Albania–Yugoslavia relations (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Albansko-jugoslavenski odnosi, Албанско-југословенски односи; ; ) were historical foreign relations between

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

(both Kingdom of Albania 1928-1939 and the

People's Socialist Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, () was the Marxist-Leninist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to the 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the P ...

1946–1992) and now broken up

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

1918-1941 and

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

1945–1992). With occasional periods of friendly relations or efforts to improve relations, the two countries predominantly maintained cold or openly hostile relations. The period of close relations developed right after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when Yugoslavia pushed for socioeconomic integration of Albania into Yugoslavia within the Balkan Federation (bargaining with the idea of unification of Albania with kinship region of

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

); however, the two countries turned to sharp antagonism after the 1948

Tito–Stalin split The Tito–Stalin split or the Soviet–Yugoslav split was the culmination of a conflict between the political leaderships of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, under Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin, respectively, in the years following World W ...

History

Albanian early relations with Yugoslavia were preceded by its prior relations with the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

and the

Kingdom of Montenegro The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe, present-day Montenegro, during the tumultuous period of time on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Officially it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolu ...

and the experience of the

dissolution of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) was a period of history of the Ottoman Empire beginning with the Young Turk Revolution and ultimately ending with the empire's dissolution and the founding of the modern state of Turkey. The ...

in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with 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 throug ...

. Predominantly

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Balkan nations gained their independence a couple of decades before Albania so that the

Albanian National Awakening The Albanian National Awakening ( or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political, and social movement in the Albanian history where the Albanian ...

was faced with

state-building State-building as a specific term in social sciences and humanities, refers to political and historical processes of creation, institutional consolidation, stabilization and sustainable development of states, from the earliest emergence of stateh ...

and regional balance of power games fueled by conflicting nationalist claims. This situation reached it peak at the time of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

in which regional powers of

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria (), also known as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom (), usually known in English as the Kingdom of Bulgaria, or simply Bulgaria, was a constitutional monarchy in Southeastern Europe, which was established on , when the Bulgaria ...

, Kingdom of Serbia,

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...

and Kingdom of Montenegro divided among themselves the remaining European territory of the sick man of Europe. While their earlier efforts were fueled with the intention of national liberation, during the First Balkan War regional balance of power played more prominent role in decision making so that Albanian territories were divided by its neighbors. At the same time the Albanian state started to develop, and due to the concern of the

Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...

over the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

expansion into the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

the independent

Principality of Albania The Principality of Albania () was a monarchy from 1914 to 1925. It was headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, and located in modern Albania in the Balkans, Balkan region of Europe. The Ottoman Empire owned the land until the First Balkan Wa ...

was created along the coast. This state however did not include the Albanian-inhabited region of

as well as numerous Albanian populations in modern-day

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The border remained unclear all through

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(when the Serbian Albanian Golgotha took place) and in early years after the establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (which was created after Serbia united with Montenegro,

Banat, Bačka and Baranja Banat, Bačka and Baranya ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Banat, Bačka i Baranja, Банат, Бачка и Барања) was a province of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between November 1918 and 1922. It ...

and the

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( / ; ) was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani (Serbs), Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of th ...

). Subsequent to 1948 Yugoslavia developed a comparatively open

Titoist Titoism is a Types of socialism, socialist political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito and refers to the ideology and policies of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) during the Cold War. It is characterized by a br ...

system economically linked to Western Europe and diplomatically active with non-bloc countries. Albania was on the other hand a highly self-isolated autarkic state, especially following the Soviet–Albanian split and

Sino-Albanian split The Sino-Albanian split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the People's Republic of China in the period 1972–1978. Both countries had supported each other in the Albanian–Soviet and ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia relations with Albania

In 1921 the Kingdom of Yugoslavia supported the establishment of the Republic of Mirdita in its efforts to push for more advantageous border demarcation for Yugoslavia. The

Conference of Ambassadors A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

decided to deal with the issue of Albanian-Yugoslav border and it published them soon after the creation of Republic of Mirdita yet the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

insisted on slight adaptations in the region of Debar,

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

and Kastrati in the interest of Yugoslavia. In an effort to gain the favor of the Border Demarcation Commission the two countries established formal diplomatic relations in March 1922. In 1927, Jurašković, a Yugoslavian interpreter at the Yugoslav Legation, was arrested on a charge of espionage and conspiracy against the Albanian Government. During the search of his house some documents were found that proved the accusations. The Yugoslav government demanded the release of Jurašković in an inappropriate tone, which angered the Albanian government. In his report, the correspondent of Daily Telegraph assesses that "tempers have been lost on both sides". Consequently, six months of tension followed. In the end, the Yugoslav consuls at Valona, Skadar, and Korcha were instructed by their government to leave Albania. The rupture of diplomatic relations between Yugoslavia and Albania occurred. The European powers proposed a solution that was accepted by both the Albanian and Yugoslav governments.

World War II

During World War II the Italian protectorate of Albania and subsequent German occupation of Albania created an effective Axis client state of

Greater Albania Greater Albania () is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to annex the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in ...

which covered parts of Yugoslavia and persecuted the local non-Albanian population. National Liberation Movement of Albania closely cooperated and was significantly influenced by the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

Relations after World War II

Following the end of World War II Yugoslavia was reorganized as a socialist federation of six constituent federal subject republics. In addition, within the

Socialist Republic of Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

two autonomous regions were created one of which was the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija with ethnic Albanian majority. In July 1946, Yugoslavia and Albania signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation followed by a series of technical and economic agreements aimed at integration of the Albanian and Yugoslav economies.

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

became a required subject in Albanian high schools at that time. At the

Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania (PLA), also 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 on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of ...

plenum in February and March 1948 leadership voted to merge the Albanian and Yugoslav economies and militaries while Koçi Xoxe proposed appealing to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

to admit Albania as a seventh Yugoslav republic. Initially after Albania's liberation from Nazi occupation, Yugoslav advisors were extensively involved in Albanian affairs.

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

supported Yugoslav influence in Albania, but became concerned with Josip Broz Tito's ambition in the region. Hoxha expressed strong support for Stalin. Relations between Albania and Yugoslavia turned into sharp antagonism after the 1948

. Hoxha contended that Tito's style of socialism was corrupt and that Tito planned to annex Albania. Representations were upgraded back to the embassy level by an agreement reached on 5 February 1971.

Works cited

* * *

References

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