Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Battle of Prapashticë: Difference between revisions

Battle of Prapashticë (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log | edits since nomination)

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Yet another instance of creating a historical event based on unverified local narratives and questionable web portals rather than established academic history.. Article asserts a six-day battle in october 1944 as a major Albanian victory over Bulgarian forces near Pristina, with detailed casualty figures and tactical descriptions. However, the core claims rely predominantly on local albanian websites (pashtriku.org [1][2] and KOHA[3]), which lack independence and editorial oversight required by WP:RS. While the article cites reputable historians like Robert Elsie and Jozo Tomasevich, a closer look reveals they are only used to reference general background information about the Second League of Prizren and the SS Skanderbeg division. Neither of these reliable sources mentions a “First Battle of Preševo.” Extensive searches yield no significant coverage in peer-reviewed academic works or independent secondary sources on WWII in Kosovo/Yugoslavia. The battle is not mentioned at all in historical records and yugoslav military historical sources. I reckon this fails WP:GNG, due to insufficient reliable, in-depth coverage beyond primary or biased outlets FranéRogoz (talk) 01:13, 1 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep: I support what Peja mapping said

TheSecondBrother2 (talk) 17:13, 6 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Keep: Although some of the sources used for the battle may not be very reliable, the battle itself is not a fabrication and is mentioned in academic sources. One of these sources, which is actually used in the article and seems to not have been addressed by the nominator, is “Mbrojtja Kombëtare në rrethinën e Prishtinës 1941-1948” written by Ramadan Ibrahimi. Despite it being an Albanian bibliographic source, it still meets the guidelines for a reliable source. A similar work which also mentions the battle but less in depth is the “National Defense of Kosovo 1941-1944” written by Muhamet Shatri. In page 288 the source mentions heavy fighting in Prapashticë and the sorrounding area. Also the nominator seems to have mixed this battle, as he mentions the First Battle of Preševo which has nothing to do with the Battle of Prapashticë. The fact of no Yugoslav military records mentioning the event could be due to Yugoslavia not participating in the battle. It could also be due to the battle taking part in a larger campaign during the early Kosovo Operation (1944). If the article does not meet notability due to this then i would personally recommend a possible merge to Kosovo Operation. Peja mapping (talk) 22:00, 2 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

My mix-up regarding “First Battle of Preševo” was a simple typo. Your suggestion that Yugoslav records are silent because “Yugoslavia didn’t participate” reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the military situation in October 1944. The Bulgarian 2nd Army was not acting independently or in isolation; it was executing a coordinated joint offensive alongside Yugoslav Partisan units, with both forces operating under the supreme command and tactical direction of the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front. It is historically impossible for an allied army to suffer 600 fatalities and lose heavy artillery in a single week, a catastrophic regimental loss without it being recorded in the detailed daily situational reports of the Bulgarian Army, Yugoslav partisans or their Soviet overseers. The total absence of this “battle” from bulgarian, yugoslav, and soviet military archives, and its lack of coverage even in mainstream academic Albanian military history, confirms that the event as described is not historical fact. Relying on isolated local monographs like Ibrahimi, which lack peer review and contradict the established military timeline, creates a distorted reality that fails Wikipedia reliability standards. We cannot rewrite World War II history based on unverified local narratives that no involved military power ever documented. FranéRogoz (talk) 18:33, 7 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]