The number of victims in the Kosovo Vilayet under Serbian control in the first few months was estimated at about 25,000 people. The Serbian government has denied reports on war crimes. After this war, Kosovo was part of Kingdom of Serbia. These events have greatly contributed to the growth of the Serbian-Albanian conflict. Robert Bideleux and Ian Jeffries writes that the Serbian conquest of Kosovo Vilayet was labeled as a struggle for freedom, but was instead led by wholesale carnage, pillage, rape, arson and ethnic cleansing against hundreds and thousands of Albanians. The Serbian campaign on present-day Albanian territory (then still officially Ottoman Empire) took place during the First Balkan War, and lasted from November 1912 to October 1913. Prior to the outbreak of the First Balkan War, the Albanian nation was fighting for a national state. At the end of 1912, after the Porte recognised the autonomy of Albania, the Balkan League (comprising three neighboring states: Serbia, Montenegro and Greece; along with Bulgaria) jointly attacked the Ottoman Empire and during the next few months partitioned all Ottoman territory inhabited by Albanians. The Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Greece occupied most of the land of what is today Albania and other lands inhabited by Albanians on the Adriatic coast. Montenegro occupied a part of today's northern Albania around Shkodër. At the dawn of the Balkan wars, Serbia had aspirations of reclaiming "historic Serbian territory" beyond its southern border, which was called Old Serbia. On the eve of the war, Serbian propaganda implemented a strong anti-Albanian campaign. In particular, Serbia had strong reasons to take part of the Albanian Adriatic coast, as the Serbian writer and geographer Jovan Cvijić said:  At the end of 1912, after the Porte recognised the autonomy of Albanian Vilayet, neighboring Balkan states Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece jointly attacked the Ottoman Empire and during the next few months partitioned nearly all Ottoman territories in Europe, including those inhabited by the Albanians. In 1912, with the outbreak of the First Balkan War, the Albanians rose up and declared the creation of an independent Albania, which included today's Albania and the Vilayet of Kosovo. The Kingdom of Serbia occupied most of the Albanian–claimed lands. Serbian general Božidar Janković was the Commander of the Serbian Third Army during the military campaign in the region.