Kosovo during the 20th century history has largely been characterised by wars and major population displacements. The region formed a part of numerous entities, some internationally recognised, others not. The onset of the 20th century At the turn of the century, Kosovo lay entirely within the Ottoman Empire. Its status was as a vilayet and it occupied a territory significantly larger than today's entity and with Üsküp (now Skopje) as provincial capital. Its own borders were internally expanded following a local administrations reorganisation by the Porte in 1882. The independence of Serbia and Montenegro in 1878 meant that Kosovo was the last line of defence for the Ottomans in Rumelia (Ottoman territory on the European continent). After Bosnia and Herzegovina was incorporated into Austria-Hungary in 1908, Kosovo shared a frontier with three countries: Serbia, Montenegro and Austria-Hungary. This is how Kosovo remained until the Ottoman Empire was dragged into the First Balkan War in which the local non-Turkish population of Rumelia struggled for self-determination in addition to a joint attack by the Balkan League (all serving the interests of those nations while seeking to expand their own borders); during this time, the populous Albanian nation fought its own battle against both the Ottomans and the surrounding countries that attempted to deny the Albanians a national state. Balkan Wars During the Balkan Wars of 1912, most of Kosovo was taken from the Ottoman Empire by the Kingdom of Serbia while the region of Metohija (known as the Dukagjini Valley to ethnic-Albanians) was taken by the Kingdom of Montenegro. Throughout the centuries, populations of ethnic Serbs and Albanians tended to shift following territorial handovers. As a result of the multi-ethnic composition of Kosovo, the new administrations provoked a mixed response from the local population. Whilst Albanians (with a slim majority of just over 50%) did not welcome Serbian rule, the non-Albanian population (mainly Bulgarian, Serb and Bosniak) considered this a liberation. According to Noel Malcolm writing for The Guardian: In 1918, Serbia became a part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later named Yugoslavia. World War I The Serbian Army (helped mainly by the Italian and French Army) was able to recuperate and the sick and injured soldiers received medical attention since they were away from the front lines. Once they were refreshed and regrouped, they returned to the battlefield. In 1918, the Serbian Army pushed the Central