Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights. The protests then became a nationwide movement.

Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the north and east, and North Macedonia to the southeast. It covers an area of 10,887 km² (4,203 sq mi) and has a population of nearly 1.6 million, with ethnic Albanians making up roughly 92% of the population. Kosovo has a varied terrain, with high plains along with rolling hills and mountains, some of which have an altitude over 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Its climate is mainly continental with some Mediterranean and alpine influences. Kosovo's capital and most populous city is Pristina; other major cities and urban areas include Prizren, Ferizaj, Gjilan and Peja.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It was established in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, dissolving amid the onset of the Yugoslav Wars. Spanning an area of 255,804 square kilometres (98,766 sq mi) in the Balkans, Yugoslavia was bordered by the Adriatic Sea and Italy to the west, Austria and Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east, and Albania and Greece to the south. It was a one-party socialist state and federation governed by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and had six constituent republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Within Serbia was the Yugoslav capital city of Belgrade as well as two autonomous Yugoslav provinces: Kosovo and Vojvodina.

In March and April 1981, a student protest in Pristina, the capital of the then Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, led to widespread protests by Kosovo Albanians demanding more autonomy within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Presidency of Yugoslavia declared a state of emergency in Pristina and Kosovska Mitrovica, which led to rioting. The unrest was suppressed by a large police intervention that caused numerous casualties, and a period of political repression followed.