1939: Albania

Not satisfied with its virtually exclusive domination of Albania since 1927, the Fascist Government of Italy finally swallowed it up completely. The end came in April, when after negotiations between the two countries and Italy's repeated announcement that she had no intention of interfering with the integrity and sovereignty of the little Adriatic kingdom, Albania had refused Italy's demands for ports and bases on her soil. On April 3. Fascist troop concentrations were reported at Brindisi; on April 6 Italian warships appeared on the Albanian coast for purposes of coercion. On April 7 (good Friday) Italian troops were landed in Albania under the protection of several warships, to be met by fierce Albanian resistance which drove them repeatedly back. By the following day, however, the Italian armed forces, aided by an estimated 400 airplanes, reached Tirana, the capital. Three days later they planted the Italian tri-color on the Greck frontier. Meanwhile Queen Geraldine fled to Greece on April 7 with her three-day-old son, and was subsequently joined by King Zog, who finally took up residence in Paris after passing through various European capitals.

Little is known of the real reasons for this lightning coup, save that the official explanations of disorders affecting Italian residents and of Albanian incitement against the Yugoslavs simply do not ring true. It is possible that King Zog may have refused to abandon peacefully the remnants of his authority. The Italians may have imagined that the 1,000,000,000 lire they invested in the country since the pact of 1927 was signed was endangered by Albanian overtures to British and the Balkan states.

But it is far more likely that the easy conquest was undertaken for psychological and strategic reasons. Mussolini, rebuffed by France in his demands for concessions at Djibouti, Tunisia and Suez, may have sought to recover prestige at home by a swift aggressive stroke. Most plausible of all is the probability that the invasion represented a counter-stroke by the Axis to Anglo-French soundings in Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and Rumania. Both Germany and Italy were strongly opposed to formation of a solid pro-Ally bloc in the Balkans, which would reduce their influence in the region. By taking Albania at a moment when Yugoslavia, torn by internal strife, could not effectively protest, the Axis powers at one stroke hemmed in the Belgrade Government on three sides, and placed their forces within striking distance of Salonika on the Adriatic and of the Dardanelles themselves.

Thus Albania perished, with only the mildest of protests from Britain — signatory to an Anglo-Italian accord pledging continuance of the Mediterranean status quo — and a statement by Secretary Hull that this 'forcible and violent invasion' constituted 'an additional threat to the peace of the world.' The business of political amalgamation was expeditiously concluded. A puppet government was created by the Fascists at Tirana as soon as they arrived. On April 12 an 'Albanian National Assembly' offered the crown to Victor Emmanuel III and proposed a 'personal union' — a proposition accepted by acclamation in the Italian Senate and Chamber of Corporations on April 15. One week later Francisco Jacomoni was appointed 'Lieutenant-General of Albania,' or viceroy, and a customs union was concluded. On June 3 a new constitution permitting effective Fascist rule was published. One by one the foreign legations at Tirana were closed. The Italianization of the country proceeded apace: public works were begun with a fanfare of publicity, and the country's resources intensively surveyed. Soon the world forgot Albania. Only the 1,000,000 Albanians remembered, and they await a chance to regain their freedom. See also GREECE; ITALY.