Principality of Albania

Albania was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1478 until the signing of the London Treaty in May 1913, when the great powers recognized the independence of the country. The Great Powers elected Prince William Weed, nephew of Queen Elizabeth of Romania, to the throne of independent Albania. A formal proposal was made by eighteen delegates representing 18 districts of Albania on February 21, 1914 , which he accepted. Outside of Albania, Wilhelm was known as a prince, but in Albania he was declared king under the name Skanderbeg II , so as not to be lower than the king of Montenegro . William arrived in Albania, in the temporary capital Durres , on March 7, 1914, together with the royal family. Security was provided by the International Gendarmerie under the command of Dutch officers.

The First World War interrupted the activities of the Albanian government, the country was divided into a number of regional governments. Albania was swept by political chaos. Surrounded by the rebels of Esad Pasha Toptani in Durrës, Prince Wilhelm left the country on September 3, 1914, just six months after his arrival, and then joined the German army and served on the Eastern Front. However, William never renounced his claim to the throne.

The Albanian people split on religious and tribal grounds after the departure of the prince. Muslims demanded a Muslim prince and looked at Turkey as an advocate of the privileges that they enjoyed, so many clan leaders did not recognize the national government. At the end of October 1914, Greek forces entered Albania according to the protocol of Corfu and founded the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus . Italy occupied Vlora ; Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian troops later occupied about two-thirds of the country. During the war, Greek forces were supplanted by Italian and French, and the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korca existed for some time in French-controlled territory.

Post-war Albania did not have a single recognized government, and the Albanians were reasonably worried that Italy , Yugoslavia and Greece intended to divide the country. Italian troops controlled Albanian political activity in the occupied territories. The Yugoslavs sought the north, and the Greeks sought the south of Albania.

The delegation of the post-war Albanian National Assembly, meeting in Durres in December 1918, tried to defend the country's interests at the Paris Peace Conference , but the delegation was not recognized as the official representative of Albania. France, Great Britain and Greece agreed to divide Albania between Yugoslavia, Italy and Greece. The agreement was concluded behind the Albanians and in the absence of US representatives at the talks. The National Assembly, wishing to preserve the integrity of the country, expressed its readiness to accept the Italian protectorate and even the Italian prince as ruler.

The delegates of the Second Albanian National Assembly, held in Lushn in January 1920, rejected the separation plan and warned that Albanians would defend the country's independence and territorial integrity with arms.

For a month, in March 1920, US President Woodrow Wilson intervened by blocking the Paris Agreement. The United States emphasized its support for Albanian independence by recognizing Albania's official representative in Washington, and on December 17, 1920, the League of Nations recognized Albanian sovereignty as a full member. However, the country's borders remained uncertain.

The new Albanian government launched a campaign to end Italy’s occupation of the country and called on the peasants to pursue Italian troops. In September 1920, after the Battle of Vlora, when the Italian invaders in Vlora were besieged by Albanian troops, Rome abandoned its claims to Albania arising from the London Treaty and withdrew its troops from Albania, with the exception of the island of Sazan at the mouth of Vlora Bay ^[1] .

Yugoslavia continued to occupy part of the country, and faced with the resistance of the Albanians, Belgrade supported the clan gege, led by Gjon Markagioni (Gjon Markagjoni), who raised his Catholic tribe against the regency and parliament. Markadoni proclaimed the creation of an independent Republic of Mirdita .

In November 1921, Yugoslavia sent troops into the territory of the newly formed republic. The League of Nations sent a commission composed of representatives from Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan, which confirmed the borders of Albania in 1913. Yugoslavia was forced to withdraw its troops. The Republic of Mirdit was abolished.

In post-war Albania, governments appeared and disappeared in quick succession. From July to December 1921, only the premieres changed five times.

Five sessions of the Lushen Congress were held from January 27 to January 31, 1920 in Lushn and aimed at studying the situation in Albania and taking the necessary measures to prevent the division of the country. Akif Pasha Elbasan was elected Speaker of the Congress. The Supreme Council was created (Këshillin Kombëtar), the National Council (Këshillin Kombëtar), the capital was moved from Lushni to Tirana .

• European states in 1914

• Albania: Principality, 1914
• Austin, Robert Clegg. Founding a Balkan State: Albania's Experiment With Democracy, 1920-1925. - Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012 .-- ISBN 9781442644359 .