A Short History of Albania

Albania is a young state with a long history. Although its lineage stretches back thousands of years to the Illyrian peoples who long inhabited the eastern Adriatic coastline, the modern country only celebrated its 100 year anniversary last November.

The modern state of Albania gained its English name in a map laid out by Ptolomy in 150 AD, which called the northern and central swaths of the country Albanoi after a local tribe. In the Albanian language, however, the country is called Shqipëri, which I've found translated as "The Country of Eagles," but which apparently actually just means "Those who Understand Each Other". When Ptolomy was making his map, modern Albania was actually split up between the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Epirus, and Macedonia. During the Roman period, the area largely flourished, eventually reaching the height of prominence within the empire with the rise in the 3rd century of the so-called Illyrian emperors, the most famous of whom was Diocletian, one of the greatest generals in Roman history and the only Emperor to abdicate his throne.

After the collapse of Roman and then Byzantine hegemony, the region became dominated first by Bulgars and then Serbians. In 1190, the first coherently Albanian state was formed in the region, the Principality of Arbanon. This was followed by several other autonomous principalities, until the 15th century, when the Ottoman Empire annexed the territory of modern Albania along with much of the rest of the Balkans.

Under Ottoman rule, Albanians rose to positions of great prominence and generally prospered within the empire. Over two dozen grand vizers of the Ottoman Empire were of Albanian descent, occupying a position only second in power to that of the Sultan. This was also the period of the widespread conversion of Albanian society to Islam. During the some 500 years of Ottoman rule, most Albanians converted as part of an empire wide policy to promote cohesion through Islamization.

In the late 18th century, the revolutionary rumblings across Europe become acute in Albania, and after the 1878 League of Berlin divided up much of the remaining Ottoman holdings in the Balkans, leading to the dismantling of much of what the Albanian intelligentsia considered to be the essential territory of the Albanian nation-state, elites across the political spectrum came together to fight back against what they considered to be the territorial incursions of their neighbors and the traitorous ineptitude of their local rulers. The ultimate result of this was the League of Prizren, which sought to both defend the territorial integrity of what they saw as their ethnic homeland, and to create an autonomous governing apparatus similar to what many of their Balkan neighbors had received in the Treaty of Berlin. Ultimately, they achieved modest success, preventing some of the territorial acquisitions, but, more importantly, they set the stage for the next wave of revolutionary activity.

Some 30 years later, in 1912, the Ottoman Empire was on its last legs, and the Balkans had risen up in revolt. With the collapse of Ottoman military strength in the region, the Albanian nationalist forces were able to seize power in November and declare an independent Albanian state. Chaos followed shortly on the heels of independence, with civil war in 1914 followed by Greek, Montenegran, and Serbian occupation and general disarray and lawlessness during World War 1. After the war ended, Albania was not properly represented at the Paris Peace Conference, and thus saw its position within the region further deteriorate, both territorially and politically.

In 1925, after years of weak or non-existent central governance, Albania was declared a republic by its new President, Ahmet Zogu. The republican period was brief and violent, as Zogu restricted civil, press, and religious liberties, and political violence and assassination became standard practice. After three years as President, Zogu had himself declared King Zog I. It was in this guise that he ruled the nation for the next 11 years, continuing and extending many of the same policies that he had instituted at the beginning of his reign, ultimately following the political trends of the time by creating a personality cult and reviving nationalist symbols in order to legitimize his authoritarian rule. He created the Zogist Salute, swore his oath of office on a Bible and a Koran, and constantly tried to defend himself against the numerous assasination attempts that plagued his reign.

In the early years of Zog's rule, he looked to Mussolini's Italy for support, but during the worldwide financial crisis in the 1930s, the Italians were able to demand more and more from the Albanians, taking over the Albanian National Bank and forcing the country into an unequal customs union. Throughout the decade, Italian officers took over key positions within the military. All this meant that when Italy finally invaded in 1939, Albania was incapable of defending itself, and Zog fled into exile. Albania spent the following war years under Axis occupation, first by Italy and later Germany.

Near the end of World War II, the Fascists were overthrown, resulting in the 1944 rebirth of an independent Albania. The government of the new state was initially a transitional outgrowth of the National Liberation Movement, which included both Communist and Nationalist elements, but the Communists quickly moved to consolidate their power and purged nationalist and moderate voices. This resulted in the creation in 1946 of a communist state with a political system based on the constitution of the Soviet Union and a Stalinist-style centrally planned economy.

During the initial years of communism, Albania saw massive growth, rapid industrialization and agricultural reform. It also experienced great leaps forward in education, with a statewide effort to improve literacy that brought levels nearly to 100%. Despite these improvements, many of the same restrictions that were instituted during Zogist and Fascist rule remained, including restrictions on press, expression, and religious freedoms, and especially restrictions on movement and trade, as the central government worked to create a self-sufficient, self-sustaining economic model within Albania.

Throughout the Communist era in Albania, the country tried to assert itself geopolitically, but found it difficult to find a place in the world. Following the War, it initially found itself under Yugoslav influence, and nearly became a constituent part of the federation, but after the falling out between Stalin and Tito in 1948 it became part of the Soviet sphere. Under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, it remained a stalwart supporter of Stalinist policies, even following his death and denunciation by Krushchev. Ultimately, because of the new path favored by Stalin's successors and the split between China and the Soviet Union in the 1960s, Albania left the Warsaw Pact and became China's biggest ally, serving as the voice of the People's Republic at the United Nations before it was officially admitted and ensuring the message of Mao's China was heard in Europe.

The alliance between China and Albania came to an end in the early 1970s, and as a result, Albania stepped up its efforts to institute a policy of pure autarky, or self-sufficiency, in order to survive without a large protector. During this period, Enver Hoxha continued to grow in stature within Albanian society, creating a personality cult and further isolating Albania from the rest of Europe. By the time of his death, the Albanian path, which supported Stalinist policies and attacked China and the Warsaw Pact nations as "revisionist", had a significant international following, but the country itself was destitute. In 1984, the GDP per capita was approximately $665, compared to approximately $3,200 in the Soviet Union, 4,600 in Poland, and 16,000 in the United States.

In the late 1980s, protests began against the government, and reforms led to the creation of a new Albanian Republic in 1990. Mirroring many of its former allies in the Post-Soviet world, the new Albanian state was initially dominated by communists, but a second wave of revolution in 1992 led to the election of the opposition Democratic Party. They remained in power through 1997, when evidence of official corruption and an economic crash brought down the government amidst widespread violence that ultimately led to the evacuation of many foreign nationals from the country.

Over the past decade, Albania has seen significant growth, averaging 6% from 2004 to 2008, but this has slowed, and Albania trade ties to Italy and financial ties to Greece have put it in a precarious position economically. In addition, remittances from the large Albanian disapora have nearly halved, and weak infrastructure remains an impediment to future growth. Despite this, Albanians have a significantly better standard of living than 25 years ago, and haven't experienced the worst of the financial crisis, like some of their neighbors. Despite concerns about growth, and poverty reduction, the World Bank has generally optimistic things to say about the future of the country, which has bounced back from the worst of the crisis with low inflation and 3% growth in the last year.

This month, the new former mayor of Tirana, Edi Rama,will replace Sali Berisha as the Prime Minister of Albania, who has led the country as the head of the Democratic Party for the past 8 years. Many speculate that very little will change as a result, considering that both parties share many of the same policy goals. But Albania did manage a free and fair election, and in the past few years has seen the acceptance of its EU candidacy by the European Commission, its approval as a member-nation of NATO, and the removal of barriers to travel within the almost Europe-wide Schengen zone. Despite those positive signs of progress, I worry about what Edi Rama says in his TedTalk: "Compromise is gray, and we have enough gray to last a lifetime". If Albania is going to build on its successes in the future, it will need more politicans who refuse to share that sentiment, as appealing as it sounds.