The uprisings began after the end of the First World War when Kosovo became part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (also known as Yugoslavia).

Under the political leadership of Hasan Prishtina and Bajram Curri, the movement based itself in Shkodër and was led by the Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo organization formed on 1 May 1918.

[11][6][13] The Serbian authorities regarded them as mere bandits and, in response to their rebellion, retaliated by conducting indiscriminate operations against the Kachaks as well as the civilian population.

Azem and the other Kachak leaders presented a set of demands to Serbian officials: they asked the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to stop killing Albanians, to recognise the Kosovo Albanians' right to self-government, and to stop both the Yugoslav colonization program of Kosovo and the military actions of Yugoslav forces on the pretext of disarmament.

[14] As a calculated act of provocation, the Yugoslav government had interned the families of suspected Kachaks to camps in central Serbia during the spring of 1921, which intensified the resistance.

In July 1921, the Kosova Committee submitted a document to the League of Nations in which they reported Serbian atrocities against Albanians and identified the victims.

[15] The Neutral Zone of Junik was established in November 1921 by the authority of the League of Nations following constant border disputes between Albania and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the frequent military intrusion from the Yugoslav side since 1918 into the Albanian side as well as continuous skirmishes between the Albanian guerrillas and Yugoslavian army.

[16] Most of the Kachak bands based themselves in the Neutral Zone, and some of the other political figures involved in the Kosovo Committee, such as Hasan Prishtina, also relocated to Junik.

The Kosova Committee functioned more as a link to the state of Albania, whilst everyday life in the Neutral Zone followed more traditional customs.

In 1922, Zog - who was at this time Minister of the Interior in Albania and a known opponent of the Kosova Committee, began to disarm Albanian Highlander tribes in the north of the country as well as those within the Neutral Zone of Junik.

[9] Zogu also gave orders to the relevant administrative bodies of the state to attack the Neutral Zone and to liquidate the Kachaks wherever they found them, but particularly in Junik.

[19] In March of 1922, Bajram Curri, Hasan Prishtina and Elez Isufi led an unsuccessful attempt at overthrowing Zog, who eventually became the Prime Minister of Albania on 2 December 1922.

The leaders of the Albanian resistance either fell in battle, such as Azem Galica in 1924, or were murdered and assassinated by the Zogist regime of Albania, such as Hasan Prishtina and Bajram Curri.