1940: Albania

Ever since the military occupation of this little country on April 7, 1939, and the replacement of indirect Italian domination with outright subjugation, there has been a virtual blackout on news originating in Albania. The puppet government set up under Italian 'advisers,' in accordance with the personal union of Italy and Albania under Victor Emmanuel's crown, has carried out Mussolini's orders with silent efficiency. Certain material benefits have followed Italian control. Land reclamation efforts designed to increase farm production were undertaken in February 1940; some food was shipped into the country; and employment was provided on public works, especially roads built for strategic purposes. The oil output is said to have been increased, and preliminary surveys have been made of iron, chromium and copper deposits.

Italy's objectives, however, were primarily military. Although 25,000 Italian 'miners' and 'farmers' were scheduled to be sent to Albania by June 1, 1940, it was reported before the end of May that the Yugoslav-Albanian frontier had been closed and that munitions were being shipped to Albania for storage. Albanian national ambitions were being stimulated, it was said, by publication of maps of a 'greater Albania' embracing Greek and Yugoslav territory. Nevertheless, conditions remained quiet during the summer.

In September, Tomori, the Italian-controlled Tirana newspaper, attacked Greece for the alleged mistreatment of Albanians living just across the frontier. In October, Albanian army members who had violated Italian army law before April 1939 were amnestied by King Victor Emmanuel. Then, on October 28, reinforced Italian troops estimated to number 200,000 moved into Greece in expectation of an easy victory. Reports of Albanian revolts behind the lines immediately followed, and Albanian exiles urged their countrymen to aid the Greek cause. Albanian guerrilla warfare against the Fascists, as well as the apathy of Albanian soldiers conscripted and brigaded with the Italian force, contributed not a little to Italian difficulties.

As the year ended, the advancing Greeks attempted to allay old hatreds by adopting a scrupulously correct attitude toward the inhabitants. They pointed out that the Italians had looted Albania's gold reserve and resorted to the printing press to secure currency for army payments in the country. On Dec. 19, General Alexander Papagos, commander of the Greek forces, ordered restoration of the laws of the deposed King Zog in Greek-occupied areas. Zog himself had been reported in London. While the Moslem population of the Albanian towns was believed to favor his restoration, since his régime had furthered their interests, the Orthodox Christians appear to prefer Fan Noli, Albanian prelate, patriot, and former prime minister, exiled by Zog and living in Boston. It was anything but certain, however, that Albania would regain its independence. See also GREECE; ITALY.

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.

1938: Albania

For Albania 1938 has been an epochal year. Overshadowing all other events in this little Adriatic country was the marriage on April 27 of King Zog and Countess Geraldine Apponyi, a twenty-two year old Hungarian who is half American. A civil ceremony was performed, inasmuch as the bride remained a Catholic while her husband is a Moslem. There were joyous celebrations at Tirana, at which, significantly enough, Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian foreign minister, was the most important foreign guest.

Immediately prior to the wedding, on April 21, a new agreement between Italy and Albania was added to the list of prior treaties under which the Fascist régime has cemented its domination over the entrance to the Adriatic Sea. Since 1920 Italian loans have been poured into the country and used for development purposes. Under the new arrangement, arrears in Albania's repayments amounting to 69,000,000 gold lire were wiped out, and Albania will repay the principal alone in the next fifteen years. At the same time, fishing rights are granted to an Italian controlled company which may employ armed guards. As a result Mussolini retains a dominant military and political position in Tirana.

Despite numerous rebellions against his authority, King Zog has managed to increase the political stability of the country. On September 3, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his reign, he granted amnesty to all political refugees abroad and freed a number of political prisoners. Several Albanians living in America were included in the amnesty; in March, three Albanian princesses — Myzejen, Ruhie and Maxhide — had visited the United States and apparently arranged for a reconciliation between Zog and Bishop Fan Noli, who was held responsible for a revolution in Albania in 1924. [On April 7, 1939, Italian troops invaded Albania, which was conquered and formally annexed by Italy a few days later.]