Lushnje (1920)
160-628: The Principality of Albania ( Albanian : Principata e Shqipërisë ) was a 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 invasions of Albania during World War I and the subsequent disputes over Albanian independence during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 , until 1925, when
320-669: A Latinis, Grecis et Sclauis ita quod in nullo se intelligunt cum aliis nationibus. (Namely, the above-mentioned Albanians have a language that is different from the languages of Latins, Greeks and Slavs, so that they do not understand each other at all.) The oldest attested document written in Albanian dates to 1462, while the first audio recording in the language was made by Norbert Jokl on 4 April 1914 in Vienna . However, as Fortson notes, Albanian written works existed before this point; they have simply been lost. The existence of written Albanian
480-538: A Muslim prince and looked to the Ottoman Empire as the protector of the privileges they had enjoyed. Many beys and clan chiefs recognized no superior authority. In late October 1914, Greek forces entered Albania in the Protocol of Corfu 's recognized Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus . Italy occupied Vlorë , and Serbia and Montenegro occupied parts of northern Albania until a Central Powers offensive scattered
640-411: 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 radical youth organization, Avni Rustemi , was murdered in the street outside the parliament building. Noli's supporters blamed
800-472: A Western-style constitutional government. 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
960-457: A commission composed of representatives of Britain, France, Italy, and Japan that reaffirmed Albania's 1913 borders. Yugoslavia complained bitterly but had no choice but to withdraw its troops. The Republic of Mirdita was dissolved. Interwar Albanian governments appeared and disappeared in rapid succession. Between July and December 1921 alone, the premiership changed hands five times. The Congress of Lushnjë (Albanian: Kongresi i Lushnjës )
1120-561: A common period of prehistoric coexistence of several Indo-European dialects in the Balkans prior to 2000 BC. To this group would belong Albanian, Ancient Greek , Armenian , Phrygian , fragmentary attested languages such as Macedonian , Thracian , or Illyrian , and the relatively well-attested Messapic in Southern Italy. The common features of this group appear at the phonological, morphological, and lexical levels, presumably resulting from
1280-765: A conciliatory offer from the Allies. In absence of the Italian delegation, the French and the British decided to annul the Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne for lack of Russian consent and not to honour any Italian claims in Asia Minor or Africa. Orlando and Sonnino held different positions regarding the eastern Adriatic shore claims. Orlando was prepared to give up on Dalmatia except Zadar and Šibenik while insisting on annexing Rijeka. Sonnino held
1440-555: A decision on the curb, which consisted of eight articles. In the first article stated: "The word contraband, we learn that the sale of cntrabanded things, causes damage on the Treasury or the people. Damtime trigger ". Likewise, the French command of Korca took a decision to increase the fee (trails) customs. This decision, which was printed in Albanian and French, consisting of 11 articles and was signed by French General H. Salle, commander of troops in who were installed on Maliq . According to
1600-453: A document taking into consideration the Russian objections and forwarded it to Imperiali, but Sonnino threatened to end the negotiations over the differences. The deadlock was broken by French Foreign Minister Théophile Delcassé who was ready to pay any price to obtain an alliance with Italy believing it would bring about alliances with Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania as well. Delcassé proposed
1760-474: A dominant position in the Adriatic basin and to expand its colonial empire . Initially, the majority of the Italian public favoured neutrality, but groups favouring an expansionist war against Austria-Hungary formed in every part of the political spectrum. The most ardent supporters of war became irredentist groups such as Trento e Trieste ( Trento and Trieste) led by Giovanni Giuriati or Alfredo Rocco who saw
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#17328485403141920-515: A draft agreement and forwarded it to Russia against protests by the Yugoslav Committee. Sazonov objected to the draft agreement and dismissed an Italian offer of Dubrovnik as a port for South Slavs as it lacked inland transport routes. Sazonov demanded Split in addition as a better port and objected to the requested demilitarisation of the coast belonging to the Kingdom of Montenegro . Grey drew up
2080-612: A future alliance. Sazonov was informed accordingly, and Russia abandoned the matter. The motives for the Entente's overture to Italy and Italian consideration of entering the war were entirely opportunistic. The Entente saw Germany as the principal enemy and wanted to force it to divert some of its forces away from the existing battlefields. Italy had basically different interests from the Entente powers. It saw opportunities to fulfil Italian irredentist objectives in Austria-Hungary, to gain
2240-472: A large amount (or the majority) of their sea environment lexicon. A similar phenomenon could be observed with agricultural terms. While the words for 'arable land', 'wheat', 'cereals', 'vineyard', 'yoke', 'harvesting', 'cattle breeding', etc. are native, the words for 'ploughing', 'farm' and 'farmer', agricultural practices, and some harvesting tools are foreign. This, again, points to intense contact with other languages and people, rather than providing evidence of
2400-591: A little of the hoped for northern gains (within today's largely Slovene Littoral (also called Austrian Littoral , coast or Julian March )) but gaining Istria and the city-enclave of Zadar and several islands. Giolitti had the Italian Navy drive D'Annunzio from Rijeka, and the city became the Free State of Fiume under provisions of the Treaty of Rapallo. It comprised settlement of the border awarding Italy territory on
2560-399: A manifestation of Italian chauvinistic ambitions against Dalmatia causing a crisis. Evans expanded on his criticism in article "Italy and Dalmatia" published by The Times on 27 April. Evans was joined by historians Robert Seton-Watson and Wickham Steed by describing the Italian claims as absurd and Grey's policies as unjust. Grey responded by reiterating that in the event of victory in
2720-620: A model for an alternative parliamentary order sought by the Fascists. The Impresa di Fiume brought about the fall of the Nitti government under pressure from the Italian Socialist Party , D'Annunzio, and Benito Mussolini . Nitti's successor Giolitti and "democratic renouncers" of Dalmatian heritage were next criticised by the nationalists. D'Annunzio formulated the charge in the slogan "Victory of ours, you shall not be mutilated", referencing
2880-539: A move by Italy would prompt Romania to join the Entente as well against Austria-Hungary, Russian foreign minister Sergey Sazonov pursued the matter. British Foreign Minister Edward Grey supported the idea; he said that Trieste should be added to the claim as potentially important to win over Italian public opinion on joining the war. The Italian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Guglielmo Imperiali , presented Grey with Italy's conditions, but Grey did not consider
3040-475: A number of isoglosses with Albanian. Other linguists linked the Albanian language with Latin , Greek and Armenian , while placing Germanic and Balto-Slavic in another branch of Indo-European. In current scholarship there is evidence that Albanian is closely related to Greek and Armenian, while the fact that it is a satem language is less significant. Armenian Greek Phrygian (extinct) Messapic (extinct) Gheg Tosk Messapic
3200-537: A part of Asia Minor . The results of the Paris Peace Conference transformed wartime national fervour in Italy into nationalistic resentment championed by Gabriele D'Annunzio by declaring that the outcome of Italy's war was a mutilated victory . He led a successful march of veterans and disgruntled soldiers to capture the port of Rijeka – claimed by Italy and denied by the Entente powers. The move became known as
3360-733: A political union with Serbia. News of the treaty also compelled the Yugoslav Committee to adopt a less critical view of Serbian demands concerning the method of political unification of the South Slavs as it became clear that the unity of the Croats and the unity of the Slovenes would depend on success of Serbia. Full text of the treaty text was published by the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution . In 1917, Pašić and Trumbić negotiated and agreed upon
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#17328485403143520-587: A possible linguistic homeland (also known as a Urheimat ). The centre of Albanian settlement remained the Mat River. In 1079, the Albanians were recorded farther south in the valley of the Shkumbin River. The Shkumbin, a 181 km long river that lies near the old Via Egnatia , is approximately the boundary of the primary dialect division for Albanian, Tosk and Gheg . The characteristics of Tosk and Gheg in
3680-668: A postwar Albanian National Assembly that met at Durrës in December 1918 defended Albanian interests at the 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. Serbian troops conducted actions in Albanian-populated border areas, while Albanian guerrillas operated in both Serbia and Montenegro . In January 1920, at
3840-595: A rebellion against the regency and parliament. Markagjoni proclaimed the founding of an independent " Republic of Mirdita ". As a result of this, in October 1921, the Sacred Union Government was created to pressure Yugoslavia to recognize Albania's territorial sovereignty. Finally, in November 1921, Yugoslav troops invaded Albanian territory beyond the areas they were already occupying. The League of Nations dispatched
4000-638: A reduction in the Italian claim in Dalmatia to favour Serbia in exchange for unrestricted possession of the Dodecanese Islands. The initiative succeeded because the Russian Imperial Army lost initiative in the Carpathians and its commander in chief, Grand Duke Nicholas , informed Sazonov that Italian and Romanian support would be needed urgently to regain the initiative. In response, Sazonov accepted
4160-457: A share in any war indemnity and a loan to Italy in the amount of 50 million pounds sterling respectively. Article 15 promised Entente support to Italian opposition to inclusion of the Holy See in any settlement of questions raised by the war, and Article 16 stipulated that the treaty was to be kept secret. Even though the treaty was meant to be secret, an outline of its provisions became known to
4320-500: A single recognized government, and Albanians feared, with justification, that Italy , Yugoslavia , and Greece 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, strove to take over northern Albania, and the Greeks sought to control southern Albania. A delegation sent by
4480-463: A specific ethnolinguistically pertinent and historically compact language group. Whether descendants or sisters of what was called ' Illyrian ' by classical sources, Albanian and Messapic , on the basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in a common branch in the current phylogenetic classification of the Indo-European language family. The first written mention of Albanian
4640-596: A strip of land west of the Lake Ohrid to allow a border between Serbia and Greece. Italy was to represent Albania in foreign relations, but it was also required to acquiesce to its partition between Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece if the United Kingdom, France, and Russia decided so. Article 8 gave Italy full sovereignty over the Dodecanese Islands. Provisions detailing territorial gains beyond Europe were comparably vaguely written. Article 9 promised Italy territory in
4800-910: A strong sense of identity and are unique in that they speak an archaic dialect of Tosk Albanian called Arbëresh . In the United States and Canada, there are approximately 250,000 Albanian speakers. It is primarily spoken on the East Coast of the United States, in cities like New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, as well as in parts of the states of New Jersey, Ohio, and Connecticut. In Argentina, there are nearly 40,000 Albanian speakers , mostly in Buenos Aires. Approximately 1.3 million people of Albanian ancestry live in Turkey , with more than 500,000 recognizing their ancestry, language and culture . There are other estimates, however, that place
4960-625: A symbol of perfidy of European diplomacy. He held the treaty invalid by application of the legal doctrine of clausula rebus sic stantibus on account of fundamental changes of circumstances following the breakup of Austria-Hungary. While the British and the French representatives remained passive on the issue, Wilson published a manifesto explaining his principles and appealing for sense of justice among Italians on 24 April 1919. Orlando and Sonnino left Paris in protest and were celebrated in Italy as champions of national honour. Even after their return on 7 May, they refused to take any initiative expecting
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5120-563: A veil . Albanian language Albanian ( endonym : shqip [ʃcip] , gjuha shqipe [ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ] , or arbërisht [aɾbəˈɾiʃt] ) is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch , which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group . It is the native language of the Albanian people . Standard Albanian
5280-659: Is also spoken by 450,000 Albanian immigrants in Greece, making it one of the commonly spoken languages in the country after Greek. Albanian is the third most common mother tongue among foreign residents in Italy . This is due to a substantial Albanian immigration to Italy. Italy has a historical Albanian minority of about 500,000, scattered across southern Italy, known as Arbëreshë . Approximately 1 million Albanians from Kosovo are dispersed throughout Germany , Switzerland and Austria . These are mainly immigrants from Kosovo who migrated during
5440-592: Is considered the closest language to Albanian, grouped in a common branch titled Illyric in Hyllested & Joseph (2022). Hyllested & Joseph (2022) in agreement with recent bibliography identify Greco-Phrygian as the IE branch closest to the Albanian-Messapic one. These two branches form an areal grouping – which is often called "Balkan IE" – with Armenian. The hypothesis of the " Balkan Indo-European " continuum posits
5600-662: Is explicitly mentioned in a letter attested from 1332, and the first preserved books, including both those in Gheg and in Tosk, share orthographic features that indicate that some form of common literary language had developed. By the Late Middle Ages , during the period of Humanism and the European Renaissance , the term lingua epirotica ' Epirotan language ' was preferred in the intellectual, literary, and clerical circles of
5760-579: Is spoken in North-western Greece, while Arvanitika is spoken by the Arvanites in southern Greece. In addition, Arbëresh is spoken by the Arbëreshë people, descendants of 15th and 16th century migrants who settled in southeastern Italy, in small communities in the regions of Sicily and Calabria . These settlements originated from the (Arvanites) communities probably of Peloponnese known as Morea in
5920-482: Is spoken in the south, and Gheg spoken in the north. Standard Albanian is based on the Tosk dialect. The Shkumbin River is the rough dividing line between the two dialects. Gheg is divided into four sub-dialects: Northwest Gheg, Northeast Gheg, Central Gheg and Southern Gheg. It is primarily spoken in northern Albania, Kosovo , and throughout Montenegro and northwestern North Macedonia . One fairly divergent dialect
6080-560: Is the Upper Reka dialect , which is however classified as Central Gheg. There is also a diaspora dialect in Croatia , the Arbanasi dialect . Tosk is divided into five sub-dialects, including Northern Tosk (the most numerous in speakers), Labërisht , Cham , Arvanitika , and Arbëresh . Tosk is spoken in southern Albania, southwestern North Macedonia and northern and southern Greece. Cham Albanian
6240-650: Is the official language of Albania and Kosovo , and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro , as well as a recognized minority language of Italy , Croatia , Romania and Serbia . It is also spoken in Greece and by the Albanian diaspora , which is generally concentrated in the Americas , Europe and Oceania . Albanian is estimated to have as many as 7.5 million native speakers. Albanian and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in
6400-399: Is the most probable. Although Albanian shares lexical isoglosses with Greek , Germanic , and to a lesser extent Balto-Slavic , the vocabulary of Albanian is quite distinct. In 1995, Taylor, Ringe , and Warnow used quantitative linguistic techniques that appeared to obtain an Albanian subgrouping with Germanic, a result which the authors had already reasonably downplayed. Indeed,
6560-554: Is the official language of Albania and Kosovo and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro . Albanian is a recognised minority language in Croatia , Italy , Romania and in Serbia . Albanian is also spoken by a minority in Greece , specifically in the Thesprotia and Preveza regional units and in a few villages in Ioannina and Florina regional units in Greece. It
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6720-677: The Impresa di Fiume , and D'Annunzio proclaimed the short-lived Italian Regency of Carnaro in the city – before being forced out by the Italian military so that the Free State of Fiume could be established instead. The Regency of Carnaro was significant in the development of Italian fascism . Soon after the outbreak of World War I , the Triple Entente powers – the United Kingdom , France , and Russia – sought to attract more allies to their side. The first attempt to bring in Italy (a part of
6880-508: The Adriatic Sea in Dalmatia . The August–September 1914 negotiations between the Entente and Italy were conducted on Russian initiative. On 4 August, only a day after Italy declared neutrality [ it ] , its ambassador to Russia said that Italy might join the Entente in return for Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol , Vlorë , and a dominant position in the Adriatic. Believing that such
7040-921: The Albanian Orthodox Church after a meeting of the country's Albanian Orthodox congregations in Berat in August 1922. The most energetic reformers in Albania 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 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 pledged primary allegiance to their native country. The Muslims also banned polygamy and allowed women to choose whether or not to wear
7200-457: The Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region. Albanian in antiquity is often thought to have been an Illyrian language for obvious geographic and historical reasons, or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that was closely related to Illyrian and Messapic . The Indo-European subfamily that gave rise to Albanian is called Albanoid in reference to
7360-458: The Congress of Dibra decided that Albanian schools would finally be allowed. Albanian is an isolate within the Indo-European language family; no other language has been conclusively linked to its branch . The only other languages that are the sole surviving members of a branch of Indo-European are Armenian and Greek. The Albanian language is part of the Indo-European language family and
7520-577: The Corfu Declaration setting out a plan for post-war unification of South Slavs to counter the Italian territorial claims outlined in the Treaty of London. Grey's policy and the treaty were criticised in British press. An early example of such critique was "The National Union of South Slavs and the Adriatic Question " written by Arthur Evans and published in April 1915. Evans described the treaty as
7680-462: The Dodecanese Islands . Italy was compelled to settle its eastern border with the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes through the bilateral Treaty of Rapallo . Italy thus received Istria and the city of Zadar as an enclave in Dalmatia , along with several islands along the eastern Adriatic Sea shore. The Entente went back on its promises to provide Italy with expanded colonies and
7840-517: The Janissary of Muhammad Ali Pasha , an Albanian who became Wāli , and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan . In addition to the dynasty that he established, a large part of the former Egyptian and Sudanese aristocracy was of Albanian origin. In addition to the recent emigrants, there are older diasporic communities around the world. Albanian is also spoken by Albanian diaspora communities residing in Australia and New Zealand . The Albanian language has two distinct dialects, Tosk which
8000-458: The Korçë District , Kamnik in Kolonja , Kolsh in the Kukës District , Rashtan in Librazhd , and Nezir in the Mat District . As in other parts of Europe, these PreIE people joined the migratory Indo-European tribes that entered the Balkans and contributed to the formation of the historical Paleo-Balkan tribes. In terms of linguistics, the pre-Indo-European substrate language spoken in the southern Balkans probably influenced pre-Proto-Albanian ,
8160-426: The League of Nations recognized Albania's sovereignty by admitting it as a full member. The country's borders, however, remained unsettled. Albania's new government campaigned to end Italy's occupation of the country and encouraged peasants to harass Italian forces. In September 1920, after the Battle of Vlora , where Italian-occupied Vlorë was besieged by Albanian forces, Rome abandoned its claims on Albania under
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#17328485403148320-704: The League of Prizren and culminated with the Congress of Manastir held by Albanian intellectuals from 14 to 22 November 1908, in Manastir (present day Bitola ), which decided on which alphabet to use, and what the standardised spelling would be for standard Albanian. This is how the literary language remains. The alphabet is the Latin alphabet with the addition of the letters ⟨ ë ⟩ , ⟨ ç ⟩ , and ten digraphs : dh , th , xh , gj , nj , ng , ll , rr , zh and sh . According to Robert Elsie : The hundred years between 1750 and 1850 were an age of astounding orthographic diversity in Albania. In this period,
8480-411: The Ottoman Empire . The landowning elite expected that they would continue to enjoy precedence, but the country's peasants were beginning to dispute the landed aristocracy's control. In northern Albania, the government directly controlled only Shkodër and its environs. The highland clans were suspicious of a constitutional government claiming to legislate in the interests of the country as a whole, and
8640-410: The Pact of London ( Patto di Londra ) was a secret agreement concluded on 26 April 1915 by the United Kingdom , France , and Russia on the one part, and Italy on the other, in order to entice the latter to enter World War I on the side of the Triple Entente . The agreement involved promises of Italian territorial expansion against Austria-Hungary , the Ottoman Empire and in Africa where it
8800-446: The Paris Peace Conference , negotiators from France, Britain, and Greece agreed to divide Albania among Yugoslavia, Italy, and Greece as a diplomatic expedient aimed at finding a compromise solution to the territorial conflict between Italy and Yugoslavia. The deal was done behind the Albanians' backs and in the absence of a United States negotiator. Members of a second Albanian National Assembly held at Lushnjë in January 1920 rejected
8960-467: The Serbian army , which was evacuated by the French to Thessaloniki . Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces then occupied about two-thirds of the country. Under the secret Treaty of London signed in April 1915, Triple Entente powers promised Italy that it would gain Vlorë 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
9120-464: The Treaty of London and withdrew its forces from all of Albania except Sazan Island at the mouth of Vlorë Bay . Yugoslavia continued to pursue a predatory policy toward Albania, and after Albanian tribesmen clashed with Yugoslav forces occupying the northern part of the country, Yugoslav troops escalated their campaign in the area. Belgrade then backed a disgruntled Gheg clan chief, Gjon Markagjoni , who led his Roman Catholic Mirditë tribesmen in
9280-433: The Triple Alliance ) as an ally of the Entente was in August–September 1914. The matter became closely related to contemporary efforts to obtain an alliance with Bulgaria , or at least secure its neutrality, in return for territorial gains against Entente-allied Serbia . As compensation, Serbia was promised territories which were parts of Austria-Hungary at the time – specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina and an outlet to
9440-426: The radiant days . On 22 May 1915, the Italian government decided to launch the Alpine Front by declaring war against Austria-Hungary alone. This ignored the requirement set out in Article 2 to wage war against all the Central Powers. France accused Italy of violating the Treaty of London, and Russia speculated on the potential existence of a non-aggression agreement between Italy and Germany. Lack of preparation of
9600-530: The 14th century, but they failed to cite specific words. The oldest surviving documents written in Albanian are the " formula e pagëzimit " (Baptismal formula), Un'te paghesont' pr'emenit t'Atit e t'Birit e t'Spertit Senit . ("I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit ") recorded by Pal Engjelli, Bishop of Durrës in 1462 in the Gheg dialect, and some New Testament verses from that period. The linguists Stefan Schumacher and Joachim Matzinger (University of Vienna) assert that
9760-418: The 1915 Treaty of London in the region of Antalya. To reinforce proportionality of Italian gains to those of their allies, the Italians added Konya and Adana vilayets to the claim. Most of the Italian demands were accepted in the Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne . The French required that the Russia confirm the agreement though – which proved impossible following the Russian Revolution . Provisions of
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#17328485403149920-410: The 1990s. In Switzerland , the Albanian language is the sixth most spoken language with 176,293 native speakers. Albanian became an official language in North Macedonia on 15 January 2019. There are large numbers of Albanian speakers in the United States, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Canada . Some of the first ethnic Albanians to arrive in the United States were the Arbëreshë. The Arbëreshë have
10080-608: The Adriatic Coast from Cape Planka to the point 10 kilometres southeast from Dubrovnik, Dalmatian islands not assigned to Italy, and Slavonia if it was captured by the Entente militarily. On Sonnino's request, Pašić was not offered Central Croatia . Pašić agreed, offering to cede to Bulgaria a part of Vardar Macedonia largely along the lines agreed in 1912 at the end of the First Balkan War but asked for further territorial gains – by addition of Central Croatia and Banat . The Slovene Lands not promised to Italy appeared to be meant to remain in Austria-Hungary. On 6 October, Bulgaria joined
10240-403: The Adriatic coast south of the city of Split and as long as the Italian troops did not participate in the capture of the Turkish Straits . The request concerning the Turkish Straits was found acceptable by Grey since the British never anticipated Italy would take part in the campaign against Constantinople. The bulk of the Italian claim, concerning acquisition of Trentino, Trieste, and Istria
10400-442: The Adriatic outlet offered to Serbia (in addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina) as compensation to Serbia's cession of much of Vardar Macedonia to Bulgaria requested by the Entente as enticement to Bulgaria. Sazonov wanted to strengthen his offer to Serbia and indirectly to Bulgaria by guaranteeing such an outlet to Serbia, but Grey blocked the initiative – arguing that an Italian alliance was more important. In mid-February, following
10560-478: The Adriatic, where irredentists claimed Dalmatia. While Castello instructed Imperiali to tell the British that Italy would not decide to abandon its neutrality before the Entente accepted their conditions, Grey insisted on Italy first committing to joining the Entente and the talks collapsed again. Particular opposition to the Italian claim against Dalmatia came from the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Arthur Nicolson who remarked that Sazonov
10720-427: The Albania that emerged after World War I was home to something fewer than a million people divided into three major religious groups and two distinct classes: those people who owned land and claimed semifeudal privileges and those who did not. The landowners had always held the principal ruling posts in the country's central and southern regions, but many of them were steeped in the same conservatism that brought decay to
10880-453: The Albanian and Germanic branches share a relatively moderate number of lexical cognates. Many shared grammatical elements or features of these two branches do not corroborate the lexical isoglosses. Albanian also shares lexical linguistic affinity with Latin and Romance languages. Sharing linguistic features unique to the languages of the Balkans , Albanian also forms a part of the Balkan linguistic area or sprachbund . The place and
11040-426: The Albanian language was on 14 July 1284 in Ragusa in modern Croatia ( Dubrovnik ) when a crime witness named Matthew testified: "I heard a voice crying on the mountain in the Albanian language" ( Latin : Audivi unam vocem, clamantem in monte in lingua albanesca ). The Albanian language is also mentioned in the Descriptio Europae Orientalis dated in 1308: Habent enim Albani prefati linguam distinctam
11200-435: The Albanian language was put to writing in at least ten different alphabets – most certainly a record for European languages. ... the diverse forms in which this old Balkan language was recorded, from the earliest documents to the beginning of the twentieth century ... consist of adaptations of the Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Cyrillic alphabets and (what is even more interesting) a number of locally invented writing systems. Most of
11360-426: The Albanian nobility: Prince Turhan Pasha Përmeti (former Governor of Crete and ambassador of the Ottoman Empire at Saint Petersburg ), Aziz Pasha Vrioni , Prince Bib Doda Pasha of Gjomarkaj-Mirdita, Prince Essad Pasha Toptani , Prince George Adamidi bey Frashëri , Mihal Turtulli bey Koritza, and others. Prince Wilhelm arrived in Albania at his provisional capital of Durrës on March 7, 1914, along with
11520-682: The Central Powers and attacked Serbia five days later. Partition of the Ottoman Empire was discussed by the Entente powers at two conferences in London in January and February 1917, and in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in April 1917. While it was apparent that the Italian interests were clashing with the British and the French, Italian representatives insisted on fulfilment of the promise given under
11680-512: The Central Powers in 1917, at the Battle of Caporetto . Following a major retreat, the Italian forces managed to recover and mount a comeback a year later in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto at the cost of 600,000 dead, social unrest in the country and a badly damaged economy. Under the provisions of the Armistice of Villa Giusti , Italy was allowed to occupy Austro-Hungarian territory promised to her under
11840-619: The Congress as he was held in high regard as a great patriot. It established the High Council ( Këshilli i Lartë ), the National Council ( Këshillin Kombëtar ), and moved the capital from Lushnjë to Tirana . The High Council was made up of Luigj Bumçi , Aqif Pashë Elbasani, Abdi Toptani , and Dr. Mihal Turtulli who would perform the function of the leaders of the new Albanian state, whereas
12000-703: The Entente as it became more cautious regarding further developments after early British and French setbacks at Gallipoli. Following the German capture of Kaunas in Lithuania in late June during the Russian retreat , Bulgaria became convinced the Entente would lose the war. In August, the Entente powers sent a note to Pašić, promising territorial gains in exchange for territorial concessions in Vardar Macedonia to Bulgaria. The note promised Bosnia and Herzegovina, Syrmia , Bačka ,
12160-554: The Entente. These talks collapsed on 15 February 1915. The following day, Sonnino sent Imperiali a specific list of conditions set out in sixteen points necessary for Italy to enter the war. While the Entente Powers were negotiating with Italy, they led a concurrent diplomatic effort aimed at obtaining Bulgarian alliance (or at least friendly neutrality). This situation led to a conflict of territorial claims staked by Italy and Serbia. Namely, awarding Italy Dalmatia would largely block
12320-577: 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
12480-480: The Italian garrison deployed to Vlorë; the latter retained Sazan Island. On 22 July, Italy renounced the Venizelos–Tittoni agreement and guaranteed Albanian independence within its 1913 borders instead. Italy directly contacted the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes for a compromise on their borders on the eastern Adriatic shores. The border was settled by the Treaty of Rapallo , conceding
12640-587: The Italian government that the Italian Armed Forces were prepared to intervene by February 1915 – prompting Rodd to urge Grey to consider the proposal. However, Grey declined the idea as a hypothetical bargain as he appeared indifferent to an Italian alliance at this point. Following this, Salandra and Sonnino conducted negotiations with the Central Powers in an apparent attempt to keep the Central Powers at bay until further negotiations were possible with
12800-509: The Italian government. Expecting opposition from Sazonov, Castello asked Grey to get the Russians to let him have this without making any concessions in return as a necessary evil to attract Italy to join the Entente. In late October, there was an attempt to get Italy to intervene against an expected Turkish attack against the Suez Canal . Sazonov warned Grey not to offer Dalmatia in exchange and
12960-622: The Italian war effort by destroying Austro-Hungarian fleet . Article 4 of the treaty determined that Italy shall receive Trentino, and the South Tyrol by defining a new Italian–Austrian frontier line between the Piz Umbrail and Toblach , and a new eastern Italian frontier running from Tarvisio in the north to the coast in the Kvarner Gulf leaving Rijeka just outside the Italian territory. Article 5 awarded Dalmatia to Italy – specifically
13120-510: The Middle Ages. Among them the Arvanites call themselves Arbëror and sometime Arbëresh. The Arbëresh dialect is closely related to the Arvanites dialect with more Italian vocabulary absorbed during different periods of time. The Albanian language has been written using many alphabets since the earliest records from the 15th century. The history of Albanian language orthography is closely related to
13280-536: The Ministry of Finance, was abolished in 1923. Since 1920, when the government came to power out of Lushnjes Congress until 1934 (at which time the study was done Hajj Shkoza author), Albanian national administration, along with the development of all its activities in different branches economy, was also involved in the organization of the customs system. As originally drafted specific provisions on exports of grain and other products to local products, something which once made
13440-539: The National Council would function as the Parliament. The new government that was created was: Sulejman Delvina - Prime minister Ahmet Zogu was elected Minister of Internal Affairs Mehmed Konica - Minister of Foreign Affairs Hoxha Kadri - Minister of Justice Ndoc Çoba - Minister of Finance, Sotir Peçi - Minister of Education Ali Riza Kolonja - Minister of War Eshref Frashëri - General Director of World Affairs Idhomen Kosturi - General Director of
13600-567: The Post-Telegraph Agency. Albania's first political parties emerged only after World War I. Even more than in other parts of the Balkans , political parties were evanescent gatherings centered on prominent persons who created temporary alliances to achieve their personal aims. The major conservative party, the Progressive Party, attracted some northern clan chiefs and prominent Muslim landholders of southern Albania whose main platform
13760-517: The Roman Catholic Church became the principal link between Tirana and the tribesmen despite the Muslim religious affiliation of most of the population. In many instances, administrative communications were addressed to priests for circulation among their parishioners. During this period Albanian religions got independence. The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople recognized the autocephaly of
13920-565: The Serbs hoped would bring them disputed areas along the border. After Noli's regime decided to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, a bitter enemy of the Serbian ruling family, Belgrade began making wild allegations that the Albanian regime was about to embrace Bolshevism. On December 13, 1924, Zogu's Yugoslav-backed army crossed into Albanian territory. By Christmas Eve, Zogu had reclaimed
14080-457: The Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Pašić telegraphed his proposal to Grey from the provisional wartime capital of Niš through British ambassador Charles Louis des Graz . However, Grey declined both requests. The Yugoslav Committee president Ante Trumbić met with Lord Crewe , a senior member of the British Cabinet, demanding support for unification of Croatia, Istria, and Dalmatia and then for
14240-538: The Serbs, the Croats , and the Slovenes , as means to attract support from South Slavs living in Austria-Hungary, Pašić was primarily concerned with achieving a Greater Serbia . Sazonov acquiesced, adding that he has nothing to say on behalf of the Croats and the Slovenes and would not approve Russian forces to fight "half a day" for liberty of the Slovenes. Nonetheless, negotiations extended for six weeks over disagreements as
14400-698: The Shkumbin river since the Post-Roman and Pre-Slavic period, straddling the Jireček Line . Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian dialects can be found scattered in Greece (the Arvanites and some communities in Epirus , Western Macedonia and Western Thrace ), Croatia (the Arbanasi ), Italy (the Arbëreshë ) as well as in Romania , Turkey and Ukraine . The Malsia e Madhe Gheg Albanian and two varieties of
14560-412: The Tosk dialect, Arvanitika in Greece and Arbëresh in southern Italy, have preserved archaic elements of the language. Ethnic Albanians constitute a large diaspora , with many having long assimilated in different cultures and communities. Consequently, Albanian-speakers do not correspond to the total ethnic Albanian population, as many ethnic Albanians may identify as Albanian but are unable to speak
14720-530: The Treaty of London borders around Tarvisio to give Italy a direct rail link with Austria. In Dalmatia, the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George only supported a free-city status for Zadar and Šibenik, while French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau only supported such a status for Zadar. In the secret Venizelos–Tittoni agreement , Italy renounced its claims over the Dodecanese Islands except for Rhodes in favour of Greece while
14880-469: The Treaty of London were a major point of dispute between Italy and the remaining Entente powers at the Paris Peace Conference . The chief Italian representatives, Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and Sonnino demanded enforcement of the Treaty of London relying on application of the security principle, and annexation of Rijeka on the basis of self-determination. The British and the French would not publicly endorse any claims exceeding those afforded by
15040-409: The Treaty of London – parts of which were also claimed by the diplomatically unrecognised State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs . Italian troops began to move into those areas on 3 November 1918, entered Rijeka on 17 November and were stopped before Ljubljana by city-organised defence including a battalion of Serbian prisoners of war . The entry of Italy into the war did not entice Bulgaria to join
15200-572: The UK to resent the delay. At the Paris Peace Conference after the war, the United States of America applied pressure to void the treaty as contrary to the principle of self-determination . A new agreement produced at the conference reduced the territorial gains promised by the treaty: Italy received Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and the Julian March in addition to the occupation of the city of Vlorë and
15360-444: The United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Russia. Article 1 of the treaty determined that a military agreement shall be concluded to guarantee the number of troops committed by Russia against Austria-Hungary to prevent it from concentrating all its forces against Italy. Article 2 required Italy to enter the war against all enemies of the United Kingdom, Russia, and France, and Article 3 obliged the French and British navies from supporting
15520-640: 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 on December 17, 1920,
15680-565: The Yugoslav Committee and its supporters in London in late April 1915. Serbia and the Yugoslav Committee protested it in strong terms in Entente capitals. Pašić condemned the disregard for the self-determination principle on which the Niš Declaration rested and the lack of consultations with Serbia. He demanded the Entente refrain from treaties with Hungary or Romania on borders of interest to Croatia without conferring with Serbia first, as well as requesting assurances of future political union of
15840-479: The ancestor idiom of Albanian. The extent of this linguistic impact cannot be determined with precision due to the uncertain position of Albanian among Paleo-Balkan languages and their scarce attestation. Some loanwords, however, have been proposed, such as shegë ' pomegranate ' or lëpjetë ' orach '; compare Pre-Greek λάπαθον , lápathon ' monk's rhubarb '. Treaty of London (1915) The Treaty of London ( Italian : Trattato di Londra ) or
16000-728: The area of Antalya in a potential Partition of the Ottoman Empire , while Article 10 gave it rights belonging to the Sultan in Libya under the Treaty of Ouchy . Article 13 promised Italy compensation if the French or British colonial empires made territorial gains against the German colonial empire in Africa. In Article 12, Italy upheld the Entente powers in support of future control of Mecca and Medina by an independent Muslim state. Articles 11 and 14 promised
16160-418: The army was cited as the decision for the non-compliance with the treaty. Failure to declare war on other Central Powers, especially Germany, led to isolation of Italy among the Entente powers. Following pressure from the Entente and internal political struggle, war was declared on the Ottoman Empire on 20 August. Italy did not declare war on Germany until 27 August 1916. Italy was nearly militarily defeated by
16320-418: The capital, and Noli and his government had fled to Italy. But his government lasted just six months, and Ahmet Zogu returned with another coup d'état and regained the control, changing the political situation and abolishing the principality. Upon termination of Albania from Turkey in 1912, as in all other fields, the customs administration continued its operation under legislation approved specifically for
16480-488: The city over to the inter-Allied military command. That prompted D'Annunzio to lead a force consisting of veterans and rebelling soldiers (with the support of regular troops deployed in the border area) in what became known as the Impresa di Fiume to the successful capture of Rijeka. D'Annunzio declared the Italian Regency of Carnaro in the city; its system of government influenced the development of Fascism . It became
16640-607: The combined Bulgarian and Greek entry into the war likely to assure Entente victory in the Balkans. On 4 March, Imperiali informed Grey that Italy would enter the war and presented him with the 16 conditions insisting on curtailing Slavic westward advance. Grey noted that the Italian claims were excessive, but also that they did not conflict with British interests. He also thought that recent Russian stubborn objections against Greek attack to capture Constantinople could be overcome by addition of Italian troops, and that Italian participation in
16800-451: The contact between the various languages. The concept of this linguistic group is explained as a kind of language league of the Bronze Age (a specific areal-linguistics phenomenon), although it also consisted of languages that were related to each other. A common prestage posterior to PIE comprising Albanian, Greek, and Armenian, is considered as a possible scenario. In this light, due to
16960-593: The country was split into a number of regional governments. Political chaos engulfed Albania after the outbreak of World War I . Surrounded by insurgents in Durrës , Prince Wilhelm departed the country in September 1914, just six months after arriving, and subsequently joined the German army and served on the Eastern Front . The Albanian people split along religious and tribal lines after the prince's departure. Muslims demanded
17120-777: The cultural orientation and knowledge of certain foreign languages among Albanian writers. The earliest written Albanian records come from the Gheg area in makeshift spellings based on Italian or Greek. Originally, the Tosk dialect was written in the Greek alphabet and the Gheg dialect was written in the Latin script . Both dialects had also been written in the Ottoman Turkish version of the Arabic script , Cyrillic , and some local alphabets ( Elbasan , Vithkuqi , Todhri , Veso Bey, Jan Vellara and others, see original Albanian alphabets ). More specifically,
17280-451: The decisions of the Council of Ministers and times of special laws decree issued by the government (in cases when the country needed bread due to the lack of grain). But when the products were successful and met all the needs of the country, farmers and grain traders were selling these exported out of them. From 1912 to 1939, the Albanian customs legislation was constantly being improved, reaching
17440-586: The extent of Italian territorial gains in Dalmatia was still objected to by Sazonov. The Italian claim of Dalmatia to the Neretva River, including the Pelješac Peninsula and all Adriatic islands was not based on self-determination , but on security concerns in a future war – as the Italian negotiators alleged that Russia might occupy the Austrian-controlled coast while Italy had no defensible port on
17600-455: The first literary records of Albanian date from the 16th century. The oldest known Albanian printed book, Meshari , or "missal", was written in 1555 by Gjon Buzuku , a Roman Catholic cleric. In 1635, Frang Bardhi wrote the first Latin–Albanian dictionary. The first Albanian school is believed to have been opened by Franciscans in 1638 in Pdhanë . One of the earliest Albanian dictionaries
17760-568: 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 Russian White émigrés to mount an invasion that
17920-534: The language. Standard Albanian is a standardised form of spoken Albanian based on Tosk . The language is spoken by approximately 6 million people in the Balkans, primarily in Albania, Kosovo , North Macedonia , Serbia , Montenegro and Greece . However, due to old communities in Italy and the large Albanian diaspora , the worldwide total of speakers is much higher than in Southern Europe and numbers approximately 7.5 million. The Albanian language
18080-593: The larger number of possible shared innovations between Greek and Armenian, it appears reasonable to assume, at least tentatively, that Albanian was the first Balkan IE language to branch off. This split and the following ones were perhaps very close in time, allowing only a narrow time frame for shared innovations. Albanian represents one of the core languages of the Balkan Sprachbund . Glottolog and Ethnologue recognize four Albanian languages. They are classified as follows: The first attested written mention of
18240-465: The latter alphabets have now been forgotten and are unknown, even to the Albanians themselves. Albanian constitutes one of the eleven major branches of the Indo-European language family , within which it occupies an independent position. In 1854, Albanian was demonstrated to be an Indo-European language by the philologist Franz Bopp . Albanian was formerly compared by a few Indo-European linguists with Germanic and Balto-Slavic , all of which share
18400-430: The latter replied that no such offer was made as the canal remaining open was in Italian interests too. The matter of an Italian alliance was taken up by Castello's successor Sidney Sonnino and Rodd in November. Sonnino proposed a non-binding agreement which could be turned into a binding one at an opportune time. Even though similar proposals by his predecessor were turned down, Rodd was informed through his contacts in
18560-498: The law rested. For the period 1913–1914, when the government was in power Durrës , although lacking formal notices to all customs fees, it is known that there was nothing changed from that of 1912–1913. So, until 1914 there was no change in customs regulations. Similarly, from 1914 until 1918 that the First World War continued and Albania was occupied sections by foreign powers, customs regulations functioned under laws that implement
18720-526: 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 the Progressive Party leader, Shefqet Verlaci. Zogu's protégés organized themselves into
18880-561: The monarchy was abolished and the Albanian Republic declared. Albania had been under Ottoman rule from around 1478. The Great Powers recognized the independence of Albania in the Treaty of London in May 1913 and the Principality was established on February 21, 1914. The Great Powers selected Prince Wilhelm of Wied , a nephew of Queen Elisabeth of Romania , to become the sovereign of
19040-458: The most advanced countries of the West. It did at the time of our trade with foreign countries take the unprecedented growth. This continued well into the war years 1939–1944, after Italy, for propaganda purposes, liberalized trade with Albania, enabling you to our country pouring wholesale goods. As a result, even to this day remember the phrase: "as long Abundance of Italy". Extraordinarily undeveloped,
19200-550: The 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. Noli became prime minister, and Zogu fled to Yugoslavia. Fan Noli, an idealist, rejected demands for new elections on the grounds that Albania needed a "paternal" government. In a manifesto describing his government's program, Noli called for abolishing feudalism, resisting Italian domination, and establishing
19360-429: The names for fish and for agricultural activities (such as ploughing ) are borrowed from other languages. A deeper analysis of the vocabulary, however, shows that could be a consequence of a prolonged Latin domination of the coastal and plain areas of the country, rather than evidence of the original environment in which the Albanian language was formed. For example, the word for 'fish' is borrowed from Latin, but not
19520-513: The newly independent Albania . A formal offer was made by 18 Albanian delegates representing the 18 districts of Albania on February 21, 1914, an offer which he accepted. Outside of Albania Wilhelm was styled prince, but in Albania he was referred to as king so as not to seem inferior to the king of Montenegro . The first government under the rule of the House of Wied was a kind of "princes privy council" because of its members, who were representatives of
19680-451: The north and Tosk spoken to the south of the Shkumbin river . Their characteristics in the treatment of both native words and loanwords provide evidence that the split into the northern and the southern dialects occurred after Christianisation of the region (4th century AD), and most likely not later than the 6th century AD, hence possibly occupying roughly their present area divided by
19840-509: The number of people in Turkey with Albanian ancestry and or background upward to 5 million. However, the vast majority of this population is assimilated and no longer possesses fluency in the Albanian language, though a vibrant Albanian community maintains its distinct identity in Istanbul to this day. Egypt also lays claim to about 18,000 Albanians, mostly Tosk speakers. Many are descendants of
20000-412: The only surviving representative of its own branch , which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group . Although it is still uncertain which ancient mentioned language of the Balkans it continues, or where in the region its speakers lived. In general, there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, whether Illyrian , Thracian , or Dacian . Among these possibilities, Illyrian
20160-526: The opposite view. This led to adoption of a widely publicised slogan of "Pact of London plus Fiume" – and demanding the London Treaty promises and Rijeka becoming the matter of Italian national honour. Ultimately, Italian gains on the eastern Adriatic shore were limited to the Julian March , Istria, and several islands. Rijeka was assigned the status of an independent city – following negotiations between Orlando and Trumbić. Italian gains included corrections of
20320-483: The part north of a line running northeast from Cape Planka – including cities of Zadar and Šibenik , as well as the basin of the Krka River and its tributaries in the Italian territory. The article also awarded Italy all Austro-Hungarian Adriatic islands except Brač , Šolta , Čiovo , Drvenik Mali , Drvenik Veli , Krk , Rab , Prvić , Sveti Grgur , Goli Otok , Jakljan , and Koločep . The article specified that
20480-452: 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
20640-435: The procedure. With the new laws were issued for the operation of customs duty was 11% of the value of goods imported and 1% on the value of those exported. At the time of the interim government of Vlora , in 1912–1913 there has been no other change on this duty, except the import tax on tobacco, which at the time was added up to 30%, which became an order of the Ministry of Finance at the time, but that does not say that on which
20800-508: The promise of Dalmatia given in the Treaty of London, failure to annex the "utterly Italian" city of Rijeka, and elusive Adriatic domination as rendering Italian participation in the war meaningless. His position thus gave rise to the myth of the mutilated victory . Following the Mutiny of the Bersaglieri [ it ] , in what is termed the 1920 Vlora War , Albanian forces forced out
20960-517: The proposal put forward by Delcassé, insisting that Italy enter the war by the end of April and leaving all treaty-related demilitarisation matters to the British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith to decide. Asquith produced a draft agreement on 9 April and it was accepted by Sonnino with minor amendments five days later. The agreement was signed on 26 April by Grey and ambassadors Paul Cambon , Imperiali, and Alexander von Benckendorff , behalf of
21120-508: The relevant commands to foreign armies that were present in Albania ( Italians, French, Austro-Hungarians, etc..), which occasionally modified. Commands Austro-Hungarian armies and French (with the exception of any modification), made no change in the applicable customs legislation inherited from the government of Durrës 1914, while the Austro-Hungarian command center in Shkodra, in 1916 brought
21280-646: The remaining coast between Rijeka and the Drin River is awarded to Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro. Furthermore, Article 5 required demilitarisation of the coast between the Cape Planka and the Aoös River with exception of the strip between Pelješac and a point 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of Dubrovnik and in Montenegrin territory where military bases were allowed through prewar arrangements. The demilitarisation
21440-470: The royal family. The security of Albania was to be provided by an International Gendarmerie commanded by Dutch officers. Wilhelm left Albania on September 3, 1914, following Peasant Revolt initiated by Essad Pasha and later headed by Haxhi Qamili , the latter the military commander of the " Muslim State of Central Albania " centered in Tirana . Wilhelm never renounced his claim to the throne. World War I interrupted all government activities in Albania, and
21600-402: The start of the Gallipoli campaign , the British were convinced that Bulgaria would enter the war on the side of the Entente within weeks, certain of its victory. Even though it worked to bring Bulgaria on board, Russia was anxious that Bulgarian and Greek forces might occupy Constantinople to push Russia out of the region despite being promised control of the city by the Entente. Sonnino saw
21760-526: The state archives found in Korca , after two years (15 March 1920), this command issued another regulation, known as "Regulation Oktrovës" and was signed by the commander of the Albanian borders, Cretin. To regulate the customs service, after 1920, began functioning as separate offices in Vlora (Director customs), Korçë (Director of Oktrovës) in Shkodra and Lezha with customs Kryedrejtori. The latter, in 1920, moved to Durrës and Tirana later. It kryedrejtori customs headed by Ahmed Boriçi and operated independent from
21920-465: The talks could produce any practical results. He told Imperiali that Britain would not consider the matter any further until Italy committed itself to joining the Entente. On Grey's instructions, Rennell Rodd , British ambassador to Italy, asked Italian Prime Minister Antonio Salandra if Italy could enter the war. Salandra informed Rodd that this was impossible at the time and that any premature attempt to abandon neutrality would jeopardise any prospect of
22080-478: The time that the Albanian language was formed are uncertain. The American linguist Eric Hamp has said that during an unknown chronological period a pre-Albanian population (termed as "Albanoid" by Hamp) inhabited areas stretching from Poland to the southwestern Balkans. Further analysis has suggested that it was in a mountainous region rather than on a plain or seacoast. The words for plants and animals characteristic of mountainous regions are entirely original, but
22240-405: The time, and used as a synonym for the Albanian language. Published in Rome in 1635, by the Albanian bishop and writer Frang Bardhi, the first dictionary of the Albanian language was titled Latin : Dictionarium latino-epiroticum ' Latin-Epirotan dictionary ' . During the five-century period of the Ottoman presence in Albania , the language was not officially recognised until 1909, when
22400-410: The treatment of the native words and loanwords from other languages are evidence that the dialectal split preceded the Slavic migrations to the Balkans , which means that in that period (the 5th to 6th centuries AD), Albanians were occupying nearly the same area around the Shkumbin river, which straddled the Jireček Line . References to the existence of Albanian as a distinct language survive from
22560-408: The treaty while privately holding Italy deserved little because of its reserved attitude towards Germany in early stages of the war. The French and the British let the President of the United States , Woodrow Wilson , hold Italian ambitions in check in the Adriatic by advocating self-determination of the area in accordance with point nine of his Fourteen Points . Wilson deemed the Treaty of London
22720-477: The twenty-four-year-old son of the chief of the Mati , a Northern Albanian clan. The future King Zog drew his support from some northern clans and kept an armed gang in his service , but many Geg clan leaders refused to support either main party. The Popular Party's head, Xhafer Ypi , formed a government in December 1921 with Noli as foreign minister and Zogu as internal affairs minister, but Noli resigned soon after Zogu resorted to repression in an attempt to disarm
22880-512: The two countries agreed to support each other's claims in partition of Albania. Orlando's and Sonnino's inability to secure all the territory promised by the Treaty of London or the city of Rijeka produced a sense that Italy was losing the peace. Patriotic fervour gave way to nationalistic grievance and the government was seen as incapable of defending national interests. Orlando's successor as Prime Minister, Francesco Saverio Nitti , decided to pull out occupying Italian troops from Rijeka and hand
23040-585: The war as an opportunity for ethnic struggle against neighbouring South Slavic populations. Salandra and his foreign minister Antonino Paternò Castello did not break off the negotiations completely. They used the subsequent months to wait for a chance to increase Italian demands to the maximum at an opportune time. There was an attempt to relaunch the negotiations in London on 16 September when Castello told Rodd that British and Italian shared interests in preventing westward spread of Slavic domains under Russian influence – specifically by preventing Slavic influence in
23200-438: The war ended on November 11, 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 such as Kosovo , remained part of Serbia . Albania's political confusion continued in the wake of World War I. The country lacked
23360-514: The war would expedite a decision from Bulgaria and Romania – still waiting to commit to the war. Sazonov objected to any Italian role regarding Constantinople – seeing it as a threat to Russian control of the city promised by the allies in return for Russian losses in the war. This led Grey to obtain formal recognition of the Russian claim to the city by the Committee of Imperial Defence and by France – leading Sazonov to acquiesce to an agreement with Italy, except he would not consent to Italy taking
23520-437: The war, Serbia would receive territories from Austria-Hungary allowing its enlargement. In the final weeks before entering the war, internal struggle took place in Italy. National fervour was whipped up by speeches of Gabriele D'Annunzio – calling for war as a measure of national worth and inciting violence against neutralists and the former Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti who favoured neutrality. This period became known as
23680-453: The western shore of the Adriatic. The Committee of Imperial Defence was concerned about rising Russian naval power in the Mediterranean and it is possible, although there is no direct evidence, that this influenced the British support for the Italian claims in the Adriatic – as means to deny it to Russia. Hoping to achieve the diplomatic breakthrough in securing alliances with Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, Grey turned Sonnino's 16 points into
23840-421: The word for 'gills' which is native. Indigenous are also the words for 'ship', 'raft', 'navigation', 'sea shelves' and a few names of fish kinds, but not the words for 'sail', 'row' and 'harbor'; objects pertaining to navigation itself and a large part of sea fauna. This rather shows that Proto-Albanians were pushed away from coastal areas in early times (probably after the Latin conquest of the region) and thus lost
24000-415: The writers from northern Albania and under the influence of the Catholic Church used Latin letters, those in southern Albania and under the influence of the Greek Orthodox church used Greek letters, while others throughout Albania and under the influence of Islam used Arabic letters. There were initial attempts to create an original Albanian alphabet during the 1750–1850 period. These attempts intensified after
24160-471: Was firm opposition to any agricultural reform program that would transfer their lands to the peasantry . The country's biggest landowner, Shefqet Bej Vërlaci , led the Progressive Party. The Popular Party's ranks included the reform-minded Orthodox bishop of Durrës , Fan Noli , who was imbued with Western ideas at his alma mater, Harvard University , and had even translated Shakespeare and Ibsen into Albanian. The Popular Party also included Ahmed Zogu ,
24320-557: Was formidable. Orthodox peasants in Albania's southern lowlands loathed Zogu because he supported the Muslim landowners' efforts to block land reform; Shkodër'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 former Yugoslavia ( Kosovo , southern Serbia and Vardar Macedonia ) and Greece . Zogu's party handily won elections for
24480-417: Was held in five sessions on January 27-January 31, 1920, in Lushnjë by Albanian nationalists and had as its goal the study of the Albanian situation and the measures to be adopted in order to save Albania from being partitioned among other countries after World War I. The Congress was held in the house of Kaso Fuga and it comprised delegates from all of Albania. Aqif Pashë Elbasani was elected as speaker of
24640-481: Was in 1284 in a witness testimony from the Republic of Ragusa , while a letter written by Dominican Friar Gulielmus Adea in 1332 mentions the Albanians using the Latin alphabet in their writings. The oldest surviving attestation of modern Albanian is from 1462. The two main Albanian dialect groups (or varieties ), Gheg and Tosk , are primarily distinguished by phonological differences and are mutually intelligible in their standard varieties, with Gheg spoken to
24800-507: Was likely to attract protests against handing predominantly Slav-populated territories to Italy from Frano Supilo – a dominant figure in the nascent Yugoslav Committee advocating interests of South Slavs living in Austria-Hungary. On the other hand, the Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić and Sazonov found it acceptable. Even though Serbian Niš Declaration of war objectives called for the struggle to liberate and unify "unliberated brothers", referring to "three tribes of one people" meaning
24960-454: Was meant to assure Italy of military dominance in the region. The coast between the point 10 kilometres southeast of Dubrovnik and the Drin River was to be divided between Serbia and Montenegro. Articles 4 and 5 thus added to Italy's population 200,000 speakers of German , and 600,000 South Slavs. Articles 6 and 7 gave Italy full sovereignty over Vlorë, the Sazan Island , and surrounding territory necessary for defence – requiring it to leave
25120-446: Was promised enlargement of its colonies. The Entente countries hoped to force the Central Powers – particularly Germany and Austria-Hungary – to divert some of their forces away from existing battlefields. The Entente also hoped that Romania and Bulgaria would be encouraged to join them after Italy did the same. In May 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary but waited a year before declaring war on Germany – leading France and
25280-402: Was promised much of the country's southern half. The treaty was to leave a tiny Albanian state that would be represented by Italy in its relations with the other major powers, thus meaning it would have no foreign policy. In September 1918, the Entente forces broke through the Central Powers' lines north of Thessaloniki , and within days Austro-Hungarian forces began to withdraw from Albania. When
25440-460: Was right to claim that Dalmatia wished to unite with Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia . He added that if Dalmatia were annexed by Italy, it would inherit a problem from Austria-Hungary – that of having a large South Slavic population looking for greater independence. Nonetheless, Castello managed to obtain British endorsement for Italian occupation of Vlorë. The move was made as a preparation for Italian intervention and designed to lend some prestige to
25600-453: Was written in 1693; it was the Italian manuscript Pratichae Schrivaneschae authored by the Montenegrin sea captain Julije Balović and includes a multilingual dictionary of hundreds of the most frequently used words in everyday life in Italian, Slavic, Greek, Albanian, and Turkish . Pre-Indo-European (PreIE) sites are found throughout the territory of Albania. Such PreIE sites existed in Maliq , Vashtëmi , Burimas , Barç , Dërsnik in
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