The history of Albania forms a part of the history of Europe. During
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
,
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
was home to several
Illyrian tribes such as the
Ardiaei
The Ardiaei were an Illyrian people who resided in the territory of present-day Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia between the Adriatic coast on the south, Konjic on the north, along the Neretva river and its right ...
,
Albanoi
The Albanoi ( grc, Ἀλβανοί, ''Albanoi''; la, Albani) were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name ''Abroi''. Ptolemy (200-118 BCE) is the first authors who mentions them ...
,
Amantini
The Amantini ( grc, Ἄμαντες; la, Amantinii) was the name of a Pannonian Illyrian tribe.Dalmatia Tome 2 of History of the provinces of the Roman Empire by J. J. Wilkes, 1969, page 534
The Amantini lived between the rivers Drava and ...
,
Enchele
The Enchelei were an ancient people that lived around the region of Lake Shkodra and Lake Ohrid,Strabo, Geography (ed. H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A.), book 7, chapter 7: "...had established their sway, and Enchelii, who are also called Se ...
,
Taulantii
Taulantii or Taulantians ('swallow-men'; Ancient Greek: , or , ; la, Taulantii) were an Illyrian people that lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They dominated at various times much of the plain between the rivers ...
and many others, but also
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...
and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
tribes, as well as several
Greek colonies
Greek colonization was an organised colonial expansion by the Archaic Greeks into the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea in the period of the 8th–6th centuries BC.
This colonization differed from the migrations of the Greek Dark Ages in that it ...
established on the
Illyrian coast. In the 3rd century BC, the area was annexed by
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and became part of the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
s of
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
,
Macedonia and
Moesia Superior. Afterwards, the territory remained under Roman and
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
control until the
Slavic migrations
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
of the 7th century. It was integrated into the
Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century.
In the Middle Ages, the
Principality of Arbër
Arbanon ( sq, Arbër or , el, Ἄρβανον, ''Árvanon''; la, Arbanum) was a principality ruled by the native Progoni family, and the first Albanian state to emerge in recorded history. The principality was established in 1190 by the native ...
and a Sicilian union known as the
medieval Kingdom of Albania were established. Some areas became part of the
Venetian and later
Serbian Empire
The Serbian Empire ( sr, / , ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expanded the state.
Under Dušan's rule, Serbia was the major power in the ...
. Between the mid-14th and the late 15th centuries, most of modern-day Albania was dominated by
Albanian principalities
The term Albanian principalities refers to a number of principalities created in the Middle Ages in Albania and the surrounding regions in the western Balkans that were ruled by Albanian nobility. The 12th century marked the first Albanian princ ...
, when the Albanian principalities fell to the rapid invasion of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Albania remained under Ottoman control as part of the province of
Rumelia
Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι), Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians f ...
until 1912; with some interruptions during the 18th and 19th century with the establishment of autonomy minded Albanian lords. The first independent Albanian state was founded by the
Albanian Declaration of Independence
The Albanian Declaration of Independence ( Albanian: ''Deklarata e Pavarësisë'') was the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912. Six days later the Ass ...
following a short occupation by the
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...
.
The formation of an
Albanian national consciousness dates to the later 19th century and is part of the larger phenomenon of the
rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire
The rise of the Western notion of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire eventually caused the breakdown of the Ottoman ''millet'' concept. An understanding of the concept of nationhood prevalent in the Ottoman Empire, which was different from the cu ...
.
A short-lived monarchical state known as the
Principality of Albania
The Principality of Albania ( al, Principata e Shqipërisë or ) refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, that lasted from the Treaty of London of 1913 which ended the First Balkan War, through ...
(1914–1925) was succeeded by an even shorter-lived first
Albanian Republic
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
** Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the countr ...
(1925–1928). Another monarchy, the
Kingdom of Albania (1928–1939), replaced the republic. The country endured
occupation by Italy just prior to World War II. After the collapse of the Axis powers, Albania became a communist state, the
Socialist People's Republic of Albania
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...
, which for most of its duration was dominated by
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
(died 1985). Hoxha's political heir
Ramiz Alia
Ramiz Tafë Alia (; 18 October 1925 – 7 October 2011) was an Albanian politician serving as the second and last leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1985 to 1991, serving as First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Alban ...
oversaw the disintegration of the "
Hoxhaist
Hoxhaism () is a variant of Anti-revisionism, anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism that developed in the late 1970s due to a split in the anti-revisionist movement, appearing after the Sino-Albanian split, ideological dispute between the Chinese ...
" state during the wider collapse of the
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
in the later 1980s.
The communist regime collapsed in 1990, and the former communist
Party of Labour of Albania
The Party of Labour of Albania ( sq, Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh), sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded o ...
was routed in elections in March 1992, amid economic collapse and social unrest. The unstable economic situation led to an
Albanian diaspora
The Albanian diaspora ( sq, Mërgata Shqiptare or Diaspora Shqiptare) are the ethnic Albanians and their descendants living outside of Albania, Kosovo, southeastern Montenegro, western North Macedonia, southeastern Serbia, northwestern Greece an ...
, mostly to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and North America during the 1990s. The crisis peaked in the
Albanian Turmoil of 1997. An amelioration of the economic and political conditions in the early years of the 21st century enabled Albania to become a full member of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
in 2009. The country is applying to join the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
Prehistory
![Shpella e zeze - Pellumbas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Shpella_e_zeze_-_Pellumbas.jpg)
The first traces of human presence in Albania, dating to the
Middle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleoli ...
and
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...
eras, were found in the village of Xarrë, near
Sarandë
Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; el, Άγιοι Σαράντα, Ágioi Saránta) is a city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Medi ...
and
Dajti
Dajti () standing at above sea level, is a mountain and national park on the edge of Tirana, Albania. The Dajti belongs to the Skanderbeg range. In winter, the mountain is often covered with snow and is a popular retreat for the local population ...
near
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
.
[''The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C.''](_blank)
John Boardman p.189–90 The objects found in a cave near Xarrë include flint and jasper objects and fossilized animal bones, while those found at Mount Dajt comprise bone and stone tools similar to those of the
Aurignacian culture. The Paleolithic finds of Albania show great similarities with objects of the same era found at Crvena Stijena in
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
and north-western
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
There are several
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
s in Albania that carry artifacts dating from the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
era, and they are dated between 6,000 and 2,000 B.C. The most important are found in
Maliq
Maliq ( sq-definite, Maliqi) formerly known as Malik, is a town and a municipality in Korçë County of eastern Albania.
It is the smaller of two cities in the district, the other being Korçë, southeast of Maliq. The current enlarged municipalit ...
,
Gruemirë
Gruemirë is a former municipality in the Shkodër County, northwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Malësi e Madhe. The population at the 2011 census was 8,890.
Name
It is named afte ...
,
Dushman (Dukagjin), on the
Erzen
The Erzen ( sq-definite, Erzeni) is a river in central Albania. The length of Erzen is , while the catchment area is including the southern Tirana District and eastern Durrës District.
Name
The ancient Illyrian name of the river was ''Ardaxa ...
river (close to
Shijak
Shijak ( sq-definite, Shijaku) is a town and a municipality in Durrës County, west-central Albania. The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjepalaj, Maminas, Shijak and Xhafzot ...
), near
Durrës
Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...
,
Ziçisht,
Nepravishtë,
Finiq
Finiq ( sq, Finiq or Finiqi, el, Φοινίκη, Foiniki) is a settlement, considered town or village, and municipality in Vlorë County, in southern Albania located 8 km from the Ionian Sea and 20 km north of the Greek border. It was f ...
, and
Butrint
Butrint ( el, Βουθρωτόν and Βουθρωτός, ''Bouthrōtón'', la, Buthrōtum) was an ancient Greek and later Roman city and bishopric in Epirus. "Speakers of these various Greek dialects settled different parts of Greece at differen ...
.
In the late Bronze Age and early
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
a number of possible population movements occurred in the territories of modern Albania, for example the settlement of the
Bryges
Bryges or Briges ( el, Βρύγοι or Βρίγες) is the historical name given to a people of the ancient Balkans. They are generally considered to have been related to the Phrygians, who during classical antiquity lived in western Anatolia. ...
in areas of southern Albania-northwestern Greece and
Illyrian tribes into central Albania.
[Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond]
Studies: Further studies on various topics
A.M. Hakkert, 1993, p. 231: "The leading dans of both groups buried their dead under a circular tumulus of soil in the second millennium BC The main reservoir of the Greek speakers was central Albania and Epirus, and it was from there that the founders of Mycenaean civilization came to Mycenae, c. 1600 BC, and buried their nobles in Grave Circle B. Further waves of immigrants passing through and from Epirus people the Greek peninsula and islands the last wave, called Dorians, settling from 1100 onwards. The lands they left in central Albania were occupied during the so-called Dark Age (U10-800BC) by Illyrians, whose main habitat was in the area now called Bosnia," The latter derived from early an Indo-European presence in the western
Balkan Peninsula
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
. The movement of the Byrgian tribes can be assumed to coincide with the beginning Iron Age in the Balkans during the early 1st millennium BC.
Antiquity
Illyrians
![Face of King Gentius on Ancient Illyrian coin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Face_of_King_Gentius_on_Ancient_Illyrian_coin.jpg)
The
Illyrians
The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...
were a group of tribes who inhabited the western
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
during the
classical times
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
. The territory the tribes covered came to be known as
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...
to
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
authors, corresponding roughly to the area between the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
in the west, the
river in the north, the
Morava river in the east and the mouth of
Vjosë river in the south. The first account of the
Illyrian peoples
The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, al ...
comes from the Coastal Passage contained in a
periplus
A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...
, an ancient Greek text of the middle of the 4th century BC.
Several Illyrian tribes that resided in the region of Albania were the
Ardiaei
The Ardiaei were an Illyrian people who resided in the territory of present-day Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia between the Adriatic coast on the south, Konjic on the north, along the Neretva river and its right ...
,
Taulantii
Taulantii or Taulantians ('swallow-men'; Ancient Greek: , or , ; la, Taulantii) were an Illyrian people that lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They dominated at various times much of the plain between the rivers ...
and
Albanoi
The Albanoi ( grc, Ἀλβανοί, ''Albanoi''; la, Albani) were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name ''Abroi''. Ptolemy (200-118 BCE) is the first authors who mentions them ...
in central Albania, the
Parthini
The Parthini, Partini or Partheni were an Illyrian tribe that lived in the inlands of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They likely were located in the Shkumbin valley controlling the important route between the Adriatic Sea and Macedonia, whi ...
, the
Abri
A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves ( karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alwa ...
and the
Cavii
This is a list of ancient tribes in the ancient territory of Illyria ( grc-gre, Ἰλλυρία; la, Illyria). The name ''Illyrians'' seems to be the name of a single Illyrian tribe that was the first to come into contact with the ancient Greek ...
i in the north, the
Enchelei
The Enchelei were an ancient people that lived around the region of Lake Shkodra and Lake Ohrid,Strabo, Geography (ed. H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A.), book 7, chapter 7: "...had established their sway, and Enchelii, who are also called Se ...
in the east, the
Bylliones
The Bylliones were an Illyrian tribe that lived near the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria (modern Albania), on the lower valley of the Vjosa river, in the hinterland of Apollonia. The Bylliones were firstly attested in epigraphic material f ...
in the south and
several others. In the westernmost parts of the territory of Albania, along with the Illyrian tribes, lived the
Bryges
Bryges or Briges ( el, Βρύγοι or Βρίγες) is the historical name given to a people of the ancient Balkans. They are generally considered to have been related to the Phrygians, who during classical antiquity lived in western Anatolia. ...
,
[The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes,1996, , page 111.] a
Phrygian people, and in the south
lived the Greek tribe of the
Chaonians
The Chaonians ( grc, Χάονες, Cháones) were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus currently part of north-western Greece and southern Albania.; ; ; ; ; . Together with the Molossians and the Thesprotians, they formed t ...
.
![Queen Teuta orders the murder of Roman ambassadors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Queen_Teuta_orders_the_murder_of_Roman_ambassadors.jpg)
In the 4th century BC, the Illyrian king
Bardylis
Bardylis (also Bardyllis ; grc, Βάρδυλις; 448 – c. 358 BC) was an Illyrian king, and the founder of the first attested Illyrian dynasty. During his reign, Bardylis aimed to made Illyria a regional power interfering with Macedon. He ...
united several Illyrian tribes and engaged in conflicts with
Macedon
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
to the south-east, but was defeated. Bardyllis was succeeded by
Grabos II
Grabus (also Grabos; grc-gre, Γράβος; ruled c. 358 – 356 BC) was an Illyrian king who reigned in southern Illyria in the 4th century BC.
Biography
According to a historical reconstruction, Grabus belonged to the Grabaei, an Illyrian ...
, then by
Bardylis II,
["The Journal of Hellenic Studies by Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (London, England)", 1973, p. 79. Cleitus was evidently the son of Bardylis II the grandson of the very old Bardylis who had fallen in battle against Phillip II in 385 BC.] and then by
Cleitus the Illyrian
Cleitus (Ancient Greek: Κλεῖτος; ruled 356335 BC) was an Illyrian ruler, the son of the King Bardylis and the father of Bardylis II.
Cleitus was the mastermind behind the well structured Illyrian Revolt of 335 BC. Cleitus entered int ...
,
who was defeated by
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
.
Around 230 BC, the Ardiaei briefly attained military might under the reign of king Agron. Agron extended his rule over other neighbouring tribes as well. He raided parts of
Epirus
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
,
Epidamnus
The ancient Greek city of Epidamnos or Epidamnus ( grc-gre, Ἐπίδαμνος), ( sq, Epidamni) later the Roman Dyrrachium (Δυρράχιον) ( sq, Dyrrahu) (modern Durrës, Albania), was founded in 627 BC in Illyria by a group of colonists ...
, and the islands of Corcyra and Pharos. His state stretched from Narona in Dalmatia south to the river Aoos and Corcyra. During his reign, the Ardiaean Kingdom reached the height of its power. The army and fleet made it a major regional power in the Balkans and the southern Adriatic. The king regained control of the Adriatic with his warships (''lembi''), a domination once enjoyed by the
Liburnians
The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croatia ...
. None of his neighbours were nearly as powerful. Agron divorced his (first) wife.
Agron suddenly died, circa 231BC, after his triumph over the
Aetolians. Agron's (second) wife was Queen
Teuta
Teuta (Illyrian languages, Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC.
Following the death ...
, who acted as regent after Agron's death. According to
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
, she ruled "by women's reasoning". Teuta started to address the neighbouring states malevolently, supporting the piratical raids of her subjects. After capturing
Dyrrhachium and Phoenice, Teuta's forces extended their operations further southward into the
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...
, defeating the combined
Achaean and Aetolian fleet in the
Battle of Paxos
The Battle of Paxos was a naval battle between a coalition of Illyrian federation with their Acarnanian allies, against the allies of Corcyra (modern Corfu), the Achaean League and Aetolian League. The battle took place in the spring of 229& ...
and capturing the island of
Corcyra
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
. Later on, in 229 BC, she clashed with the Romans and initiated the
Illyrian Wars
The Illyro-Roman Wars were a series of wars fought between the Roman Republic and the Ardiaei kingdom. In the ''First Illyrian War'', which lasted from 229 BC to 228 BC, Rome's concern was that the trade across the Adriatic Sea increased after the ...
. These wars, which were spread out over 60 years, eventually resulted in defeat for the Illyrians by 168 BC and the end of Illyrian independence when King
Gentius
Gentius ( grc, Γένθιος, "Génthios"; 181168 BC) was an Illyrian king who belonged to the Labeatan dynasty. He ruled in 181–168 BC, being the last attested Illyrian king. He was the son of Pleuratus III, a king who kept positive relati ...
was defeated by a Roman army after heavy clashes with Rome and Roman allied cities such as
Apollonia and
Dyrrhachium under
Anicius Gallus. After his defeat, the Romans split the region into three administrative divisions, called ''meris''.
Greeks and Romans
![Dyrrachium coin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Dyrrachium_coin.jpg)
Beginning in the 7th century BC, Greek colonies were established on the Illyrian coast. The most important were
Apollonia, Aulon (modern-day
Vlorë
Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...
),
Epidamnos
The ancient Greek city of Epidamnos or Epidamnus ( grc-gre, Ἐπίδαμνος), ( sq, Epidamni) later the Roman Dyrrachium (Δυρράχιον) ( sq, Dyrrahu) (modern Durrës, Albania), was founded in 627 BC in Illyria by a group of colonist ...
(modern-day
Durrës
Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...
), and
Lissus Lissus or Lissos ( el, Λίσσος) could be:
* Lissus (Crete), an ancient Greek city in Crete
* Lissos (Illyria), an ancient city in Illyria, the present day city of Lezhë in Albania
* Lissus, a river in Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη ...
(modern-day
Lezhë
Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality.
One of the main strongholds of the Labeatai, the earliest of the fortification walls of Lezhë are of typical Illyrian const ...
). The city of
Buthrotum
Butrint ( el, Βουθρωτόν and Βουθρωτός, ''Bouthrōtón'', la, Buthrōtum) was an ancient Greek and later Roman city and bishopric in Epirus. "Speakers of these various Greek dialects settled different parts of Greece at differen ...
(modern-day Butrint), a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, is probably more significant today than it was when
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
used it as a provisions depot for his troops during his campaigns in the 1st century BC. At that time, it was considered an unimportant outpost, overshadowed by Apollonia and Epidamnos.
![Amphitheatre of durres albania 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Amphitheatre_of_durres_albania_2016.jpg)
The lands comprising modern-day Albania were incorporated into the Roman Empire as part of the province of
Illyricum above the river
Drin, and Roman
Macedonia (specifically as
Epirus Nova
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
) below it. The western part of the
Via Egnatia
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a continu ...
ran inside modern Albania, ending at
Dyrrachium.
Illyricum was later divided into the provinces of
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
and
Pannonia
Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...
.
The
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of ''Illyricum'' or ''Illyris Romana'' or ''Illyris Barbara'' or ''Illyria Barbara'' replaced most of the region of
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...
. It stretched from the
Drilon Drilon is a given name and a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
Persons with the given name
* Drilon Cenaj (born 1997), Kosovan footballer
* Drilon Hajrizi (born 1991), Kosovan basketball player
* Drilon Ibrahimi (born 1988), Kosovan ...
River in modern
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
to
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...
(
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
) in the west and to the
Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
River (
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
) in the north.
Salona
Salona ( grc, Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia.
Salona was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in t ...
(near modern
Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
in Croatia) functioned as its capital. The regions which it included changed through the centuries though a great part of ancient
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...
remained part of
Illyricum.
South Illyria became
Epirus Nova
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
, part of the Roman province of Macedonia. In 357 AD the region was part of the
Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum ( la, praefectura praetorio per Illyricum; el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία ῶν πραιτωρίωντοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ, also termed simply the Prefecture of Illyricum) was one of four ...
one of four large
praetorian prefectures into which the Late
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
was divided. By 395 AD dioceses in which the region was divided were the
Diocese of Dacia (as Pravealitana), and the
Diocese of Macedonia (as Epirus Nova). Most of the region of modern Albania corresponds to the
Epirus Nova
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
.
Christianization
![Labova e Kryqit3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Labova_e_Kryqit3.jpg)
Christianity came to
Epirus nova
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
, then part of the Roman province of
Macedonia. Since the 3rd and 4th century AD, Christianity had become the established religion in
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
, supplanting pagan polytheism and eclipsing for the most part the humanistic world outlook and institutions inherited from the Greek and Roman civilizations. The
Durrës Amphitheatre
Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of the ...
''(Albanian: Amfiteatri i Durrësit)'' is a historic monument from the time period located in Durrës, Albania, that was used to preach Christianity to civilians during that time.
When the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
was divided into eastern and western halves in AD 395, Illyria east of the Drinus River (
Drina
The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long Balkans river, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps whi ...
between
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
and
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
), including the lands form Albania, were administered by the Eastern Empire but were ecclesiastically dependent on
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. Though the country was in the fold of
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
, Christians in the region remained under the jurisdiction of the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
until 732. In that year the iconoclast Byzantine emperor
Leo III, angered by archbishops of the region because they had supported Rome in the
Iconoclastic Controversy
The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial au ...
, detached the church of the province from the Roman pope and placed it under the
patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
.
When the
Christian church split in 1054 between Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism, the region of southern Albania retained its ties to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, while the north reverted to the jurisdiction of Rome. This split marked the first significant religious fragmentation of the country. After the formation of the Slav principality of Dioclia (modern
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
), the metropolitan see of
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
was created in 1089, and dioceses in northern Albania (
Shkodër
Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...
,
Ulcinj
Ulcinj ( cyrl, Улцињ, ; ) is a town on the southern coast of Montenegro and the capital of Ulcinj Municipality. It has an urban population of 10,707 (2011), the majority being Albanians.
As one of the oldest settlements in the Adriatic co ...
) became its suffragans. Starting in 1019, Albanian dioceses of the Byzantine rite were suffragans of the independent
Archdiocese of Ohrid until
Dyrrachion and
Nicopolis
Nicopolis ( grc-gre, Νικόπολις, Nikópolis, City of Victory) or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus Vetus. It was located in the western part of the modern state of Greece. The city was founded in 29 ...
, were re-established as metropolitan sees. Thereafter, only the dioceses in inner Albania (
Elbasan
Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central Al ...
,
Krujë) remained attached to
Ohrid
Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...
. In the 13th century during the
Venetian occupation, the Latin Archdiocese of Durrës was founded.
Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
![Balkans 6th century](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Balkans_6th_century.svg)
After the region fell to the Romans in 168 BC it became part of
Epirus nova
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
that was, in turn, part of the Roman province of
Macedonia. When the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
was divided into East and West in 395, the territories of modern Albania became part of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. Beginning in the first decades of Byzantine rule (until 461), the region suffered devastating raids by
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
,
Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
, and
Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the larg ...
. In the 6th and 7th centuries, the
Slavic invasion of Europe forced
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
and
Vlachs
"Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...
to pull back into the mountainous regions and adopt nomadic lifestyle, or flee into
Byzantine Greece
Byzantine Greece has a history that mainly coincides with that of the Byzantine Empire itself.
Background: Roman Greece
The Greek peninsula became a Roman protectorate in 146 BC, and the Aegean islands were added to this territory in 133 BC. ...
.
In general, the invaders destroyed or weakened Roman and
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
cultural centres in the lands that would become Albania.
In the late 11th and 12th centuries, the region played a crucial part in the
Byzantine–Norman wars
Wars between the Normans and the Byzantine Empire were fought from 1040 until 1185, when the last Norman invasion of the Byzantine Empire was defeated. At the end of the conflict, neither the Normans nor the Byzantines could boast much power, as ...
; Dyrrhachium was the westernmost terminus of the ''
Via Egnatia
The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a continu ...
'', the main overland route to Constantinople, and was one of the main targets of the Normans (cf. Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081)). Towards the end of the 12th century, as Byzantine central authority weakened and rebellions and regionalist secessionism became more common, the region of
Arbanon
Arbanon ( sq, Arbër or , el, Ἄρβανον, ''Árvanon''; la, Arbanum) was a principality ruled by the native Progoni family, and the first Albanian state to emerge in recorded history. The principality was established in 1190 by the native ...
became an autonomous principality ruled by its own hereditary princes. In 1258, the Sicilians took possession of the island of
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
and the Albanian coast, from Dyrrhachium to Valona and Buthrotum and as far inland as Berat. This foothold, reformed in 1272 as the "
Kingdom of Albania Kingdom of Albania may refer to:
*Kingdom of Albania (medieval) — from the Capetian House of Anjou
*Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939) — from the House of Zogu
*Albanian Kingdom (1939–1943) — from the House of Savoy during the Italian occupati ...
", was intended by the dynamic Sicilian ruler,
Charles of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) i ...
, to become the launchpad for an overland invasion of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines, however, managed to recover most of Albania by 1274, leaving only Valona and Dyrrhachium in Charles' hands. Finally, when Charles launched his much-delayed advance, it was stopped at the Siege of Berat in 1280–1281. Albania would remain largely part of the Byzantine empire until the
Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old so ...
when it fell shortly to the hands of the Serbian ruler
Stephen Dushan. During this time, the territory became
Albanian majority as the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
wiped out much of its
Greek population.
In the mid-9th century, most of eastern Albania became part of the
Bulgarian Empire. The area, known as
Kutmichevitsa
Kutmichevitsa ( bg, Кутмичевица) was an administrative region of the Bulgarian Empire during 9th-11th cent., corresponding roughly with the northwestern part of the region of Macedonia and the southern part of Albania, broadly taken to ...
, became an important Bulgarian cultural center in the 10th century with many thriving towns such as
Devol, Glavinitsa (
Ballsh
Ballsh ( sq-definite, Ballshi) is a town and a former municipality in Fier County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Mallakastër. It was the seat of the former District ...
) and Belgrad (
Berat
Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier.
Berat is located in th ...
). When the Byzantines managed to conquer the First Bulgarian Empire the fortresses in eastern Albania were some of the last Bulgarian strongholds to submit to the Byzantines. Later the region was recovered by the
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...
.
In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, the name Arberia began to be increasingly applied to the region now comprising the nation of Albania. The first undisputed mention of Albanians in the historical record is attested in a Byzantine source for the first time in 1079–1080, in a work titled ''History'' by Byzantine historian
Michael Attaliates Michael Attaleiates or Attaliates ( grc-gre, Μιχαήλ Ἀτταλειάτης, Michaḗl Attaleiátēs, ; – 1080) was a Byzantine Greek chronicler, public servant and historian active in Constantinople and around the empire's provinces in the ...
, who referred to the ''
Albanoi
The Albanoi ( grc, Ἀλβανοί, ''Albanoi''; la, Albani) were an Illyrian tribe. They were possibly first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (550-476 BCE) under the name ''Abroi''. Ptolemy (200-118 BCE) is the first authors who mentions them ...
'' as having taken part in a revolt against
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in 1043 and to the ''Arbanitai'' as subjects of the duke of
Dyrrhachium. A later reference to Albanians from the same Attaliates, regarding the participation of Albanians in a rebellion around 1078, is undisputed.
Principality of Arbër
![Map_of_Arbanon_(Arbëria)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Map_of_Arbanon_%28Arb%C3%ABria%29.png)
In 1190, the
Principality of Arbër
Arbanon ( sq, Arbër or , el, Ἄρβανον, ''Árvanon''; la, Arbanum) was a principality ruled by the native Progoni family, and the first Albanian state to emerge in recorded history. The principality was established in 1190 by the native ...
(Arbanon) was founded by archon
Progon in the region of
Krujë. Progon was succeeded by
Gjin Progoni
Gjin Progoni ( la, Ginius) was an ''archon'' (or lord) of Kruja, located in present-day Albania, from c. 1198 until his death in 1208.: "Even if it is hard to identify the outlook of Prince Gjin, the son of Progon, who died in 1208, it is clear t ...
and then
Dhimitër Progoni
Demetrio Progoni ( sq, Dhimitër Progoni) was an Albanian leader who ruled as '' Prince of the Albanians'' from 1208 to 1216 the Principality of Arbanon, the first Albanian state. He was the successor and brother of Gjin Progoni and their father ...
. Arbanon extended over the modern districts of
central Albania
Central Albania ( sq, Shqipëria Qendrore) is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania.
It consists of two counties: Tirana County and Elbasan County.
See also
* Northern Albania (''Ghegeria'' or ''Gegeria'')
*Southern Albania
Southern Alb ...
, with its capital located at
Krujë.
The principality of Arbanon was established in 1190 by the native ''
archon
''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
''
Progon in the region surrounding
Kruja, to the east and northeast of
Venetian territories. Progon was succeeded by his sons
Gjin Gjin is an Albanian male given name, clan, surname and onomastic element. As a name, it is usually held by Albanian Christians, as it is derived from the name of a saint, although the identity of this saint is unclear, as both theologists and lingu ...
and then
Demetrius
Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter".
Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumit ...
(Dhimitër), who managed to retain a considerable degree of autonomy from the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
.
In 1204, Arbanon attained full, though temporary, political independence, taking advantage of the weakening of Constantinople following its
pillage
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
during the
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
. However, Arbanon lost its large autonomy ca. 1216, when the ruler of
Epirus
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
,
Michael I Komnenos Doukas, started an invasion northward into
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
and
Macedonia, taking
Kruja and ending the independence of the principality of Arbanon and its ruler, Demetrius. After the death of Demetrius, the last ruler of the Progon family, the same year, Arbanon was successively controlled subsequently by the
Despotate of Epirus, the
Bulgarian Empire and, from 1235, by the
Empire of Nicaea
The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...
.
During the conflicts between
Michael II Komnenos Doukas
Michael II Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Comnenus Ducas ( el, Μιχαήλ Β΄ Κομνηνός Δούκας, ''Mikhaēl II Komnēnos Doukas''), often called Michael Angelos in narrative sources, was from 1230 until his death in 1266/68 the rule ...
of Epirus and Emperor
John III Doukas Vatatzes
John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...
, Golem (ruler of Arbanon at the time) and Theodore Petraliphas, who were initially Michael's allies, defected to John III in 1252.
He is last mentioned in the sources among other local leaders, in a meeting with George Akropolites in Durrës in 1256. Arbanon was a beneficiary of the Via Egnatia trade road, which brought wealth and benefits from the more developed Byzantine civilization.
High Middle Ages
![Kingdom of Albania](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Kingdom_of_Albania.png)
After the fall of the
Principality of Arber in territories captured by the
Despotate of Epirus, the
Kingdom of Albania Kingdom of Albania may refer to:
*Kingdom of Albania (medieval) — from the Capetian House of Anjou
*Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939) — from the House of Zogu
*Albanian Kingdom (1939–1943) — from the House of Savoy during the Italian occupati ...
was established by
Charles of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) i ...
. He took the title of King of
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
in February 1272. The kingdom extended from the region of Durrës (then known as Dyrrhachium) south along the coast to Butrint. After the failure of the Eighth Crusade, Charles of Anjou returned his attention to Albania. He began contacting local Albanian leaders through local catholic clergy. Two local Catholic priests, namely John from Durrës and Nicola from Arbanon, acted as negotiators between Charles of Anjou and the local noblemen. During 1271 they made several trips between Albania and Italy eventually succeeding in their mission.
On 21 February 1272, a delegation of Albanian noblemen and citizens from Durrës made their way to Charles' court. Charles signed a treaty with them and was proclaimed King of Albania "by common consent of the bishops, counts, barons, soldiers and citizens" promising to protect them and to honor the privileges they had from Byzantine Empire. The treaty declared the union between the Kingdom of Albania (Latin: ''Regnum Albanie'') with the Kingdom of Sicily under King Charles of Anjou (''Carolus I, dei gratia rex Siciliae et Albaniae'').
He appointed Gazzo Chinardo as his Vicar-General and hoped to take up his expedition against Constantinople again. Throughout 1272 and 1273 he sent huge provisions to the towns of Durrës and Vlorë. This alarmed the Byzantine Emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos, who began sending letters to local Albanian nobles, trying to convince them to stop their support for Charles of Anjou and to switch sides. However, the Albanian nobles placed their trust on Charles, who praised them for their loyalty.
Throughout its existence the Kingdom saw armed conflict with the Byzantine empire. The kingdom was reduced to a small area in Durrës. Even before the city of Durrës was captured, it was landlocked by Karl Thopia's principality. Declaring himself as Angevin descendant, with the capture of
Durrës
Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...
in 1368
Karl Thopia
Karl Thopia ( sq, Karl Topia) was an Albanian feudal prince and warlord who ruled Albania from the middle of the 14th century until the first Ottoman conquest of Albania. Thopia usually maintained good relations with the Roman Curia.
Family ...
created the
Princedom of Albania
The Principality of Albania ( al, Principata e Shqipërisë or ) refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, that lasted from the Treaty of London of 1913 which ended the First Balkan War, through ...
. During its existence Catholicism saw rapid spread among the population which affected the society as well as the architecture of the Kingdom. A
Western type of feudalism was introduced and it replaced the Byzantine
Pronoia
The ''pronoia'' (plural ''pronoiai''; Greek: πρόνοια, meaning "care" or "forethought," from πρό, "before," and νόος, "mind") was a system of granting dedicated streams of state income to individuals and institutions in the late Byz ...
.
Principalities and League of Lezhë
![Vues iv41056](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Vues_iv41056.jpg)
In 1371, the
Serbian Empire
The Serbian Empire ( sr, / , ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expanded the state.
Under Dušan's rule, Serbia was the major power in the ...
was dissolved and several Albanian principalities were formed including the
Principality of Kastrioti
Principality of Kastrioti ( sq, Principata e Kastriotit) was one of the Albanian principalities during the Late Middle Ages. It was formed by Pal Kastrioti who ruled it until 1407, after which his son, Gjon Kastrioti ruled until his death in 14 ...
,
Principality of Albania
The Principality of Albania ( al, Principata e Shqipërisë or ) refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, that lasted from the Treaty of London of 1913 which ended the First Balkan War, through ...
and
Despotate of Arta
The Despotate of Arta ( sq, Despotati i Artës; el, Δεσποτάτο της Άρτας) was a despotate established by Albanian rulers during the 14th century, after the defeat of the local Despot of Epirus, Nikephoros II Orsini, by Albania ...
as the major ones.
In the late 14th and the early 15th century the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
conquered parts of south and central Albania. The Albanians regained control of their territories in 1444 when the
League of Lezhë
The League of Lezhë ( sq, Lidhja e Lezhës), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League ( sq, Lidhja Arbërore), was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The Leag ...
was established, under the rule of
George Kastrioti
, reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468
, predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti
, successor = Gjon Kastrioti II
, spouse = Donika Arianiti
, issue = Gjon Kastrioti II
, royal house = Kastrioti
, father ...
Skanderbeg
, reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468
, predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti
, successor = Gjon Kastrioti II
, spouse = Donika Arianiti
, issue = Gjon Kastrioti II
, royal house = Kastrioti
, father ...
, the Albanian national hero. The League was a military alliance of feudal lords in Albania forged in Lezhë on 2 March 1444, initiated and organised under Venetian patronage with Skanderbeg as leader of the regional Albanian and Serbian chieftains united against the Ottoman Empire. The main members of the league were the Arianiti, Balšić, Dukagjini, Muzaka, Spani, Thopia and Crnojevići. For 25 years, from 1443 to 1468, Skanderbeg's 10,000-man army marched through Ottoman territory winning against consistently larger and better supplied Ottoman forces.
Threatened by Ottoman advances in their homeland, Hungary, and later Naples and Venice – their former enemies – provided the financial backbone and support for Skanderbeg's army. By 1450 it had certainly ceased to function as originally intended, and only the core of the alliance under Skanderbeg and Araniti Comino continued to fight on. After Skanderbeg's death in 1468, the sultan "easily subdued Albania," but Skanderbeg's death did not end the struggle for independence, and fighting continued until the Ottoman
siege of Shkodra
The fourth siege of Shkodra of 1478–79 was a confrontation between the Ottoman Empire and the Venetians together with the League of Lezhe and other Albanians at Shkodra (Scutari in Italian) and its Rozafa Castle during the First Ottoman-V ...
in 1478–79, a siege ending when the Republic of Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottomans in the peace treaty of 1479.
Early Ottoman period
Ottoman supremacy in the west
Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
region began in 1385 with their success in the
Battle of Savra
The Battle of Savra ( sq, Beteja e Savrës, sr, Bitka na Saurskom polju, tr, Savra Muharebesi; "Battle on the Saurian field") or the Battle of the Vjosë was fought on 18 September 1385 between Ottoman and much smaller Zetan forces, at the Sa ...
. Following that battle, the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1415 established the
Sanjak of Albania
The Sanjak of Albania ( tr, Sancak-i Arvanid or Arvanid-ili sancağı; sq, Sanxhaku i Shqipërisë) was a second-level administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire between 1415 and 1466. Its mandate included territories of modern central and sout ...
covering the conquered parts of Albania, which included territory stretching from the
Mat River
The Mat ( sq-definite, Mati) is a river in north-central Albania. Its overall length is , while its catchment surface is . Its average discharge is . The main tributary is Fan, flowing from the northeast, while the Mat flows from the southwest d ...
in the north to
Chameria
Chameria ( sq, Çamëria; el, Τσαμουριά, ''Tsamouriá''; tr, Çamlık) is a term used today mostly by Albanians to refer to parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and Greece, traditionally associated with the Alban ...
in the south. In 1419,
Gjirokastra became the administrative centre of the Sanjak of Albania.
The northern Albanian nobility, although tributary of the Ottoman Empire they still had autonomy to rule over their lands, but the southern part which was put under the direct rule of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, prompted by the replacement of large parts of the local nobility with Ottoman landowners, centralized governance and the Ottoman taxation system, the population and the nobles, led principally by
Gjergj Arianiti
Gjergj Arianiti (1383–1462) was an Albanian feudal lord who led several successful campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. He was the father of Donika, Skanderbeg's wife, as well as the grand-uncle of Moisi Arianit Golemi. Gjergj Arianiti was ...
, revolted against the Ottomans.
During the early phases of the revolt, many land (
timar
A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...
) holders were killed or expelled. As the revolt spread, the nobles, whose holdings had been annexed by the Ottomans, returned to join the revolt and attempted to form alliances with the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. While the leaders of the revolt were successful in defeating successive Ottoman campaigns, they failed to capture many of the important towns in the
Sanjak of Albania
The Sanjak of Albania ( tr, Sancak-i Arvanid or Arvanid-ili sancağı; sq, Sanxhaku i Shqipërisë) was a second-level administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire between 1415 and 1466. Its mandate included territories of modern central and sout ...
. Major combatants included members of the
Dukagjini,
Zenebishi,
Thopia,
Kastrioti
The House of Kastrioti ( sq, Dera e Kastriotëve) was an Albanian noble family, active in the 14th and 15th centuries as the rulers of the Principality of Kastrioti. At the beginning of the 15th century, the family controlled a territory in the ...
and
Arianiti
The House of Arianiti were an Albanian noble family that ruled large areas in Albania and neighbouring areas from the 11th to the 16th century. Their domain stretched across the Shkumbin valley and the old Via Egnatia road and reached east to to ...
families. In the initial phase, the rebels were successful in capturing some major towns such as Dagnum. Protracted sieges such as that of
Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...
, the capital of the Sanjak, gave the Ottoman army time to assemble large forces from other parts of the empire and to subdue the main revolt by the end of 1436. Because the rebel leaders acted autonomously without a central leadership, their lack of coordination of the revolt contributed greatly to their final defeat. Ottoman forces conducted a number of massacres in the aftermath of the revolt.
Ottoman-Albanian Wars
![Gjergj Kastrioti](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Gjergj_Kastrioti.jpg)
Many Albanians had been recruited into the
Janissary
A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
corps, including the feudal heir
George Kastrioti
, reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468
, predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti
, successor = Gjon Kastrioti II
, spouse = Donika Arianiti
, issue = Gjon Kastrioti II
, royal house = Kastrioti
, father ...
who was renamed
Skanderbeg
, reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468
, predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti
, successor = Gjon Kastrioti II
, spouse = Donika Arianiti
, issue = Gjon Kastrioti II
, royal house = Kastrioti
, father ...
(Iskandar Bey) by his Turkish officers at
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...
. After the Ottoman defeat in the
Battle of Niš at the hands of the
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
, Skanderbeg deserted in November 1443 and began a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.
![League_of_Lezhë,_1448-1468](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/League_of_Lezh%C3%AB%2C_1448-1468.png)
After his desertion,
Skanderbeg
, reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468
, predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti
, successor = Gjon Kastrioti II
, spouse = Donika Arianiti
, issue = Gjon Kastrioti II
, royal house = Kastrioti
, father ...
re-converted to Christianity and declared war against the Ottoman Empire,
which he led from 1443 to 1468. Skanderbeg summoned the Albanian princes to the Venetian-controlled town of Lezhë where they formed the League of Lezhë. Gibbon reports that the "Albanians, a martial race, were unanimous to live and die with their hereditary prince", and that "in the assembly of the states of Epirus, Skanderbeg was elected general of the Turkish war and each of the allies engaged to furnish his respective proportion of men and money". Under a red flag bearing Skanderbeg's heraldic emblem, an Albanian force held off Ottoman campaigns for twenty-five years and overcame a number of the major sieges:
Siege of Krujë (1450),
Second Siege of Krujë
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
(1466–67),
Third Siege of Krujë (1467) against forces led by the Ottoman sultans
Murad II
Murad II ( ota, مراد ثانى, Murād-ı sānī, tr, II. Murad, 16 June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451.
Murad II's reign was a period of important economic deve ...
and
Mehmed II
Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
. For 25 years Skanderbeg's army of around 10,000 men marched through Ottoman territory winning against consistently larger and better supplied Ottoman forces.
Throughout his rebellion, Skanderbeg defeated the Ottomans in a number of battles, including
Torvioll,
Oranik,
Otonetë,
Modric,
Ohrid
Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...
and
Mokra Mokra may refer to the following places:
* Mokra, Łódź Voivodeship (central Poland)
* Mokra, Silesian Voivodeship (south Poland)
* Mokra, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (south-central Poland)
* Mokra, Greater Poland Voivodeship (west-central Poland ...
; with his most brilliant being in
Albulena. However, Skanderbeg did not receive any of the help which had been promised to him by the popes or the Italian states, Venice, Naples and Milan. He died in 1468, leaving no clear successor. After his death the rebellion continued, but without its former success. The loyalties and alliances created and nurtured by Skanderbeg faltered and fell apart and the Ottomans reconquered the territory of Albania, culminating with the
siege of Shkodra
The fourth siege of Shkodra of 1478–79 was a confrontation between the Ottoman Empire and the Venetians together with the League of Lezhe and other Albanians at Shkodra (Scutari in Italian) and its Rozafa Castle during the First Ottoman-V ...
in 1479. However, some territories in Northern Albania remained under
Venetian control. Shortly after the fall of the castles of northern Albania, many Albanians fled to neighbouring Italy, giving rise to the
Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including:
* Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name
* Arbëresh ...
communities still living in that country.
Skanderbeg's long struggle to keep Albania free became highly significant to the Albanian people, as it strengthened their solidarity, made them more conscious of their national identity, and served later as a great source of inspiration in their struggle for national unity, freedom and independence.
Late Ottoman period
Upon the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
return in 1479, a large number of
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
fled to Italy,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and other parts of the Ottoman Empire and Europe and maintained their
Arbëresh identity. Many Albanians won fame and fortune as soldiers, administrators, and merchants in far-flung parts of the Empire. As the centuries passed, however, Ottoman rulers lost the capacity to command the loyalty of local
pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...
s, which threatened stability in the region. The
Ottoman rulers of the 19th century struggled to shore up central authority, introducing reforms aimed at harnessing unruly pashas and checking the spread of nationalist ideas.
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
would be a part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
until the early 20th century.
The Ottoman period that followed was characterized by a change in the landscape through a gradual modification of the settlements with the introduction of
bazaars, military garrisons and mosques in many Albanian regions. Part of the Albanian population gradually converted to Islam, with many joining the
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
Order of the
Bektashi
The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by ...
. Converting from Christianity to Islam brought considerable advantages, including access to Ottoman trade networks, bureaucratic positions and the army. As a result, many Albanians came to serve in the elite
Janissary
A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
and the administrative
Devşirme
Devshirme ( ota, دوشیرمه, devşirme, collecting, usually translated as "child levy"; hy, Մանկահավաք, Mankahavak′. or "blood tax"; hbs-Latn-Cyrl, Danak u krvi, Данак у крви, mk, Данок во крв, Danok vo krv ...
system. Among these were important historical figures, including
Iljaz Hoxha,
Hamza Kastrioti
Hamza Kastrioti ( la, Ameses Castriota) or Bernardo Kastrioti (after his conversion to Christianity), was a 15th-century Albanian nobleman and the nephew of George Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Probably born in Ottoman territory, after the death of his ...
,
Koca Davud Pasha
Davud Pasha ( Turkish: ''Koca Davud Paşa''; 1446–1498), also known with the epithet "Koca", was an Ottoman Albanian general and grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1482 to 1497 during the reign of Bayezid II. He became a '' damat'' ("br ...
,
Zağanos Pasha
Zaganos or Zagan Pasha ( ota, زاغنوس پاشا, tr, Zağanos Paşa, sq, Zognush Pasha; fl. 1446 – 1462 or 1469) was an Albanian Ottoman military commander, with the titles and ranks of ''kapudan pasha'' and the highest military rank, ...
,
Köprülü Mehmed Pasha
Köprülü Mehmed Pasha ( ota, كپرولی محمد پاشا, tr, Köprülü Mehmet Paşa; or ''Qyprilliu'', also called ''Mehmed Pashá Rojniku''; 1575, Roshnik,– 31 October 1661, Edirne) was the founder of the Köprülü political dynas ...
(head of the
Köprülü family
The Köprülü family ( tr, Köprülü ailesi) was a noble family of Albanian origin in the Ottoman Empire.Ivo Banac''The national question in Yugoslavia: origins, history, politics'' , Cornell University 1988 page 292. The family hailed from th ...
of
Grand Viziers
Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
), the
Bushati
The Bushati family ( sq, Bushatllinjtë) was a prominent Ottoman Albanian family that ruled the Pashalik of Scutari from 1757 to 1831.
Origins
They are descendants of the medieval Bushati tribe, a pastoralist tribe (''fis'') in northern Albani ...
family,
Sulejman Pasha
Sulejman Pasha Bargjini (also known in sq, Sylejman Pashë Mulleti, tr, Berkinzâde Süleyman Paşa) was an ethnic Albanian general, nobleman and Governor of the Ottoman Empire. He was originally from Bargjin, but he settled in the village of ...
,
Edhem Pasha,
Nezim Frakulla,
Haxhi Shekreti,
Hasan Zyko Kamberi
Hasan Zyko Kamberi was a distinguished bejtexhi (bard) writer of Albanian literature.
Overview
He was born in the second half of the eighteenth century in Starje, a southern Albanian village near Kolonja at the foot of Mount Gramoz. All that ...
,
Ali Pasha of Gucia
Ali Pasha Shabanagaj (Serbian: Али-паша Шабанагић, Ali-paša Šabanagić; 1828 – 5 March 1888), was an Albanian Muslim military commander and one of the leaders of the League of Prizren. He governed, as an Ottoman ''kaymaka ...
,
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
ruler of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Ali Pasha of Tepelena
Ali Pasha of Ioannina (1740 – 24 January 1822), was an Albanian ruler who served as pasha of a large part of western Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territories, which was referred to as the Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannin ...
rose to become one of the most powerful Muslim Albanian rulers in western
Rumelia
Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι), Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians f ...
. His diplomatic and administrative skills, his interest in modernist ideas and concepts, his popular religiousness, his religious neutrality, his win over the bands terrorizing the area, his ferocity and harshness in imposing law and order, and his looting practices towards persons and communities in order to increase his proceeds cause both the admiration and the criticism of his contemporaries. His court was in Ioannina, but the territory he governed incorporated most of Epirus and the western parts of Thessaly and Greek Macedonia in Northern Greece.
Many Albanians gained prominent positions in the
Ottoman government, Albanians highly active during the
Ottoman era
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and leaders such as Ali Pasha of Tepelena might have aided
Husein Gradaščević
Husein Gradaščević (''Husein-kapetan'') (31 August 1802 – 17 August 1834) was a Bosnian military commander who later led a rebellion against the Ottoman government, seeking autonomy for Bosnia. Born into a Bosnian noble family, Gradaš ...
. The Albanians proved generally faithful to Ottoman rule following the end of the resistance led by Skanderbeg, and accepted Islam more easily than their neighbors.
Semi-independent Albanian Pashaliks
A period of semi-independence started during the mid 18th century. As
Ottoman power began to decline in the 18th century, the central authority of the empire in Albania gave way to the local authority of autonomy-minded lords. The most successful of those lords were three generations of pashas of the
Bushati family
The Bushati family ( sq, Bushatllinjtë) was a prominent Ottoman Albanian family that ruled the Pashalik of Scutari from 1757 to 1831.
Origins
They are descendants of the medieval Bushati tribe, a pastoralist tribe (''fis'') in northern Albani ...
, who dominated most of northern Albania from 1757 to 1831, and
Ali Pasha Tepelena
Ali Pasha of Ioannina (1740 – 24 January 1822), was an Albanian ruler who served as pasha of a large part of western Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territories, which was referred to as the Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina ...
of
Janina
Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
(now Ioánnina, Greece), a brigand-turned-despot who ruled over southern Albania and northern Greece from 1788 to 1822.
Those pashas created separate states within the Ottoman state until they were overthrown by the sultan.
Modern
National Renaissance
In the 1870s, the
Sublime Porte
The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The nam ...
's reforms aimed at checking the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
's disintegration had failed. The image of the "Turkish yoke" had become fixed in the nationalist mythologies and psyches of the empire's Balkan peoples and their march toward independence quickened. The
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
, because of the higher degree of Islamic influence, their internal social divisions, and the fear that they would lose their
Albanian-speaking territories to the emerging
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
,
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
, Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, were the last of the Balkan peoples to desire division from the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
.
With the rise of the Albanian National Awakening,
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
regained a sense of statehood and engaged in military resistance against the Ottoman Empire as well as instigating a massive literary revival. Albanian émigrés in Bulgaria, Egypt, Italy, Romania and the United States supported the writing and distribution of Albanian textbooks and writings.
League of Prizren
![Kompleksi Monumental i Lidhjes Shqiptare të Prizrenit 9384n](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Kompleksi_Monumental_i_Lidhjes_Shqiptare_t%C3%AB_Prizrenit_9384n.jpg)
In the second quarter of the 19th century, after the fall of the Albanian pashaliks and the Massacre of the Albanian Beys, an Albanian National Awakening took place and many revolts against the Ottoman Empire were organized. These revolts included the Albanian Revolts of 1833–1839, the Albanian Revolt of 1843–1844, Revolt of 1843–44, and the Albanian Revolt of 1847, Revolt of 1847. A culmination of the Albanian National Awakening was the League of Prizren. The league was formed at a meeting of 47 Ottoman beys in Prizren on 18 June 1878. An initial position of the league was presented in a document known as Kararname (League of Prizren), Kararname. Through this document Albanian leaders emphasized their intention to preserve and maintain the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans by supporting the Sublime Porte, porte, and "to struggle in arms to defend the wholeness of the territories of Albania". In this early period, the League participated in battles against Montenegro and successfully wrestled control over Plav and Gusinje after brutal warfare with Montenegrin troops. In August 1878, the Congress of Berlin ordered a commission to determine the border between the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
. Finally, the Great power, Great Powers blockaded Ulcinj by sea and pressured the Ottoman authorities to bring the Albanians under control. Albanian diplomatic and military efforts were successful in wresting control of Epirus, however some lands were still ceded to Greece by 1881.
The League's founding figure Abdyl Frashëri influenced the League to demand autonomy and wage open war against the Ottomans. Faced with growing international pressure "to pacify" the refractory Albanians, the sultan dispatched a large army under Dervish Turgut Pasha to suppress the League of Prizren and deliver Ulcinj to Montenegro. The League of Prizren's leaders and their families were arrested and deported. Frashëri, who originally received a death sentence, was imprisoned until 1885 and exiled until his death seven years later. A similar league was established in 1899 in Peja by former League member Haxhi Zeka. The league ended its activity in 1900 after an armed conflict with the Ottoman forces. Zeka was assassinated by a Serbian agent Adem Zajmi in 1902.
Independence
![28nentor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/28nentor.jpg)
The initial sparks of the first Balkan Wars, Balkan war in 1912 were ignited by the Albanian Revolt of 1910, Albanian uprising between 1908 and 1910, which had the aim of opposing the Young Turk policies of consolidation of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Following the eventual weakening of the Ottoman Empire in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, and Bulgaria declared war, seizing the remaining Ottoman territory in Europe. The territory of Albania was occupied by Serbia in the north and Greece in the south, leaving only a patch of land around the southern coastal city of Vlora. The unsuccessful uprising of Albanian Revolt of 1910, 1910, Albanian Revolt of 1911, 1911 and the successful and final Albanian revolt in the Ottoman Empire in Albanian Revolt of 1912, 1912, as well as the Serbian and Greek occupation and attempts to incorporate the land into their respective countries, led to a proclamation of independence by Ismail Qemali in
Vlorë
Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...
on 28 November 1912. The same day, Ismail Qemali waved the national flag of Albania, from the balcony of the Assembly of Vlorë, in the presence of hundreds of
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
. This flag was sewn after
Skanderbeg
, reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468
, predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti
, successor = Gjon Kastrioti II
, spouse = Donika Arianiti
, issue = Gjon Kastrioti II
, royal house = Kastrioti
, father ...
's principality flag, which had been used more than 500 years earlier.
Albanian independence was recognized by the London Conference of 1912–1913, Conference of London on 29 July 1913. The Conference of London then delineated the border between Albania and its neighbors, leaving more than half of ethnic Albanians outside Albania. This population was largely divided between Montenegro and Serbia in the north and east (including what is now Kosovo and North Macedonia), and Greece in the south. A substantial number of Albanians thus came under Serbian rule.
At the same time, an uprising in the country's south by local Greeks led to the formation of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus in the southern provinces (1914).
The republic proved short-lived as Albania collapsed with the onset of World War I. Greece held the area between 1914 and 1916, and unsuccessfully tried to annex it in March 1916;
however in 1917 the Greeks were driven from the area by Italy, which took over most of Albania.
The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference of 1919 awarded the area to Greece. However the area definitively reverted to Albanian control in November 1921, following Greece's defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Greco-Turkish War.
Principality of Albania
![Flag of Albania (1914-1920)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Flag_of_Albania_%281914%E2%80%931920%29.svg)
In supporting the independence of Albania, the Great Powers were assisted by Aubrey Herbert, a British Member of parliament, MP who passionately advocated the Albanian cause in London. As a result, Herbert was offered the crown of Albania, but was dissuaded by the British Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, from accepting. Instead the offer went to William of Wied, a German prince who accepted and became sovereign of the new
Principality of Albania
The Principality of Albania ( al, Principata e Shqipërisë or ) refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, that lasted from the Treaty of London of 1913 which ended the First Balkan War, through ...
.
The Principality was established on 21 February 1914. The Great Powers selected William of Albania, Prince William of Wied, a nephew of Elisabeth of Wied, Queen Elisabeth of Romania to become the sovereign of the newly independent Albania. A formal offer was made by 18 Albanian delegates representing the 18 districts of Albania on 21 February 1914, an offer which he accepted. Outside of Albania William was styled prince, but in
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
he was referred to as King of Albania, Mbret (King) so as not to seem inferior to the King of Montenegro. This is the period when Albanian religions gained independence. The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople recognized the autocephaly of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, Albanian Orthodox Church after a meeting of the country's Albanian Orthodox congregations in Berat in August 1922. The most energetic reformers in
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
came from the Orthodox population who wanted to see Albania move quickly away from its Turkish-ruled past, during which Christians made up the underclass. Albania's conservative Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim community broke its last ties with Constantinople in 1923, formally declaring that there had been no caliph since Muhammad himself and that Muslim
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
pledged primary allegiance to their native country. The Muslims also banned polygamy and allowed women to choose whether or not they wanted to wear a veil. Upon termination of Albania from Turkey in 1912, as in all other fields, the customs administration continued its operation under legislation approved specifically for the procedure. After the new laws were issued for the operation of customs, its duty was 11% of the value of goods imported and 1% on the value of those exported.
The security was to be provided by a Gendarmerie commanded by Dutch officers. William left Albania on 3 September 1914 following a pan-Islamic revolt initiated by Essad Pasha Toptani and later headed by Haxhi Qamili, the latter the military commander of the "Muslim State of Central Albania" centered in Tirana. William never renounced his claim to the throne.
World War I
![1914 albania en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/1914_albania_en.svg)
World War I interrupted all government activities in Albania, while the country was split in a number of regional governments.
Political chaos engulfed Albania after the outbreak of World War I. The Albanian people split along religious and tribal lines after the prince's departure. Muslims demanded a Muslim prince and looked to Turkey as the protector of the privileges they had enjoyed. Other Albanians looked to Italy for support. Still others, including many beys and clan chiefs, recognized no superior authority.
Prince William left Albania on 3 September 1914, as a result of the Peasant Revolt in Albania, Peasant Revolt initiated by Essad Pasha Toptani, Essad Pasha and later taken over by Haxhi Qamili. William subsequently joined the German army and served on the Eastern Front, but never renounced his claim to the throne.
In the country's south, the local Greek population revolted against the incorporation of the area into the new Albanian state and declared the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus at 28 February.
In late 1914, Greece occupied the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, including Korçë and
Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...
. Italy occupied
Vlorë
Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...
, and Serbia and Montenegro occupied parts of northern Albania until a Central Powers offensive scattered the Serbian army, which was evacuated by the French to Thessaloniki. Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces then occupied about two-thirds of the country (Bulgarian occupation of Albania).
Under the secret Treaty of London (1915), Treaty of London signed in April 1915, Triple Entente powers promised Italy that it would gain Vlorë (''Valona'') and nearby lands and a protectorate over Albania in exchange for entering the war against Austria-Hungary. Serbia and Montenegro were promised much of northern Albania, and Greece was promised much of the country's southern half. The treaty left a tiny Albanian state that would be represented by Italy in its relations with the other major powers.
In September 1918, Allies of World War I, Entente forces broke through the Central Powers' lines north of Thessaloniki and within days Austro-Hungarian forces began to withdraw from Albania. On 2 October 1918 the city of
Durrës
Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...
was shelled on the orders of Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, during the Battle of Durazzo (1918), Battle of Durazzo: according to d'Espèrey, the Port of Durrës, if not destroyed, would have served the evacuation of the Bulgarian and German armies, involved in World War I.
When the war ended on 11 November 1918, Italy's army had occupied most of Albania; Serbia held much of the country's northern mountains; Greece occupied a sliver of land within Albania's 1913 borders; and French forces occupied Korçë and Shkodër as well as other regions with sizable Albanian populations.
Projects of partition in 1919–1920
![Lufta e Vlorës](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Lufta_e_Vlor%C3%ABs.jpg)
After World War I, Albania was still under the occupation of Serbian and Italian forces. It was a rebellion of the respective populations of Northern and Southern Albania that pushed back the Serbs and Italians behind the recognized borders of Albania.
Albania's political confusion continued in the wake of World War I. The country lacked a single recognized government, and Albanians feared, with justification, that Italy, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
would succeed in extinguishing Albania's independence and carve up the country. Italian forces controlled Albanian political activity in the areas they occupied. The Serbs, who largely dictated Yugoslavia's foreign policy after World War I, strove to take over northern Albania, and the Greeks sought to control southern Albania.
A delegation sent by a postwar Parliament of Albania, Albanian National Assembly that met at
Durrës
Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...
in December 1918 defended Albanian interests at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference, but the conference denied Albania official representation. The National Assembly, anxious to keep Albania intact, expressed willingness to accept Italian protection and even an Italian prince as a ruler so long as it would mean Albania did not lose territory.
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
n troops conducted actions in Albanian-populated border areas, while Albanian guerrillas operated in both
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
.
In January 1920, at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference, negotiators from France, Britain, and Kingdom of Greece, Greece agreed to allow Albania to fall under Yugoslav, Italian, and Greek spheres of influence as a diplomatic expedient aimed at finding a compromising solution to the territorial conflicts between Italy and Yugoslavia.
Members of a second Congress of Lushnjë, Albanian National Assembly held at Lushnjë in January 1920 rejected the partition plan and warned that Albanians would take up arms to defend their country's independence and territorial integrity. The Lushnjë National Assembly appointed a four-man regency to rule the country. A bicameral parliament was also created, in which an elected lower chamber, the Chamber of Deputies (with one deputy for every 12,000 people in Albania and one for the Albanian community in the United States), appointed members of its own ranks to an upper chamber, the Senate. In February 1920, the government moved to Tirana, which became Albania's capital.
One month later, in March 1920, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson intervened to block the Paris agreement. The United States underscored its support for Albania's independence by recognizing an official Albanian representative to Washington, and in December the League of Nations recognized Albania's sovereignty by admitting it as a full member. The country's borders, however, remained unsettled following the Vlora War in which all territory (except Saseno island) under Italian control in Albania was relinquished to the Albanian state.
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
achieved a degree of statehood after the World War I, First World War, in part because of the diplomatic intercession of the United States government. The country suffered from a debilitating lack of economic and social development, however, and its first years of independence were fraught with political instability. Unable to survive a predatory environment without a foreign protector, Albania became the object of tensions between Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which both sought to dominate the country.
Zogu Government
Interwar Albanian governments appeared and disappeared in rapid succession. Between July and December 1921 alone, the premiership changed hands five times.
The Popular Party's head, Xhafer Ypi, formed a government in December 1921 with Fan S. Noli as foreign minister and Ahmed Bey Zogu as internal affairs minister, but Noli resigned soon after Zogu resorted to repression in an attempt to disarm the lowland Albanians despite the fact that bearing arms was a traditional custom.
When the government's enemies attacked Tirana in early 1922, Zogu stayed in the capital and, with the support of the British ambassador, repulsed the assault. He took over the premiership later in the year and turned his back on the Popular Party by announcing his engagement to the daughter of Shefqet Verlaci, the Progressive Party leader.
Zogu's protégés organized themselves into the Government Party. Noli and other Western-oriented leaders formed the Opposition Party of Democrats, which attracted all of Zogu's many personal enemies, ideological opponents, and people left unrewarded by his political machine. Ideologically, the Democrats included a broad sweep of people who advocated everything from conservative Islam to Noli's dreams of rapid modernization.
Opposition to Zogu was formidable. Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox peasants in Albania's southern lowlands loathed Zogu because he supported the Muslim landowners' efforts to block land reform;
Shkodër
Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...
's citizens felt shortchanged because their city did not become Albania's capital, and nationalists were dissatisfied because Zogu's government did not press Albania's claims to Kosovo or speak up more energetically for the rights of the ethnic Albanian minorities in present-day Yugoslavia and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
Zogu's party handily won elections for a National Assembly in early 1924. Zogu soon stepped aside, however, handing over the premiership to Verlaci in the wake of a financial scandal and an assassination attempt by a young radical that left Zogu wounded. The opposition withdrew from the assembly after the leader of a nationalist youth organization, Avni Rustemi, was murdered in the street outside the parliament building.
June Revolution
![Kabineti Ypi (1921)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Kabineti_Ypi_%281921%29.jpg)
Fan S. Noli, Noli's supporters blamed the Avni Rustemi, Rustemi murder on Zogu's Mati clansmen, who continued to practice blood vengeance. After the walkout, discontent mounted, and in June 1924 a peasant-backed insurgency had won control of Tirana. Because few people were willing to risk their lives in its defense, the government's fall was remarkably simple and entailed practically little violence. According to US estimates, 20 people were killed and 35 were injured in the northern theatre, while 6 people were killed and 15 were injured in the southern theater. In fact, only Zogu and his meagre group put up any resistance at all. However, fundamental concerns remained unanswered, and Noli's power grab was unstable to say the least. A far more unified group than Noli's was required to execute a new order; it also required crucial political and financial backing from overseas, as well as talented lawmakers prepared to make the necessary sacrifices and concessions. Noli formed his own administration, a small cabinet, on 16 June 1924, with representatives from all factions involved in the June rebellion, including the army, beys, liberals, progressives, and the Shkodra lobby. Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo, The Kosovo Committee was not a part of the government. The government cabinet consisted of:
Fan Noli – Prime Minister
Sulejman Delvina- Minister of Foreign Affairs
Luigj Gurakuqi – Minister of Finance
:sq:Stavro Vinjau, Stavro Vinjau – Minister of Education
:sq:Kasem Qafëzezi, Kasëm Qafëzezi – Minister of War
:sq:Rexhep Shala, Rexhep Shala – Minister of Interior
Qazim Koculi – Minister of Agriculture
Xhemal Bushati – Minister without portfolio
Fan Noli, an idealist, rejected demands for new elections on the grounds that Albania needed a "paternal" government. On 19 June, Noli's coalition administration proposed a twenty-point reform program that, if completed, would have resulted in a country-wide revolution. Noli launched a scathing attack on the former administration in the opening paragraph:
"The previous governments' damaging policies had fostered such despair in the country that insurgency and fratricide were eventually the result. The late Ministers Administration is responsible for a ruined budget with a large deficit, state disorganization in all departments, insecurity throughout the country, anarchy among state organs, the creation of personal powers outside and above those of the state, as well as assassination and attempted assassination of citizens and foreigners. These undisputed facts had jeopardized the country's basis, tarnished our reputation at home and abroad, and raised doubts in the minds of both Albanians and foreigners about our country's ability to survive."
The twenty point reform consisted of:
"1. The general disarmament of the people without exception.
2. The denunciation of the inciters of fratricide and their main agents with expulsion and confiscation of their wealth or other punishments.
3. The reestablishment of tranquillity, order and the Sovereignty of the law.
4. To exalt the authority of the State over any personal or extralegal power.
5. To eliminate feudalism, free the people and establish democracy in Albania.
6. Radical reforms in all departments, both civil and military.
7. To simplify the bureaucracy and cleanse the administration. Besides ability and morality, the patriotism of workers will be taken into consideration.
8. The security and rights of the employees and the determination of their responsibilities shall be established by a special law.
9. To organize the communes so as to improve the conditions of villages and villagers and to extend powers at the village level.
10. Balance the budget by radical economies.
11. Change the tax system in a manner favourable to the people.
12. Improve conditions for the farmers and their economic independence.
13. Ease entry for foreign capital into the country while defending and organizing the economic independence of the country.
14. Raise the credit and prestige of the State in the outside world.
15. True independence of the judiciary.
16. Radical reform of the outdated tribunals.
17. To construct new roads and bridges and to take special care of the means of communication in the country.
18. Organization of the Department of Health to combat the diseases that are ravaging the people.
19. Organization of the Department of Education on a modern and practical basis so that the schools should produce capable citizens, patriotic and able workers.
20. Friendly relations with all states, especially neighbouring countries."
Jacques calls the program "too radical," Austin calls it "a really ambitious program, ....had it been implemented, it would have led to a revolutionary change of country," and Fischer writes, "Every Western Democrat would be proud of Noli's program, but the Prime Minister lacked two crucial elements, without which no one could carry out such a long series of radical reforms: financial support and support from the governmental cabinet."
Noli went on to say that once normalcy was restored, a national election would be held with secret and direct voting to decide the people's support. Noli planned to rule by decree for ten to twelve months, believing that the country's past elections did not reflect the desires of the Albanian people. Noli subsequently stated that his party "had the majority when we put the agrarian reforms on our programme. When it came to putting them in place, we were in the minority." The takeover of wealthy owners' property, particularly in central Albania, would be the principal source of additional land for the peasants. Each farmer was to receive 4–6 hectares of land for a household of up to 10 individuals. Families with more than 10 members would receive eight hectares of land.
Scaling back the bureaucracy, strengthening local government, assisting peasants, throwing Albania open to foreign investment, and improving the country's bleak transportation, public health, and education facilities filled out the Noli government's overly ambitious agenda. Noli encountered resistance to his program from people who had helped him oust Zogu, and he never attracted the foreign aid necessary to carry out his reform plans. Noli criticized the League of Nations for failing to settle the threat facing Albania on its land borders.
Under Fan Noli, the government set up a special tribunal that passed death sentences, in absentia, on Zogu, Verlaci, and others and confiscated their property.
In Yugoslavia Zogu recruited a mercenary army, and Belgrade furnished the Albanian leader with weapons, about 1,000 Yugoslav army regulars, and White Emigre, Russian White Emigres to mount an invasion that the Serbs hoped would bring them disputed areas along the border. After Noli decided to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, a bitter enemy of the Serbian ruling family, Belgrade began making wild allegations that Albania was about to embrace Bolshevism.
On 13 December 1924, Zogu's Yugoslav-backed army crossed into Albanian territory. By Christmas Eve, Zogu had reclaimed the capital, and Noli and his government had fled to Italy. The Noli government lasted just 6 months and a week.
First Republic
![Ahmet-Zogu-1895---1961](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Ahmet-Zogu-1895---1961.jpg)
After defeating Fan Noli's government, Ahmet Zogu recalled the Parliament of Albania, parliament, in order to find a solution for the uncrowned principality of
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
. The parliament quickly adopted a new constitution, proclaimed the first republic, and granted Zogu dictatorial powers that allowed him to appoint and dismiss ministers, veto legislation, and name all major administrative personnel and a third of the Senate.
The Constitution provided for a parliamentary republic with a powerful president serving as head of state and government.
On 31 January, Zogu was elected president for a seven-year term. Opposition parties and civil liberties disappeared; opponents of the regime were murdered; and the press suffered strict censorship. Zogu ruled Albania using four military governors responsible to him alone. He appointed clan chieftains as reserve army officers who were kept on call to protect the regime against domestic or foreign threats.
Zogu, however, quickly turned his back on Belgrade and looked instead to Benito Mussolini's Italy for patronage.
Under Zogu, Albania joined the Italian coalition against Yugoslavia of Italy, Kingdom of Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria in 1924–1927. After the United Kingdom's and France's political intervention in 1927 with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the alliance crumbled.
Zogu maintained good relations with Benito Mussolini's fascist regime in Italy and supported Italy's foreign policy. He would be the first and only Albanian to hold the title of president until 1991.
Kingdom of Albania
In 1928, Zog I of Albania, Zogu I secured the Parliament of Albania, Parliament's consent to its own dissolution. Afterwards,
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
was declared a monarchy with Zog I of Albania, Zogu I first as the Prime Minister of Albania, Prime Minister, then as the President of Albania, President and at last as the King of Albania.
International recognition arrived forthwith. The new formed constitution abolished the Parliament of Albania#1920 creation of the Senate, Albanian Senate and created a Unicameralism, unicameral Parliament of Albania#Albanian kingdom (1928–1939), parliament, but King Zog retained the dictatorial powers he had enjoyed as president. Zogu I remained a conservative, but initiated reforms. For example, in an attempt at social modernisation the custom of adding one's region to one's name was dropped. He also made donations of land to international organisations for the building of schools and hospitals.
Soon after his incoronation, Zog broke off his engagement to Shefqet Verlaci's daughter, and Verlaci withdrew his support for the king and began plotting against him. Zog had accumulated a great number of enemies over the years, and the Albanian tradition of blood vengeance required them to try to kill him. Zog surrounded himself with guards and rarely appeared in public.
The king's loyalists disarmed all of Albania's tribes except for his own Mati tribesmen and their allies, the Dibra.
Nevertheless, on a visit to Vienna in 1931, Zog and his bodyguards fought a gun battle with would-be assassins Aziz Çami and Ndok Gjeloshi on the Opera House steps.
Zog remained sensitive to steadily mounting disillusion with Italy's domination of Albania. The Albanian Armed Forces, Albanian army, though always less than 15,000-strong, sapped the country's funds, and the Italians' monopoly on training the armed forces rankled public opinion. As a counterweight, Zog kept British officers in the Gendarmerie despite strong Italian pressure to remove them. In 1931, Zog openly stood up to the Italians, refusing to renew the 1926 First Treaty of Tirana.
Financial crisis
In 1932 and 1933, Albania could not make the interest payments on its loans from the Society for the Economic Development of Albania. In response, Rome turned up the pressure, demanding that Tirana name Italians to direct the Gendarmerie; join Italy in a customs union; grant Italy control of the country's sugar, telegraph, and electrical monopolies; teach the Italian language in all Albanian schools; and admit Italian colonists. Zog refused. Instead, he ordered the national budget slashed by 30 percent, dismissed the Italian military advisers, and nationalized Italian-run Roman Catholic schools in the northern part of the country. In 1934, Albania had signed trade agreements with Yugoslavia and Greece, and Mussolini had suspended all payments to Tirana. An Italian attempt to intimidate the Albanians by sending a fleet of warships to Albania failed because the Albanians only allowed the forces to land unarmed. Mussolini then attempted to buy off the Albanians. In 1935 he presented the Albanian government 3 million gold francs as a gift.
Zog's success in defeating two local rebellions convinced Mussolini that the Italians had to reach a new agreement with the Albanian king. A government of young men led by Mehdi Frasheri, an enlightened
Bektashi
The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by ...
administrator, won a commitment from Italy to fulfill financial promises that Mussolini had made to Albania and to grant new loans for harbor improvements at Durrës and other projects that kept the Albanian government afloat. Soon Italians began taking positions in Albania's civil service, and Italian settlers were allowed into the country. Mussolini's forces overthrew King Zog when Italian invasion of Albania, Italy invaded Albania in 1939.
World War II
Starting in 1928, but especially during the Great Depression, the government of King Zog, which brought law and order to the country, began to increase the Italian influence more and more. Despite some significant resistance, especially at
Durrës
Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...
, Italy invaded Albania on 7 April 1939 and took control of the country, with the Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini proclaiming Italy's figurehead King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy as King of Albania. The nation thus became one of the first to be occupied by the Axis Powers in World War II.
As Adolf Hitler, Hitler began his aggression against other European countries, Mussolini decided to occupy Albania as a means of competing with Hitler's territorial gains. Mussolini and the Italian Fascists saw Albania as a historical part of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, and the occupation was intended to fulfill Mussolini's dream of creating an Italian Empire. During the Italian occupation, Albania's population was subject to a policy of forced Italianization by the kingdom's Italian governors, in which the use of the Albanian language was discouraged in schools while the Italian language was promoted. At the same time, the colonization of Albania by Italians was encouraged.
Mussolini, in October 1940, used his Albanian base to launch an attack on Greece, which led to the defeat of the Italian forces and the Greek occupation of Southern Albania in what was seen by the Greeks as the liberation of Northern Epirus. While preparing for the Operation Barbarossa, Invasion of Russia, Hitler decided to attack Greece in December 1940 to prevent a British attack on his southern flank.
Italian penetration
The Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939 was the conclusion of centuries of Italian interest in the country and twenty years of direct, if unsuccessful, economic and political participation in Albania, primarily under Benito Mussolini. The Straits of Otranto, which cross the Adriatic Sea and connect Albania and southern Italy by forty miles, have always operated as a bridge rather than a barrier, offering escape, cultural exchange, and an easy invasion path. Before World War I Italy and Austria-Hungary had been instrumental in the creation of an independent Albanian state. At the outbreak of war, Italy had seized the chance to occupy the southern half of Albania, to avoid it being captured by the Austro-Hungarians. That success did not last long, as post-war domestic problems, Albanian resistance, and pressure from United States President Woodrow Wilson, forced Italy to pull out in 1920.
When Mussolini took power in Italy he turned with renewed interest to Albania. Italy began penetration of Albania's economy in 1925, when Albania agreed to allow it to exploit its mineral resources.
That was followed by the First Treaty of Tirana in 1926 and the Second Treaty of Tirana in 1927, whereby Italy and Albania entered into a defensive alliance.
The Albanian government and economy were subsidised by Italian loans, the Albanian army was trained by Italian military instructors, and Italian colonial settlement was encouraged. Despite strong Italian influence, Zog refused to completely give in to Italian pressure. In 1931 he openly stood up to the Italians, refusing to renew the 1926 Treaty of Tirana. After Albania signed trade agreements with Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia and Second Hellenic Republic, Greece in 1934, Mussolini made a failed attempt to intimidate the Albanians by sending a fleet of warships to Albania.
As Nazi Germany Anschluss, annexed Austria and German occupation of Czechoslovakia, moved against Czechoslovakia, Italy saw itself becoming a second-rate member of the Axis.
The imminent birth of an Albanian royal child meanwhile threatened to give Zog a lasting dynasty. After Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia (15 March 1939) without notifying Mussolini in advance, the Italian dictator decided to proceed with his own annexation of Albania. Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III criticized the plan to take Albania as an unnecessary risk. Rome, however, delivered Tirana an ultimatum on 25 March 1939, demanding that it accede to Italy's occupation of Albania. Zog refused to accept money in exchange for countenancing a full Italian takeover and colonization of Albania.
Italian invasion
![Map of Albania during WWII](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Map_of_Albania_during_WWII.png)
On 7 April Mussolini's troops invaded Albania. The operation was led by General Alfredo Guzzoni. The invasion force was divided into three groups, which were to land successively. The most important was the first group, which was divided in four columns, each assigned to a landing area at a harbor and an inland target on which to advance. Despite some stubborn resistance by some patriots, especially at
Durrës
Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...
, the Italians made short work of the Albanians.
Durrës was captured on 7 April, Tirana the following day, Shkodër and Gjirokastër on 9 April, and almost the entire country by 10 April.
Unwilling to become an Italian puppet, King Zog, his wife, Queen Geraldine Apponyi, and their infant son Leka, Crown Prince of Albania (born 1939), Leka fled to Greece and eventually to London. On 12 April, the Albanian parliament voted to depose Zog and unite the nation with Italy "in personal union" by offering the Albanian crown to Victor Emmanuel III.
The parliament elected Albania's largest landowner, Shefqet Bej Verlaci, as Prime Minister. Verlaci additionally served as head of state for five days until Victor Emmanuel III formally accepted the Albanian crown in a ceremony at the Quirinale palace in Rome. Victor Emmanuel III appointed Francesco Jacomoni di San Savino, a former ambassador to Albania, to represent him in Albania as "Lieutenant-General of the King" (effectively a viceroy).
Albania under Italy
![Shefqet Verlaci](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Shefqet_Verlaci.jpg)
While Victor Emmanuel ruled as king, Shefqet Bej Verlaci served as the Prime Minister. Shefqet Verlaci controlled the day-to-day activities of the new Italian protectorate. On 3 December 1941, Shefqet Bej Verlaci was replaced as Prime Minister and Head of State by Mustafa Merlika Kruja.
From the start, Albanian foreign affairs, customs, as well as natural resources came under direct control of Italy. The puppet Albanian Fascist Party became the ruling party of the country and the Italian Fascism, Fascists allowed Italian colonists in Albania, Italian citizens to settle in Albania and to own land so that they could gradually transform it into Italian soil.
In October 1940, during the Greco-Italian War, Albania served as a staging-area for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's unsuccessful invasion of
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. Mussolini planned to invade Greece and other countries like Yugoslavia in the area to give Italy territorial control of most of the Mediterranean Sea coastline, as part of the Fascists objective of creating the objective of ''Mare Nostrum'' ("Our Sea") in which Italy would dominate the Mediterranean.
But, soon after the Italian invasion, the Greeks counter-attacked and a sizeable portion of Albania was in Greek hands (including the cities of
Gjirokastër
Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...
and Korçë). In April 1941, after Greece capitulated to the German forces, the Greek territorial gains in southern Albania returned to Italian command. Under Italian command came also large areas of Greece after the successful German Battle of Greece, invasion of Greece.
After the fall of Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941, the Italian Fascists added to the territory of the Kingdom of Albania most of the Albanian-inhabited areas that had been previously given to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Albanian fascists claimed in May 1941 that nearly all the Albanian populated territories were united to Albania
see map. Even areas of northern Greece (
Chameria
Chameria ( sq, Çamëria; el, Τσαμουριά, ''Tsamouriá''; tr, Çamlık) is a term used today mostly by Albanians to refer to parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and Greece, traditionally associated with the Alban ...
) were administered by Albanians. But this was even a consequence of borders that Italy and Germany agreed on when dividing their spheres of influence. Some small portions of territories with Albanian majority remained outside the new borders and contact between the two parts was practically impossible: the Albanian population under the Bulgarian rule was heavily oppressed.
Albania under Germany
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-203-1691-20, Albanien, deutsche Soldaten, italienischer Panzer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-203-1691-20%2C_Albanien%2C_deutsche_Soldaten%2C_italienischer_Panzer.jpg)
After the surrender of the Italian Army in September 1943, Albania was Albania under Nazi Germany, occupied by the Germans.
With the collapse of the Mussolini government in line with the Allied invasion of Italy, Germany occupied Albania in September 1943, dropping paratroopers into Tirana before the Albanian guerrillas could take the capital. The German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army soon drove the guerrillas into the hills and to the south. The Nazi German government subsequently announced it would recognize the independence of a neutral Albania and set about organizing a new government, police and armed forces.
The Germans did not exert heavy-handed control over Albania's administration. Rather, they sought to gain popular support by backing causes popular with Albanians, especially the annexation of Kosovo. Many Balli Kombëtar units cooperated with the Germans against the communists and several Balli Kombëtar leaders held positions in the German-sponsored regime. Albanian collaborators, especially the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian), Skanderbeg SS Division, also expelled and killed Serbs living in Kosovo. In December 1943, a third resistance organization, an anticommunist, anti-German royalist group known as Legaliteti, took shape in Albania's northern mountains. Led by Abaz Kupi, it largely consisted of Geg guerrillas, supplied mainly with weapons from the allies, who withdrew their support for the NLM after the communists renounced Albania's claims on Kosovo.
The capital Tirana was liberated by the partisans on 17 November 1944 after a 20-day battle. The communist partizans entirely liberated Albania from German occupation on 29 November 1944, pursuing the German army until Višegrad,
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
(then Yugoslavia) in collaboration with the Yugoslav communist forces.
The Albanian partisans also liberated Kosovo, part of Montenegro, and southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
By November 1944, they had thrown out the Germans, being with Yugoslavia the only European nations to do so without any assistance from the allies.
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
became the leader of the country by virtue of his position as Secretary General of the Albanian Communist Party.
After having taken over power of the country, the Albanian communists launched a tremendous terror campaign, shooting intellectuals and arresting thousands of innocent people. Some died due to suffering torture.
Albania was one of the few European countries occupied by the Axis powers that ended World War II with a larger Jewish population than before the war. Some 1,200 Jewish residents and refugees from other
Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
countries were hidden by Albanian families during World War II, according to official records.
Albanian resistance in World War II
The National Liberation War of the Albanian people started with the Italian invasion in Albania on 7 April 1939 and ended on 28 November 1944. During the antifascist national liberation war, the Albanian people fought against Italy and Germany, which occupied the country. In the 1939–1941 period, the antifascist resistance was led by the National Front nationalist groups and later by the Communist Party.
Communist resistance
![Albanian Partisans](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Albanian_Partisans.JPG)
In October 1941, the small Albanian communist groups established in Tirana an Albanian Communist Party of 130 members under the leadership of Hoxha and an eleven-man Central Committee. The Albanian communists supported the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and did not participate in the antifascist struggle until Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The party at first had little mass appeal, and even its youth organization netted recruits. In mid-1942, however, party leaders increased their popularity by calling the young peoples to fight for the liberation of their country, that was occupied by Kingdom of Italy, Fascist Italy.
This propaganda increased the number of new recruits by many young peoples eager for freedom. In September 1942, the party organized a popular front organization, the National Liberation Movement (Albania), National Liberation Movement (NLM), from a number of resistance groups, including several that were strongly anticommunist. During the war, the NLM's communist-dominated partisans, in the form of the Albanian National Liberation Army, National Liberation Army, did not heed warnings from the Italian occupiers that there would be reprisals for guerrilla attacks. Partisan leaders, on the contrary, counted on using the lust for revenge such reprisals would elicit to win recruits.
The communists turned the so-called war of liberation into a civil war, especially after the discovery of the Dalmazzo-Kelcyra protocol, signed by the Balli Kombëtar.
With the intention of organizing a partisan resistance, they called a general conference in Pezë on 16 September 1942 where the Albanian National Liberation Front was set up. The Front included nationalist groups, but it was dominated by communist partisans.
In December 1942, more Albanian nationalist groups were organized. Albanians fought against the Italians while, during Nazi Germany, Nazi German occupation, Balli Kombëtar allied itself with the Germans and clashed with Albanian communists, which continued their fight against Germans and Balli Kombëtar at the same time.
Nationalist resistance
A nationalist resistance to the Italian occupiers emerged in November 1942. Ali Këlcyra and Midhat Frashëri formed the Western-oriented Balli Kombëtar (National Front).
Balli Kombëtar was a movement that recruited supporters from both the large landowners and peasantry. It opposed King Zog's return and called for the creation of a republic and the introduction of some economic and social reforms. The Balli Kombëtar's leaders acted conservatively, however, fearing that the occupiers would carry out reprisals against them or confiscate the landowners' estates.
Communist revolution in Albania (1944)
![Tirana Albania 1944-11-20](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Tirana_Albania_1944-11-20.jpg)
The communist partisans regrouped and gained control of southern Albania in January 1944. In May they called a congress of members of the National Liberation Movement (Albania), National Liberation Front (NLF), as the movement was by then called, at Përmet, which chose an Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation to act as Albania's administration and legislature. Hoxha became the chairman of the council's executive committee and the National Liberation Army's supreme commander.
The communist partisans defeated the last Balli Kombëtar forces in southern Albania by mid-summer 1944 and encountered only scattered resistance from the Balli Kombëtar and Legality when they entered central and northern Albania by the end of July. The British military mission urged the remnants of the nationalists not to oppose the communists' advance, and the Allies evacuated Kupi to Italy. Before the end of November, the main German troops had withdrawn from Tirana, and the communists took control of the capital by fighting what was left of the German army. A provisional government the communists had formed at
Berat
Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier.
Berat is located in th ...
in October administered Albania with Enver Hoxha as prime minister.
Consequences of the war
The NLF's strong links with Yugoslavia's communists, who also enjoyed British military and diplomatic support, guaranteed that Belgrade would play a key role in Albania's postwar order. The Allies never recognized an Albanian government in exile or King Zog, nor did they ever raise the question of Albania or its borders at any of the major wartime conferences.
No reliable statistics on Albania's wartime losses exist, but the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration reported about 30,000 Albanian war dead, 200 destroyed villages, 18,000 destroyed houses, and about 100,000 people left homeless. Albanian official statistics claim somewhat higher losses. Furthermore, thousands of Cham Albanians, Chams (Tsams, Albanians living in Northern Greece) were driven out of Greece with the justification that they had collaborated with the Nazis.
Second Republic
Communism
![HODŽA druhá míza](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/HOD%C5%BDA_druh%C3%A1_m%C3%ADza.jpg)
A collection of communists moved quickly after the World War II, Second World War to subdue all potential political enemies in Albania, break the country's landowners and minuscule middle class, and isolate Albania from western powers in order to establish the People's Republic of Albania. In 1945, the communists had liquidated, discredited, or driven into exile most of the country's interwar elite. The Internal Affairs Minister, Koçi Xoxe, a pro-Yugoslav erstwhile tinsmith, presided over the trial and the execution of thousands of opposition politicians, clan chiefs, and members of former Albanian governments who were condemned as "war criminals."
Thousands of their family members were imprisoned for years in work camps and jails and later exiled for decades to miserable state farms built on reclaimed marshlands. The communists' consolidation of control also produced a shift in political power in
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
from the northern Ghegs to the southern Tosks. Most communist leaders were middle-class Tosks, Vlachs and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, and the party drew most of its recruits from Tosk-inhabited areas, while the Ghegs, with their centuries-old tradition of opposing authority, distrusted the new Albanian rulers and their alien Marxist doctrines.
In December 1945, Albanians elected a new People's Assembly of Albania, People's Assembly, but only candidates from the Democratic Front (Albania), Democratic Front (previously the National Liberation Movement then the National Liberation Front) appeared on the electoral lists, and the communists used propaganda and terror tactics to gag the opposition. Official ballot tallies showed that 92% of the electorate voted and that 93% of the voters chose the Democratic Front ticket. The assembly convened in January 1946, annulled the monarchy, and transformed Albania into a "people's republic."
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
and Mehmet Shehu emerged as communist leaders in Albania, and are recognized by most western nations. They began to concentrate primarily on securing and maintaining their power base by killing all their political adversaries, and secondarily on preserving Albania's independence and reshaping the country according to the precepts of Stalinism so they could remain in power. Political executions were common with between 5,000 and 25,000 killed in total under the communist regime.
Albania became an ally of the Soviet Union, but this came to an end after 1956 over the advent of de-Stalinization, causing the Soviet-Albanian split. A strong political alliance with China followed, leading to several billion dollars in aid, which was curtailed after 1974, causing the Sino-Albanian split. China cut off aid in 1978 when Albania attacked its Chinese economic reform, policies after the death of Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Large-scale purges of officials occurred during the 1970s.
During the period of socialist construction of Albania, the country saw rapid economic growth. For the first time, Albania was beginning to produce the major part of its own commodities domestically, which in some areas were able to compete in foreign markets. During the period of 1960 to 1970, the average annual rate of increase of Albania's national income was 29 percent higher than the world average and 56 percent higher than the European average. Also during this period, because of the monopolised socialist economy, Albania was the only country in the world that imposed no imposts or taxes on its people whatsoever.
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
, who ruled Albania for four decades, died on 11 April 1985. Soon after Hoxha's death, voices for change emerged in the Albanian society and the government began to seek closer ties with the West in order to improve economic conditions.
Eventually the new regime of
Ramiz Alia
Ramiz Tafë Alia (; 18 October 1925 – 7 October 2011) was an Albanian politician serving as the second and last leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1985 to 1991, serving as First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Alban ...
introduced some liberalisation, and granting the freedom to travel abroad in 1990. The new government made efforts to improve ties with the outside world. The elections of March 1991 kept the former Communists in power, but a general strike and urban opposition led to the formation of a coalition cabinet that included non-Communists.
In 1967, the authorities conducted a violent campaign to extinguish religious practice in Albania, claiming that religion had divided the Albanian nation and kept it mired in backwardness. Student agitators combed the countryside, forcing Albanians to quit practicing their faith. Despite complaints, even by APL members, all churches, mosques, monasteries, and other religious institutions had been closed or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, and workshops by year's end. A special decree abrogated the charters by which the country's main religious communities had operated.
Albania and Yugoslavia
![Comecon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Comecon.svg)
Until Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Cominform in 1948, Albania acted like a Yugoslav satellite and the President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito aimed to use his choke hold on the Albanian party to incorporate the entire country into Yugoslavia. After Germany's withdrawal from Kosovo in late 1944, Yugoslavia's communist partisans took possession of the province and committed retaliatory massacres against
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
. Before the World War II, second World War, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia had supported transferring Kosovo to Albania, but Yugoslavia's postwar communist regime insisted on preserving the country's prewar borders.
In repudiating the 1943 Mukaj agreement under pressure from the Yugoslavs, Albania's communists had consented to restore Kosovo to Yugoslavia after the war. In January 1945, the two governments signed a treaty reincorporating Kosovo into Yugoslavia as an autonomous province. Shortly thereafter, Yugoslavia became the first country to recognize Albania's provisional government.
Relations between Albania and Yugoslavia declined, however, when the Albanians began complaining that the Yugoslavs were paying too little for Albanian raw materials and exploiting Albania through the joint stock companies. In addition, the Albanians sought investment funds to develop light industries and an oil refinery, while the Yugoslavs wanted the Albanians to concentrate on agriculture and raw-material extraction. The head of Albania's Economic Planning Commission and one of Hoxha's allies, Nako Spiru, became the leading critic of Yugoslavia's efforts to exert economic control over Albania. Tito distrusted Hoxha and the other intellectuals in the Albanian party and, through Xoxe and his loyalists, attempted to unseat them.
In 1947, Yugoslavia's leaders engineered an all-out offensive against anti-Yugoslav Albanian communists, including Hoxha and Spiru. In May, Tirana announced the arrest, trial, and conviction of nine People's Assembly (Albania), People's Assembly members, all known for opposing Yugoslavia, on charges of antistate activities. A month later, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia's Central Committee accused Hoxha of following "independent" policies and turning the Albanian people against Yugoslavia.
Albania and the Soviet Union
![Ships at Pashaliman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Ships_at_Pashaliman.jpg)
Albania became dependent on Soviet aid and know-how after the break with Yugoslavia in 1948. In February 1949, Albania gained membership in the Communist Bloc, communist bloc's organization for coordinating economic planning, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. Tirana soon entered into trade agreements with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet Union. Soviet and central European technical advisers took up residence in Albania, and the Soviet Union also sent Albania military advisers and built a submarine installation on Sazan Island.
After the Soviet-Yugoslav split, Albania and Bulgaria were the only countries the Soviet Union could use to funnel war material to the communists fighting in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. What little strategic value Albania offered the Soviet Union, however, gradually shrank as nuclear arms technology developed.
Anxious to pay homage to Stalin, Albania's rulers implemented new elements of the Stalinist economic system. In 1949, Albania adopted the basic elements of the Soviet fiscal system, under which state enterprises paid direct contributions to the treasury from their profits and kept only a share authorized for self-financed investments and other purposes. In 1951, the Albanian government launched its first five-year plan, which emphasized exploiting the country's oil, chromite, copper, nickel, asphalt, and coal resources; expanding electricity production and the power grid; increasing agricultural output; and improving transportation. The government began a program of rapid industrialization after the APL's Second Party Congress and a campaign of forced collectivization of farmland in 1955. At the time, private farms still produced about 87% of Albania's agricultural output, but by 1960 the same percentage came from collective or state farms.
Stalin died in March 1953, and apparently fearing that the Soviet ruler's demise might encourage rivals within the Albanian party's ranks, neither Hoxha nor Shehu risked traveling to Moscow to attend his funeral. The Soviet Union's subsequent movement toward rapprochement with the hated Yugoslavs rankled the two Albanian leaders. Tirana soon came under pressure from Moscow to copy, at least formally, the new Soviet model for a collective leadership. In July 1953, Hoxha handed over the foreign affairs and defense portfolios to loyal followers, but he kept both the top party post and the premiership until 1954, when Shehu became Albania's prime minister. The Soviet Union, responding with an effort to raise the Albanian leaders' morale, elevated diplomatic relations between the two countries to the ambassadorial level.
Despite some initial expressions of enthusiasm, Hoxha and Shehu mistrusted Nikita Khrushchev's programs of "peaceful coexistence" and "different roads to socialism" because they appeared to pose the threat that Yugoslavia might again try to take control of Albania. Hoxha and Shehu were also alarmed at the prospect that Moscow might prefer less dogmatic rulers in Albania. Tirana and Belgrade renewed diplomatic relations in December 1953, but Hoxha refused Khrushchev's repeated appeals to rehabilitate posthumously the pro-Yugoslav Xoxe as a gesture to Tito. The Albanian duo instead tightened their grip on their country's domestic life and let the propaganda war with the Yugoslavs grind on.
Albania and China
The People's Republic of Albania played a role in the Sino-Soviet split far outweighing either its size or its importance in the communist world. In 1958, the nation stood with the People's Republic of China in opposing Moscow on issues of peaceful coexistence, de-Stalinization, and Yugoslavia's separate road to socialism through decentralization of economic life. The Soviet Union, central European countries, and China, all offered Albania large amounts of aid. Soviet leaders also promised to build a large Palace of Culture of Tirana, Palace of Culture in Tirana as a symbol of the Soviet people's "love and friendship" for the Albanian people.
Despite these gestures, Tirana was dissatisfied with Moscow's economic policy toward Albania. Hoxha and Shehu apparently decided in May or June 1960 that Albania was assured of Chinese support, and they openly sided with the People's Republic of China when sharp polemics erupted between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union.
Ramiz Alia
Ramiz Tafë Alia (; 18 October 1925 – 7 October 2011) was an Albanian politician serving as the second and last leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1985 to 1991, serving as First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Alban ...
, at the time a candidate-member of the Politburo and Hoxha's adviser on ideological questions, played a prominent role in the rhetoric.
Hoxha and Shehu continued their harangue against the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia at the APL's Fourth Party Congress in February 1961. During the congress, the Albanian government announced the broad outlines of the country's Third Five-Year Plan from 1961 to 65, which allocated 54% of all investment to industry, thereby rejecting Khrushchev's wish to make Albania primarily an agricultural producer. Moscow responded by canceling aid programs and lines of credit for Albania, but the Chinese again came to the rescue.
The Albania China relations, Albanian-Chinese relations had stagnated by 1970, and when the Asian giant began to reemerge from isolation in the early 1970s, Mao Zedong and the other communist Chinese leaders reassessed their commitment to tiny Albania, starting the Sino-Albanian split. In response, Tirana began broadening its contacts with the outside world. Albania opened trade negotiations with France, Italy, and the recently independent Asian and African states, and in 1971 it normalized relations with Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. Albania's leaders abhorred the People's Republic of China's contacts with the United States in the early 1970s, and its press and radio ignored President Richard Nixon's Nixon visit to China 1972, trip to Beijing in 1972.
Third Republic
As Hoxha's health declined, the Party of Labour of Albania#First Secretaries of the Party of Labour of Albania, first secretary of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, People's Socialist Republic began planning for an orderly succession.
In 1976, the People's Parliament adopted its second communist Constitution of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Constitution of the post-war era. The constitution guaranteed the people of Albania the freedom of speech, press, organization, association, and parliament but subordinated these rights to the individual's duties to society as a whole. The constitution enshrined in law the idea of autarky and prohibited the government from seeking financial aid or credits or from forming joint companies with partners from Capitalism, capitalist or Communism, communist countries perceived to be "revisionist". The constitution's preamble also boasted that the foundations of religious belief in Albania had been abolished.
In 1980, Hoxha turned to
Ramiz Alia
Ramiz Tafë Alia (; 18 October 1925 – 7 October 2011) was an Albanian politician serving as the second and last leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1985 to 1991, serving as First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Alban ...
to succeed him as Albania's communist patriarch, overlooking his long-standing comrade-in-arms, Mehmet Shehu. Hoxha first tried to convince Shehu to step aside voluntarily, but when this move failed, Hoxha arranged for all the members of the Politburo to rebuke him for allowing his son to become engaged to the daughter of a former bourgeois family. Hoxha purged the members of Shehu's family and his supporters within the police and military. In November 1982, Hoxha announced that Shehu had been a foreign spy working simultaneously for the United States, British, Soviet, and Yugoslav intelligence agencies in planning the assassination of Hoxha himself. "He was buried like a dog", the dictator wrote in the Albanian edition of his book, 'The Titoites'. Hoxha went into semi-retirement in early 1983, and Alia assumed responsibility for Albania's administration. Alia traveled extensively around Albania, standing in for Hoxha at major events and delivering addresses laying down new policies and intoning litanies to the enfeebled president. Alia succeeded to the presidency and became legal secretary of the APL two days later. In due course, he became a dominant figure in the Albanian media, and his slogans appeared painted in crimson letters on signboards across the country.
Fourth Republic
Transition
![EPP Congress Marseille 6007 (6472666909)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/EPP_Congress_Marseille_6007_%286472666909%29.jpg)
In 1991,
Ramiz Alia
Ramiz Tafë Alia (; 18 October 1925 – 7 October 2011) was an Albanian politician serving as the second and last leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1985 to 1991, serving as First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Alban ...
became the Presidents of Albania, first President of Albania. Alia tried to follow in
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
's footsteps, but the changes had already started and the Fall of communism, collapse of communism throughout Europe led to widespread changes within the society of Albania. Mikhail Gorbachev had appeared in the Soviet Union with new rules and policies (glasnost and perestroika). However, Alia took similar steps, signing the Helsinki Agreement and allowing pluralism (political theory), pluralism under pressure from students and workers.
Afterwards, the first multi-party elections took place since the communists assumed power in Albania. The Socialist Party of Albania, Socialist Party led by Ramiz Alia won the Albanian Constitutional Assembly election, 1991, 1991 elections.
Nevertheless, it was clear that the change would not be stopped. Pursuant to a 29 April 1991 interim basic law,
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
ratified a Constitution of Albania, constitution on 28 November 1998, establishing a Democracy, democratic system of government based upon the rule of law and guaranteeing the protection of fundamental human rights.
Furthermore, the Communists retained support and governmental control in the first round of elections under the interim law, but fell two months later during a general strike. A committee of "national salvation" took over but also collapsed in half a year. On 22 March 1992, the Communists were trumped by the Democratic Party of Albania, Democratic Party after winning the Albanian parliamentary election, 1992, 1992 parliamentary elections. The transition from the socialist state to a parliamentary system had many challenges. The Democratic Party had to implement the reforms it had promised, but they were either too slow or did not solve the problems, so the people were disappointed when their hopes for fast prosperity went unfulfilled.
Democratization
![Tirana from South](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Tirana_from_South.jpg)
The Democratic Party of Albania, Democratic Party took control after winning the second multi-party elections, deposing the Communist Party of Albania (1991), Communist Party. Afterwards, Sali Berisha became the Presidents of Albania, second President of Albania, President. Today, Berisha is the longest-serving and the only President of Albania elected to a second term. In 1995, Albania became the 35th member of the Council of Europe and requested membership in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The people of Albania have continued to Immigration to Europe, emigrate to western European countries, especially to Albanians in greece, Greece and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
but also to the Albanian Americans, United States.
Deliberate programmes of economic and democratic reforms were put in place, but Albanian inexperience with capitalism led to the proliferation of pyramid schemes, which were not banned due to the corruption of the government. Anomie, Anarchy in the late 1996s to early 1997s, as a result of the collapse of these pyramid schemes, alarmed the world and prompted international mediation. In the early spring 1997, Italy led a multinational military and humanitarian intervention (Operation Alba), authorized by the United Nations Security Council, to help stabilize the country. The government of Berisha collapsed in 1997 in the wake of the additional collapse of pyramid schemes and widespread corruption, which caused anarchy and rebellion throughout the country. The government attempted to suppress the rebellion by military force but the attempt failed, due to long-term corrosion of the Military of Albania due to political and social factors. Few months later, after the Albanian parliamentary election, 1997, 1997 parliamentary elections the Democratic Party of Albania, Democratic Party was defeated by the Socialist Party of Albania, Socialist Party, winning just 25 seats out of a total of 156. Sali Berisha resigned and the Socialists elected Rexhep Meidani as President of Albania, President. Including to that, the leader of the Socialists Fatos Nano was elected as Prime Minister of Albania, Prime Minister, a post which he held until October 1998, when he resigned as a result of the tense situation created in the country after the assassination of Azem Hajdari, a prominent leader of the Democratic Party of Albania, Democratic Party. Due to that, Pandeli Majko was then elected Prime Minister until November 1999, when he was replaced by Ilir Meta. The Parliament of Albania, Parliament adopted the current Constitution of Albania, Constitution on 29 November 1998. Albania approved its constitution through a popular referendum which was held in November 1998, but which was boycotted by the opposition. The general local elections of October 2000 marked the loss of control of the Democratic Party of Albania, Democrats over the local governments and a victory for the Albanian Socialist Party, Socialists.
In 2001, Albania has made strides toward democratic reform and maintaining the rule of law, serious deficiencies in the electoral code remain to be addressed, as demonstrated in the Albanian parliamentary election, 2001, elections. International observers judged the elections to be acceptable, but the Union for Victory Coalition, the second-largest vote recipient, disputed the results and boycotted parliament until 31 January 2002. In June 2005, the democratic coalition formed a government with the Sali Berisha. His return to power in the elections of 3 July 2005 ended eight years of Socialist Party rule. After Alfred Moisiu, in 2006 Bamir Topi was elected President of Albania until 2010. Despite the Politics of Albania, political situation, the economy of Albania grew at an List of countries by GDP (real) growth rate, estimated 5% in 2007. The Albanian lek has strengthened from 143 lekë to the US dollar in 2000 to 92 lekë in 2007.
Present
![NATO Ministers of Defense and of Foreign Affairs meet at NATO headquarters in Brussels 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/NATO_Ministers_of_Defense_and_of_Foreign_Affairs_meet_at_NATO_headquarters_in_Brussels_2010.jpg)
On 23 June 2013, the eighth Albanian parliamentary election, 2013, parliamentary elections took place, won by Edi Rama of the Socialist Party of Albania, Socialist Party. During his tenure as List of Prime Ministers of Albania, 33rd Prime Minister of Albania, Prime Minister, Albania has implemented numerous reforms focused on the Modernism, modernizing the Economy of Albania, economy and democratizing of state institutions like the Judiciary of Albania, judiciary and Law enforcement in Albania, law enforcement. Additionally, unemployment has been steadily reduced to the 4th lowest List of countries by unemployment rate, unemployment rate in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
After the Revolutions of 1989, collapse of the Eastern Bloc, Albania started to develop closer ties with Western Europe. At the 2008 Bucharest summit, the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) invited Albania to join the alliance. In April 2014 Albania became a full member of the
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
. Albania was among the first southeastern European countries to join the Partnership for peace programme. Albania Accession of Albania to the European Union, applied to join the European Union, becoming an official candidate for accession to the European Union in June 2014.
In 2017, the eighth Albanian parliamentary election, 2017, parliamentary elections took place, simultaneously with the Albanian presidential election, 2017, presidential elections. The presidential elections were held on 19, 20, 27 and 28 April 2017. In the fourth round, the incumbent Chairman of the Parliament of Albania, Chairman and then-Prime Minister of Albania, Prime Minister, Ilir Meta was elected as the eighth President of Albania with 87 votes. However, the result of the parliamentary elections held on 25 June 2017 was a victory for the Socialist Party of Albania, Socialist Party led by Edi Rama, that received 48.33% of the votes of the elections, ahead of 5 other candidates. Lulzim Basha, the Democratic Party of Albania, Democratic Party candidate and runner-up in the election, received only 28.81% of the votes.
In April 2021 parliamentary 2021 Albanian parliamentary election, election, ruling Socialist Party, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, secured its third consecutive victory, winning nearly half of votes and enough seats in parliament to govern alone. In February 2022, Albania's Constitutional Court overturned parliament's impeachment of President Ilir Meta, opponent of the ruling Socialist Party. In June 2022, Albanian parliament elected Bajram Begaj, the candidate of the ruling Socialist Party (PS), as the new President of Albania. On 24 July 2022, Bajram Begaj was sworn in as Albania's ninth president.
See also
*
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
* Albanian nationalism
* Politics of Albania
* Timeline of Albanian history
* Epitaph of Gllavenica
*
Gjergj Arianiti
Gjergj Arianiti (1383–1462) was an Albanian feudal lord who led several successful campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. He was the father of Donika, Skanderbeg's wife, as well as the grand-uncle of Moisi Arianit Golemi. Gjergj Arianiti was ...
* Greater Albania
*
Illyrians
The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...
References
Sources
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Bibliography
* Abrahams, Fred C ''Modern Albania : From Dictatorship to Democracy in Europe'' (2015)
* Bernd Jürgen Fischer. ''Albania at war, 1939-1945'' (Purdue UP, 1999)
* Bushkoff, Leonard. "Albania, history of", ''Collier's Encyclopedia'', vol. 1. NY: P.F. Collier, L.P, 1996.
* Elsie, Robert. ''Historical Dictionary of Albania'' (2010
online* Elsie, Robert. ''The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture'' (I.B. Tauris, 2015)
* Fischer, Bernd J., and Oliver Jens Schmitt. ''A Concise History of Albania'' (Cambridge University Press, 2022).
* Hall, Richard C. ''War in the Balkans: An Encyclopedic History from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Breakup of Yugoslavia'' (2014
excerpt* Krasniqi, Afrim. ''The End of Albania's Siberia''. Tirana 1998.
* Krasniqi, Afrim. ''Civil Society in Albania''. Tirana 2004.
* Krasniqi, Afrim. ''Political Parties in Albania 1920–2006'' Tirana 2006.
* Logoreci, Anton. "Albania and China: The Incongruous Alliance." ''Current History'' 52.308 (1967): 227–245.
* Najbor, Patrice. ''Histoire de l'Albanie et de sa maison royale'' (5 volumes), JePublie, Paris, 2008, ().
* Rama, Shinasi A. ''The end of communist rule in Albania : political change and the role of the student movement'' (Routledge, 2019)
* Reci, Senada, and Luljeta Zefi. "Albania-Greece sea issue through the history facts and the future of conflict resolution." ''Journal of Liberty and International Affairs'' 7.3 (2021): 299–309.
* Rodgers, Mary M. (ed.). ''Albania...in Pictures''. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1995.
* Sette, Alessandro. ''From Paris to Vlorë. Italy and the Settlement of the Albanian Question (1919–1920)'', in ''The Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) and Its Aftermath: Settlements, Problems and Perceptions'', eds. S. Arhire, T. Rosu, (2020).
* Sontag, Raymond James. ''The political history of Albania'' (1921
online* Stavrianos, L.S. '' The Balkans Since 1453'' (1958), major scholarly history; 970p
onlineof Albania
* Vickers, Miranda. ''The Albanians: A Modern History'' (I.B. Tauris, 2001)
* Winnifrith, Tom, ed. ''Perspectives on Albania''. (Palgrave Macmillan, 1992).
* Winnifrith, T. J. ''Nobody's Kingdom: A History of Northern Albania'' (2021).
External links
History of Albania: Primary Documentsof Albania
Famille royale d'Albanie, site officiel en langue anglaiseEnglish version
Books about Albania and the Albanian people''(scribd.com)'' Reference of books (and some journal articles) about Albania and the Albanian people; their history, language, origin, culture, literature, etc. Public domain books, fully accessible online.
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