Albania

B

Middle Ages

With the division of the Roman Empire in ad 395, Albania became part of the Eastern Empire. During this period Albanian ports, such as Durrachium (Durrës), became important trading centres.

As the power of the empire declined, the Illyrian provinces were plagued by migrating tribes vying for control of the western parts of the Balkans. The Goths and Huns came in the 4th century, the Bulgars in the 5th century, and during the 6th and 7th centuries large numbers of Slavs began to penetrate Illyrian territories. Faced with the danger of assimilation, the Albanians—who had by this time been converted to Christianity—moved southwards, concentrating mainly in the rugged mountain regions, where they remained nominally under the rule of the East Roman, or Byzantine, Empire.

During the 11th and the 12th centuries Albania was overrun by the Normans, and in 1190, during a period of Byzantine weakness, the Albanian prince Progon established an independent state. This lasted until the middle of the 13th century, after which the country relapsed into disunity. In the 14th century it was conquered by the Serbs.

With the collapse of Stephan Dushan’s Serbian Empire in 1355, Albania fell under the domination of local feudal lords. The Topias and the Dukagjinis ruled in the north, the Muzakas and the Shpatas in the south.

C

Ottoman Rule

The Ottoman Turks invaded Albania at the end of the 14th century. Under the leadership of George Kastrioti, called Scanderbeg, the Albanians waged a successful 25-year struggle against Turkish occupation. In 1448 and in 1466 Scanderbeg repulsed large Turkish expeditions, but after his death in 1468, Albania became part of the Ottoman Empire. A large number of Albanians migrated to Italy, and the majority of the population converted to Islam. During the nearly five centuries of Turkish occupation, many Albanians rose to high positions in the empire.

The Turks were never able to establish total control over Albania. During the latter part of the 18th century, several native princes rose to prominence. From 1775 to 1796, the Bushatis ruled the Shkodër Duchy, extending their authority over northern and central Albania. From 1790 to 1822, Ali Pasha ruled the duchy of Janina, which extended from Vlorë and Berat to Çamëria and Thessaly.

At the end of the 19th century nationalist sentiments awakened. During the period of the Albanian League (1878-1881), the Albanians waged a heroic struggle to preserve their territorial integrity against encroachments from their neighbours and to win autonomy from Turkey.

D

Independence

On November 28, 1912, after a series of revolts against Turkey, Albanian patriots led by Ismail Qemal proclaimed the country’s independence. At the London Conference of December 1912, the Allied Powers recognized Albania’s independence. The 1913 frontier demarcation by a special commission appointed by the Allied Powers, however, excluded from Albania more than half its territory, including Kosovo and Çamëria, and about 40 per cent of its people. Today several hundred thousand Albanians live in Greece, about 500,000 live in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and nearly 1.5 million live in the other countries of the former Yugoslavia, primarily in Serbia and Montenegro.

The Allied Powers selected the German prince Wilhelm zu Wied as Albania’s ruler. Prince Wilhelm arrived in March 1914, but because of local opposition and the outbreak of World War I, he was forced to flee the country six months later. During the war, Albania became a battlefield between the Allied and the Central Powers; with the coming of peace, it again faced the prospect of dismemberment by its neighbours. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919, however, rejected claims put forward by Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, and Italy, and Albania was saved from partition.

At the Congress of Lushnje, in January 1920, the Albanians established a provincial government and a council of regency; the following summer Italy recognized Albania’s independence. During the next four years Albania was beset by a fierce struggle for power among competing political factions. By 1925 Ahmet Zogu had achieved pre-eminence, and he ruled the country first as President, but from 1928 to 1939 as Zog I, King of the Albanians—a title that symbolically embraced the Albanian minorities in Greece and Yugoslavia. King Zog introduced broad cultural and economic reforms but entered into a political and military alliance with Fascist Italy. Heavy economic dependence on Italy in turn led to Italian interference in Albania’s domestic and foreign affairs, and on April 7, 1939, Mussolini‘s troops occupied the country. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy was immediately proclaimed King of Albania.

E

World War II

Armed resistance to the Italian invaders began soon after the invasion, but the few scattered communist groups existing at the time did not participate in the resistance.

The Albanian Communist Party was founded in November 1941, and Enver Hoxha, a young Western-educated schoolteacher, was elected its General Secretary. The Communists launched their resistance movement against the invaders with the creation of the National Liberation Movement in September 1942 and the organization of the National Liberation Army in July 1943. The Allied command in Italy supplied some material assistance.

In September 1943, preparing the ground for a seizure of power following the anticipated defeat of Germany, the Communists also launched a campaign against the nationalist organizations Balli Kombëtar (National Front) and Legaliteti (Legality Movement). After a bloody civil war, the nationalists were defeated, and by October 1944 the Communists were able to form a provisional government headed by Hoxha. A month later they seized control of the entire country.

F

People’s Republic

On January 11, 1946, a constituent assembly, elected the previous month, proclaimed the People’s Republic of Albania. In March a new constitution was promulgated and a new government formed, with Hoxha as prime minister. The Communist regime initiated a massive campaign of purges to eliminate real and potential opponents. Wealth in private property was confiscated, all industrial plants and mines were nationalized, and a radical agrarian reform was instituted.