded by Marko Miljanov advanced toward Plava, taking several highly strategic heights. However, Ali Pasha Gucia, aware of the enemy’s intentions, organized several almost invisible ambushes on the slopes of the Sterec and Visitor mountains, luring the adversary deeper into Albanian territory.
At the height of the battle, just as the Montenegrins called for reinforcements, Ali Pasha Gucia and a handful of fighters destroyed the Rozhanica Bridge, completely cutting the enemy’s internal communication lines. Thus, victory belonged to the Albanians—led, naturally, by the military strategist Ali Pasha Gucia.
Naturally, neither Edirne nor Knjaz Nikola could accept the course of these events. The Albanian League had now gained widespread popularity. With the appointment of Ali Pasha Gucia as commander of the military headquarters of Prizren—at a time when Plava and Gucia were districts within the Vilayet of Kosovo—the brave men of these regions gained even greater confidence in their military actions.
This was particularly evident during the relentless battles of the “blood-soaked winter,” as the period from December 1879 to April 1880 came to be known. The intuition and military expertise of the Albanian commander-in-chief, Ali Pasha Gucia, combined with the besa (pledge of honor) and bravery of the Albanian highlanders, astonishing not only the Montenegrin soldiers but Europe as a whole with their victories. There were numerous battles, especially along the Andrijevica–Plava front, where the rifles never ceased firing.
The fronts were so close that the adversaries would leave their trenches and fight each other with yatagans. It is important to note that in all these battles, Ali Pasha Gucia was never a high commander who merely issued orders from a distance. He personally directed numerous complex operations, and the crack of his rifle could be heard in almost every battle.
Regarding these clashes, the Austro-Hungarian consul in Shkodra, Schumacher, sent the following reports to his government: “The Montenegrins themselves admit that the Albanians fought valiantly and triumphed over them…! The power of the League of Prizren broke that Montenegrin army which had always been capable of resisting Turkish forces. The myth of the invincibility and bravery of the Montenegrins was practically shattered against the united chests of the Albanians of Plava, Gucia, Rugova, and Gashi, led by their chieftain, Ali Pasha Gucia.” (From the Letters of Austro-Hungarian Diplomacy in Albania).
Seeing that many Albanian families were living in misery after the “bloody winter,” this son of Gucia sold numerous properties inherited from his grandfather and father—he was their only heir—and distributed the proceeds among the families of those who had fallen in the battles defending Arbërian soil. Naturally, many other patriots followed his example, ready to sacrifice everything for the Homeland.
As fierce as he was toward the eternal enemies of the Homeland, Ali Pasha Gucia also revealed himself as a man of humanity when dealing with other tribes and peoples caught up in the wars. He prevented several conflicts between Bosniaks and Montenegrins, thereby demonstrating his commitment to freedom and peace. Consequently, he was often respected even by his adversaries. Thus, Vuković, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro who knew the Albanian leader closely, wrote: “Ali Bey was a great military leader and a rare hero who had fought honorably man-to-man with his own father, after previously respecting one another in times of peace as men.”
Meanwhile, due to various circumstances—which we do not consider necessary to analyze in this article—the Albanian League of Prizren fell. Nevertheless, it remains like a meteor illuminating the long Albanian night sky until it finally fades away. Many wise and brave Albanian men were imprisoned, sentenced, or exiled to the farthest shores of Anatolia. The Sultan of that time, recognizing Ali Pasha Gucia’s immense reputation and personality, attempted to tempt him by offering him high positions and ranks within the military hierarchy of the era. The hero of Gucia refused.
Several months later, following the advice of his patriotic friends, Ali Pasha Gucia accepted the position of Mytesarif (district governor) of Peja. At that time, Peja was an important commercial center and a hotbed of national awakening. Appointing Ali Pasha Gucia as Mytesarif of the city and its surroundings meant putting a halt to Serbian ambitions for territorial annexation. Yet the Serbs attempted every possible means to diminish the role of this great Albanian who had spared nothing for his homeland.
Nevertheless, the four years Ali Pasha served as Mytesarif testified to his pure Albanian spirit. He fought to the end to organize rebellious spirits and institutionalize the Albanian besa toward autonomy. Although he had sold his properties in Gucia, investing his capital in helping the poor, he never severed his ties with his birthplace. Several military organizations he undertook in Plava and Gucia while performing his duties in Peja are well known. The Montenegrin forces would always feel from afar the thunder of war that followed the voice of the giant from Gucia.
It was in 1885 that an assassin’s hand was raised against the Albanian hero. Shot treacherously in the back, he remarked in his final moments that if he survived, he would discover who had shot him. But the wounds were too deep, and Ali Pasha Gucia closed his eyes beneath the eternal mystery of his assassination. It is understandable that behind the assassination on the streets of Peja there was not merely one person or a small group.
The two great empires of the time, Turkey and Austria-Hungary, could not forgive the immense damage Ali Pasha Gucia had caused them through his bravery and wisdom. By choosing the path of assassination in the darkness—regardless of which of them orchestrated it—they demonstrated their fear of the logic and influence of this hero.
At the exit of Gucia, the Vruja River immediately appears before you. Crossing it, beneath the spell of its blue waters, you stand before the ruins of Ali Pasha Gucia’s mansion. With the hero’s murder, the great gate of the Shabanagaj family closed forever. He was the last scion of the family, the final memory and pride of the clan.
Yet in the surroundings of Vezir’s Brada, there are several inexhaustible springs that to this day are known as the Springs of Ali Pasha Gucia. They flow and will flow forever, carrying Ali’s name upon their echoing waters.