Wilhelm, Prince of Albania (Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich; , 26 March 1876 – 18 April 1945) was
sovereign of the Principality of Albania from 7 March to 3 September 1914. His reign officially came to an end on 31 January 1925, when the country was declared an
Albanian Republic.
Outside the country and in diplomatic correspondence, he was styled "sovereign
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
", but in
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 ...
, he was referred to as ''mbret'', or king.
Family and early life
William was born on 26 March 1876 in
Neuwied Castle, near
Koblenz
Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...
, in the
Prussian Rhineland, as Prince William of Wied (). Born into the
mediatised house of
Wied-Neuwied, he was the third son of
William, 5th Prince of Wied (brother of
Queen Elisabeth of Romania), and his wife
Princess Marie of the Netherlands (sister of
Queen Louise of Sweden). He was second cousin of
Wilhelm II, German Emperor.
Prince William served as a
Prussian cavalry officer before becoming a captain in the
German General Staff
The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the Imperial German Army, German Army, responsible for the continuous stu ...
in 1911.
Candidate for the Albanian throne
Prince William's aunt, Queen
Elisabeth of Romania, on learning that the
Great Power
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 ...
s were looking for an aristocrat to rule over Albania, asked
Take Ionescu
Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian Centrism, centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Sta ...
to attempt to persuade them to appoint her nephew to the post.
[
]
Eventually the European Great Powers – Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...
, the French Third Republic
The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...
, the German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
, the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
and the Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
– selected William, a member of the German princely house of Wied, and related to the Queen of the Netherlands to rule over the newly independent Albania. The announcement was made in November 1913 and the decision was accepted by Ismail Kemal, the head of the provisional government.[ The offer of the Albanian throne was first made to him in the spring of 1913 but he turned it down. Despite rejecting the offer, the Austrians put pressure on Prince William in an attempt to change his mind.] Kaiser Wilhelm was not pleased with the selection of the prince as the king of Albania; considering the choice to be unwise. The Kaiser claimed that he tried to have "a Mohammedan Prince chosen, if possible".
Europeans consider Albania to be a poor, lawless and backward country, and some foreign opinion was scathing. The French press referred to Wilhelm as "le Prince de Vide", meaning "the prince of emptiness"; vide being a pun on his homeland of Wied.
Prince of Albania
On 7 February 1914, William let the Great Powers know that he would accept the throne. On 21 February 1914 a delegation of Albanian notables led by Essad Pasha Toptani and Arbëreshë ones (headed by Luigi Baffa and Vincenzo Baffa Trasci), made a formal request, which he accepted thereby becoming ''By the grace of the powers and the will of the people the Prince (Mbret) of Albania''. One month after accepting the throne on 7 March, he arrived in his provisional capital of Durrës and started to organise his government, appointing Turhan Pasha Përmeti to form the first Albanian cabinet.[ This first cabinet was dominated by aristocrats, with prince Essad Pasha Toptani as minister of defence and foreign affairs, prince Gjergj Adhamidhi bej Frashëri as minister of finances, and prince Aziz Pasha Vrioni as minister of agriculture.
His brief reign proved a turbulent one. Immediately following his arrival, revolts of Muslims broke out in central Albania against his Chief Minister, Essad Pasha, and against foreign domination that was not Turkish. ]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 ...
encouraged the formation of a separatist provisional government in North Epirus. William's position was also undermined by his own officials, notably Essad Pasha himself, who actually accepted money from Italy to finance a revolt and to stage a coup against William. The plot was exposed, Pasha was arrested on 19 May 1914, tried for treason and sentenced to death. Only the intervention of the Italian government saved his life and he escaped to exile in Italy.[
The outbreak of ]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 ...
presented more problems for Prince William as Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
demanded that he send Albanian soldiers to fight alongside them. When he refused, citing the neutrality of Albania in the Treaty of London, the remuneration
Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with giving (away), or donating, or the act of providing to). Remuneration is one component of reward managem ...
that he had been receiving was cut off.
Reign in exile, overthrow, and death
Prince William left the country on 3 September 1914 originally heading to Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
. Despite leaving Albania he did so insisting that he remained head of state.[ In his proclamation he informed the people that "he deemed it necessary to absent himself temporarily." He was also styled Skanderbeg II, in homage to ]Skanderbeg
Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...
, the national hero.
He returned to Germany and rejoined the Imperial German Army
The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
under the pseudonym "Count of Kruja" (). The name derived from the city of Krujë in Albania. When the Austro-Hungarians forced the Serbian and Montenegrin armies out of Northern Albania in the early months of 1916, William's hopes of being restored were raised although ultimately they came to nothing. After the war, he still harboured ambitions that he might be restored, but the participants at the Paris Peace Conference were unlikely to restore the throne to someone who had just fought against them.
Although several of the factions competing for power in post-war Albania billed themselves as regencies for William, once central authority was definitively restored in 1924, the country was declared a republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
on 31 January 1925, officially ending his reign.
With the monarchy in Albania set to be restored with President Ahmet Zogu becoming king, Prince William reaffirmed his claim to the throne announcing he still claimed the throne for himself and his heirs.[
Prince William died in ]Predeal
Predeal (; ) is a town in Brașov County, Muntenia, Romania. Predeal, a mountain resort town, is the highest town in Romania. It is located in the Prahova Valley, Muntenia at an elevation of over . The town administers three villages: Pârâu ...
, near Sinaia
Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after ...
, in Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, leaving his son, Hereditary Prince Carol Victor, as heir to his Albanian claims. He was buried at the in Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
.
Marriage and children
On 30 November 1906 at Waldenburg, Saxony, Prince William married Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1885–1936), member of the House of Schönburg
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...
, daughter of Hereditary Prince Otto Karl Viktor I von Schönburg-Waldenburg (1856-1888) and his wife, Princess Lucie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1859-1903). She had remotely distant Albanian roots, through Orthodox Ghica family. They had two children:
* Princess Marie Eleonore (1909–1956) ⚭ Prince Alfred of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1905–1941), son of Prince Heinrich of Schönburg-Waldenburg and Princess Olga of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg ⚭ Ion Octavian Bunea (1899–1977)
* Hereditary Prince Carol Victor (1913–1973) ⚭ Eileen de Coppet (1922–1985)
Honors
Gallery
File:Wied 4668751141 31471205f5 o.jpg, 1909
File:Albania 5050938671 1eb7eb6b79 o.jpg, 1913 (circa)
File:Prince and Princess of Albania 5051566232 1c17f6c1bc o.jpg, 1913
File:Dmme12.jpg, Prince Wilhelm of Wied, Isa Boletini and officers of the International Gendarmerie: Duncan Heaton-Armstrong and Colonel Thomson near Durrës in June 1914
File:Wilhelm zu Wied, Prince (Mbret) of Albania.jpg, 1914
File:Princ Vidi (portret).jpg, 1914
File:Dmme02.jpg, Prince Wilhelm on horseback in front of the palace in Durrës.
File:Royal Monogram of Prince Wilhelm of Wied.svg, Royal Monogram
Ancestry
In popular culture
Prince Wilhelm is portrayed in the 2008 Albanian film '' Time of the Comet (based on Ismail Kadare's novel "The dark year" (Viti i mbrapshtë)'', which takes place during his reign. He is played by the German actor Thomas Heinze.
Notes
References
External links
Wilhelm zu Wied:Memorandum on Albania
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilhelm, Prince of Albania
1876 births
1945 deaths
20th-century monarchs in Europe
20th-century Albanian people
People from Neuwied
People from the Rhine Province
Members of the Prussian House of Lords
Albanian monarchs
Protestant monarchs
House of Wied-Neuwied
Albanian nobility
German Army personnel of World War I
Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
German emigrants
Immigrants to Albania
Pretenders