Azem Bejta commonly known as Azem Galica, was a Albanian

Albanians

Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 nationalist and rebel who fought for the unification of Kosovo with Albania.

Life

Bejta was born in the village of Galica (medieval Kalica) in the Drenica

Drenica

Drenica also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering . Located west of the capital Prishtina, its population of 110,000 is largely ethnic-Albanian....

 region of central Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

. He was the son of Bejta Galica, a patriot who died fighting against the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 and for Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

's separation from the Serbian state. Azem followed his father, and first fought against the Serbs between 1912-1914.

Resistance against Serbia (1912-1915)

The same year, 1912, Serbia

Kingdom of Serbia

The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...

 gained Kosovo in the course of the First Balkan War

First Balkan War

The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...

, and Azem Galica was among the few Albanians who fought against the Serbs.

Colaboration with Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary (1915-1918)

During the First World War, when the Serbs were defeated by the Bulgarians

Kingdom of Bulgaria

The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...

 and Austro-Hungarians

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 in 1915, Kosovo was divided between Bulgaria and Austro-Hungary. Azem Galica accepted this occupation, and he became an outlaw fighting again the soldiers and police of Kingdom of Yugoslavia after First World War.

Resistance against Serbia (1918-1924)

After Austro-Hungary's withdrawal, however, Serbia regained Kosovo. Azem Galica and his ceta (centurians, military formation) pursued their mission - to liberate Kosovo and unite it with Albania. Their continuous battles with police of Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Along his side was his wife Qerime Radisheva, or Shota Galica. He even succeeded in creating a "free-zone" in west part of Kosovo, a zone which was called "Arberia e Vogel" (little Arberia). The police, however, had no intention on letting this zone survive, and thus with superior arms and more soldiers and police, they engaged Azem Galica's soldiers. They succeeded in wounding Azem who later died from his wounds. His last wish was for his body not to be found by the Serbs, and thus he was buried in a deep cave. He died in July 1924.