Kosovo - Causes of the conflict

The League of Prizren was formed in direct response to the 1878 Congress of Berlin, which threatened to distribute Albanian-inhabited lands among Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece without consulting the Albanian population.

The League's initial demands centred on autonomy within the Ottoman Empire — not full independence. It sought to unite Albanian-speaking lands (the four Ottoman vilayets) into a single administrative unit, protect Albanian language and customs, and resist foreign partition.

Only over time did the League's rhetoric shift toward more explicit self-determination, eventually bringing it into conflict with Ottoman authorities as well. It was suppressed by Ottoman forces in 1881 — confirming it was not simply an Ottoman-backed project.

The correct answer captures the League's original position: autonomy within the empire and resistance to partition. The option claiming full independence was the immediate goal is a common misconception — that came later and was associated with the 1912 declaration, not 1878.

The question tests the common mistake of confusing the League's original limited autonomy demands with the later 1912 independence declaration, or misattributing other foreign-policy goals to it.

'Full and immediate independence from the Ottoman Empire' is incorrect for 1878. The League initially operated within the Ottoman framework and even received some tacit Ottoman support — independence was not its founding demand.

'A military alliance with Russia against the Congress of Berlin' is entirely fabricated. Russia was not an Albanian ally; the League's concern was the Congress's disregard for Albanian claims, not forming a military bloc.

'Recognition as an equal republic within a reformed Ottoman federal system' is anachronistic and inaccurate — the League sought a unified Albanian administrative unit, not the formal republic status that was a 20th-century Yugoslav category.

'Autonomy within the Ottoman Empire and resistance to partition' is the only option that accurately reflects the League's founding platform, as confirmed by its formation in direct response to the Congress of Berlin's border proposals.