Pilar

The assimilation of Albanians by the Serbian Orthodox church

Dr. Ivo Pilar, in his book “Die südslawische Frage und der Weltkrieg,” highlights the Serbian Orthodox Church's role in assimilating various Orthodox communities into Serbian identity. He cites the example of Petro T. Petrović-Petraqi, an Orthodox Albanian who became a Serbian leader in Sarajevo. Despite his Albanian origin, Petrović was forcefully assimilated to a Serbian identity, by changing his name as precondition to get prominent in the Serbian church community. This pattern was seen across the south of the monarchy, where Orthodox Romanians, Rusyns, Greeks, Aromanians, and others gradually became forcefully assimilated as Serbs, regardless of their original ethnicity. This transformation was particularly notable in areas with significant Greek and Aromanian populations, where their descendants are now considered Serbs.