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58-609: The National Liberation Army ( Ushtria Nacional-Çlirimtare ) was the army created by the National Liberation Movement. Albania did not put an organized resistance to the Italian invasion (April 7–12, 1939). However different Albanian groups of patriots such as Mujo Ulqinaku and Abaz Kupi made a brief resistance to the invasion force in Durrës on the day of invasion. Durrës was captured on April 7, Tirana

116-479: A German Summer Offensive (May–June 1944) and defeated the last Balli Kombëtar forces in southern Albania by mid-summer 1944 encountering only scattered resistance from the Balli Kombëtar and Legality forces when they entered central and northern Albania by the end of July. On 29 November 1944 partisan forces liberated Shkodra and this is the official date of liberation of the country. A provisional government

174-641: A coastal battery, the defenders resisted the Italians for a few hours before they were defeated by Italian naval fire. The Royal Albanian Navy stationed in Durrës consisted of four patrol boats (each armed with a machine gun) and a coastal battery with four 75 mm guns, the latter also being involved in the fighting. Mujo Ulqinaku, the commander of the patrol boat Tiranë , used his machine gun to kill and wound many Italian troops until himself being killed by an artillery shell from an Italian warship. Eventually,

232-541: A consequence, the resistance was mainly offered by the Royal Albanian Gendarmerie and small groups of patriots. In Durrës , a force of 500 Albanians, including gendarmes and armed volunteers, led by Major Abaz Kupi (the commander of the gendarmerie in Durrës), and Mujo Ulqinaku , a naval sergeant, tried to halt the Italian advance. Equipped with small arms and three machine guns and supported by

290-613: A dispute arose concerning the status of Kosovo. For the Communist party, the question should have been resolved after the war, without the presence of foreign powers on the national soil. The Yugoslavian Communist Party would have had to return Kosovo to Albania as established by the Comintern. Whereas the Balli Kombëtar proposed to fight for the integration of Kosovo into Albania. After the German Winter Offensive

348-461: A fleet of warships to Albania. As Nazi Germany annexed Austria and moved against Czechoslovakia , Italy noticed that it was becoming the lesser member of the Pact of Steel . Meanwhile, the imminent birth of an Albanian royal child threatened to give Zog the opportunity to establish a lasting dynasty. After Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia (March 15, 1939) without notifying Mussolini in advance,

406-407: A full Italian takeover and colonization of Albania. The Albanian government tried to keep news of the Italian ultimatum secret. While Radio Tirana persistently broadcast claims in which it stated that nothing was happening, people became suspicious; and the news of the Italian ultimatum was spread by unofficial sources. On April 5, the king's son was born and the news of his birth was announced by

464-476: A joint National Liberation Movement with a provisional eight-member council, with Enver Hoxha and Abaz Kupi among them, though it was dominated by the communists. Partisan fighters were organized into 20 to 70-men units, equivalent to a platoon, including a communist commissar, who acted as the political officer. The commander, the political commissar and their deputies constituted the unit command, and all military decisions were made and agreed upon by all members of

522-784: A known figure fighting for Albanian progress and a defender of tradition, nationality and democracy. His father, Adem Gjinishi, participated in the Albanian declaration of independence and was also a delegate in the 1920s Congress of Lushnje . He was murdered by Shefqet Verlaci in 1923 and this had a deep impact on Mustafa's life. He studied in the American School of Technology in Tirana in 1924–1930. The principal Harris Fultz valued Gjinishi due to his excellent grades, but also his character, knowledge and his multilingual abilities. Gjinishi spoke English, German, French and Italian. Gjinishi

580-486: A large number of light tanks were unloaded from the Italian ships. After that, resistance began to crumble, and within five hours the Italians had captured the city. By 1:30 pm on the first day, all Albanian ports were in Italian hands. King Zog, his wife, Queen Geraldine Apponyi , and their infant son Leka fled to Greece the same day, taking with them part of the gold reserves of the Albanian central bank . On hearing

638-677: Is disputed. Italian military reports stated that at Durrës 25 Italians were killed and 97 wounded, while the local townspeople claimed that 400 Italians were killed. Casualties for the Albanians were given as 160 dead and several hundreds wounded. On April 12, the Albanian parliament voted to depose Zog and unite the nation with Italy "in personal union" by offering the Albanian crown to Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III . The parliament elected Albania's largest landowner, Shefqet Vërlaci , as Prime Minister. Vërlaci served as interim head of state for five days until Victor Emmanuel III formally accepted

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696-682: The Italian Crown . Albania had long been of considerable strategic importance to the Kingdom of Italy . Italian naval strategists coveted the port of Vlorë and the island of Sazan because of their location at the entrance to the Bay of Vlorë and out to the Adriatic Sea . The Italians also wanted to construct a suitable base on Vlorë and Sazan for military operations in the Balkans . In

754-566: The Italian invasion of 1939 , and organized antifascist demonstrations in Tirana and Kavaja before fleeing to Yugoslavia . In 1941 he returned to Albania and associated with the Korca communist group. In September 1942, he participated in the Conference of Peza where he was elected as general secretary of the new LANC . In August 1943, he and Ymer Dishnica represented communist forces at

812-486: The Mukja Agreement that was subsequently denounced by Enver Hoxha. British military figure Peter Kemp , who met Gjinishi in 1943, described him as " witty, highly intelligent and incorruptibly honest and as a man who commanded the affection and respect of all his countrymen of whatever political complexion ". Although a leading communist and a political adjutant of Myslym Peza , he was willing to collaborate with

870-599: The Albanian Communist Party was officially formed on November 8, 1941, by a unanimous vote of all members and in place of a leadership a Central Committee was elected instead. Members of the Central Committee were Enver Hoxha, Qemal Stafa, Ramadan Çitaku, Koçi Xoxe, Tuk Jakova, Kristo Themelko and Gjin Marku. The creation of the Central Committee was followed by the creation of regional committees,

928-620: The Albanian Partisans crushed nationalist resistance and the leader of the Albanian Communist Party , Enver Hoxha , became the ruler of the country. The events which surrounded the Italian annexation of Albania formed part of the inspiration for the eighth volume of The Adventures of Tintin comics titled King Ottokar's Sceptre , with a plot based on a fictional Balkan country Syldavia and uneasy tensions with its larger neighbour Borduria . The author of

986-689: The Albanian crown in a ceremony at the Quirinale palace in Rome. Victor Emmanuel III appointed Francesco Jacomoni di San Savino , a former ambassador to Albania, to represent him in Albania as "Lieutenant-General of the King" (effectively a viceroy ). In general, the Italian invasion was poorly planned and badly executed, and succeeded only because Albanian resistance was weak. As Filippo Anfuso , Count Ciano 's chief assistant sarcastically commented "...if only

1044-410: The Albanian government. A third of Albanian imports came from Italy. Despite strong Italian influence, King Zog I refused to completely give in to Italian pressure. In 1931, he openly stood up to the Italians, refusing to renew the 1926 Treaty of Tirana. After Albania signed trade agreements with Yugoslavia and Greece in 1934, Mussolini made a failed attempt to intimidate the Albanians by sending

1102-472: The Albanian resistance leaders to create a national resistance front. The Communist Party saw the creation of this front as a necessity for Albania. Its intention was to dominate this front, although some figures within the Albanian Communist Party opposed the idea of an organised front with other nationalists, fearing their possible betrayal. The conference decided to create the General Council which

1160-555: The Albanians had possessed a well-armed fire-brigade, they could have driven us into the Adriatic". On April 15, 1939, Albania withdrew from the League of Nations , from which Italy had resigned in 1937. On June 3, 1939, the Albanian foreign ministry merged into the Italian foreign ministry, and Albanian Foreign Minister Xhemil Dino became an Italian ambassador. Upon the capture of Albania, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared

1218-520: The British and maintained cordial relations with his former foes, the anticommunist fighters Abaz Kupi and Gani bey Kryeziu . He was also seen as a rival to Enver Hoxha and it was this, more than anything else, that caused him to be dismissed in subsequent communist historiography as an agent of the English and a traitor to the communist cause. He was murdered in late August 1944 after an ambush near

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1276-662: The Communist Party. Miladin Popović , a Yugoslav communist , attended the Peza Conference as an adviser and hoped to further strengthen party controls by creating a general staff that would tie the various units together, but his suggestion was not adopted. The partisan units were supplemented by territorial units - irregular self-defense detachments made up of volunteers. They were planned for every larger village or one for two-to-three villages together. Their function

1334-546: The German attack on Russia, Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito under Comintern directives sent two Yugoslav delegates Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša to Albania. These two helped unite the Albanian communist groups in 1941. In August 1941, the Albanian Communist Party was established through the agreement between the Shkodër (led by Shanto and Stafa), Korçë and Tirana (led by Enver Hoxha ) communist groups. After intensive work,

1392-543: The Greek campaign, but they massively deserted the front line. The country's southern areas (including the cities of Gjirokastër and Korçë ) were temporarily occupied by the Greek army during that campaign. In May 1941, Albania was enlarged by the annexation of Kosovo and parts of Montenegro and the Vardar Banovina , going a long way towards the realization of nationalistic claims for a " Greater Albania ". Part of

1450-417: The Italian dictator decided to proceed with his annexation of Albania. Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III criticized Mussolini's plan to annex Albania by stating that it was an extremely unnecessary risk for an almost negligible gain. Rome, however, delivered Tirana an ultimatum on March 25, 1939, demanding that it consent to Italy's occupation of Albania. Zog refused to accept money in exchange for allowing

1508-424: The Italian invasion, there was no general resistance to the Italian army, although some local leaders like Myslim Peza , Baba Faja Martaneshi , Abaz Kupi etc. created small çetas (small detachments) which from time to time undertake small attacks on Italian forces. Meanwhile, the communist activity in Albania increased and culminated with the creation on 8 November 1941 of the Albanian Communist Party . Following

1566-515: The Italians (after autumn 1942) and, subsequently, they sporadically fought against the Germans. By October 1944, the Germans had withdrawn from the southern Balkans in response to military defeats which they had suffered at the hands of the Red Army, the collapse of Romania and the imminent fall of Bulgaria . After the Germans left Albania due to the rapid advance of Albanian Communist forces,

1624-599: The National Liberation Front in dealings with national liberation councils and civilians, and as leader of the communist members of the partisan unit. The Communist Party oriented the activities of the National Liberation Army through its various organizations inside the army. Each partisan unit had a political organization called the communist cell and both the communist cell and the commissar were responsible to regional committees of

1682-470: The Romanian concession along with the rest of Albania during the invasion. On the other side, the regular Albanian army had 15,000 poorly equipped troops who had previously been trained by Italian officers. King Zog's plan was to mount a resistance in the mountains, leaving the ports and the main cities undefended; but Italian agents who were placed in Albania as military instructors sabotaged this plan. As

1740-455: The Tintin comics Hergé also insisted that his editor publish the work to take advantage of current events in 1939 as he felt "Syldavia is Albania". Mustafa Gjinishi Mustafa Gjinishi (15 January 1912 – 23 August 1944) was an Albanian communist from Peqin , central Albania . He was known for having opposed Enver Hoxha and the Italian invasion of Albania . Mustafa Gjinishi was

1798-407: The command. Every partisan unit, no matter how large or small, had a command of four individuals. The role of the commissar was, among others, to guarantee that the activities of the partisan unit would comply with the directives of the Communist Party. Other duties of the commissar included keeping the partisans up to date with the latest political developments, serve as the official representatives of

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1856-562: The communist partisans regrouped, attacked the Germans and gained control of southern Albania in April 1944. In May a congress of the National Liberation Front was held in Përmet , during which an Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation to act as Albania's provisional government was elected. Enver Hoxha became the chairman of the council's executive committee and the National Liberation Army's supreme commander. The communist partisans resisted

1914-666: The communists which has been formed at Berat in October 1944, administered Albania with Enver Hoxha as prime minister up to the elections of December 1945, in which the Democratic Front (successor to the National Liberation Front) won 93% of the vote which was widely described as a sham election due to the lack of non-communist candidates. Italian invasion of Albania 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 The Italian invasion of Albania

1972-521: The country. The government began to dissolve. The Minister of the Interior, Musa Juka , left the country and moved to Yugoslavia the same day. While King Zog announced that he would resist the Italian occupation of his country, his people felt that they were being abandoned by their government. The original Italian plans for the invasion called for the deployment of up to 50,000 men who would be supported by 51 naval units and 400 airplanes. Ultimately,

2030-560: The creation of an independent Albanian state. At the outbreak of the war, Italy seized the chance to occupy the southern half of Albania, to avoid it being captured by the Austro-Hungarians. That success did not last long, as Albanian resistance during the subsequent Vlora War and post-war domestic problems forced Italy to pull out in 1920. The desire to compensate for this failure would be one of Mussolini's major motives in invading Albania. Culturally and historically, Albania

2088-435: The firing of cannons. Alarmed, people poured out into the streets, but the news of the birth of the new prince calmed them. People suspected that something else was going on, which led to an anti-Italian demonstration in Tirana the same day. On 6 April, several demonstrations were staged in Albania's main cities. That same afternoon, 100 Italian aircraft flew over Tirana , Durrës , and Vlorë , dropping leaflets which instructed

2146-454: The following day, Shkodër and Gjirokastër on April 9, and almost the entire country by April 10. At the time of the Italian invasion, the Shkodër communist group included Qemal Stafa , a student, Vasil Shanto , an artisan, Liri Gega , an intellectual, Imer Dishnica , a doctor, Zef Mala and others. The leaders were Mala, Shanto, Stafa and Kristo Themelko . The Shkodër group's activities also spanned over Kosovo and western Macedonia, and

2204-734: The invasion force grew to 100,000 men who were supported by 600 airplanes, but only 22,000 men actually took part in the invasion. On April 7, Mussolini's troops, led by General Alfredo Guzzoni , invaded Albania, simultaneously attacking all Albanian ports. The Italian naval forces which were involved in the invasion consisted of the battleships Giulio Cesare and Conte di Cavour , three heavy cruisers , three light cruisers , nine destroyers, fourteen torpedo boats, one minelayer , ten auxiliary ships and nine transport ships. The ships were divided into four groups that carried out landings at Vlore , Durres , Shengjin and Sarandë . The Romanian Royal Army never deployed to Sarandë and Italy conquered

2262-399: The late Ottoman period, with a local weakening of Islam, the Albanian nationalist movement gained the strong support of the two Adriatic sea powers of Austria-Hungary and Italy, which were concerned about pan-Slavism in the wider Balkans and also Anglo-French hegemony, purportedly represented in the area through Greece. Before World War I Italy and Austria-Hungary had been supportive of

2320-486: The news, an angry mob attacked the prisons, liberated the prisoners and sacked the King's residence. At 9:30 am on April 8, Italian troops entered Tirana and quickly captured all government buildings. Italian columns of soldiers then marched to Shkodër , Fier and Elbasan . Shkodër surrendered in the evening after 12 hours of fighting. During the Italian advance in Shkodër the mob besieged the prison and liberated some 200 prisoners. The number of casualties in these battles

2378-584: The occupation of Albania and the installation of a new government, the economies of Albania and Italy were merged by a customs union which resulted in the removal of most trade restrictions. Through a tariff union, the Italian tariff system was put in place in Albania. Due to the expected economic losses in Albania from the alteration in tariff policy, the Italian government provided Albania 15 million Albanian leks each year in compensation. Italian customs laws were to apply in Albania and only Italy alone could conclude treaties with third parties. Italian capital

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2436-702: The official creation of the Italian Empire and King Victor Emmanuel III was crowned King of the Albanians in addition to his title of Emperor of Ethiopia , which had been occupied by Italy three years before. The Albanian military was placed under Italian command and formally merged into the Italian Army in 1940. Additionally, the Italian Blackshirts formed four legions of Albanian Militia , initially recruited from Italian colonists living in Albania, but later from ethnic Albanians. Upon

2494-515: The organization included several emigrants from Gjakova and other places in Kosovo , who had moved to Albania between 1930 and 1937. In spring 1941, Shanto and Stafa met with fellow Communist Fadil Hoxha due to his earlier contact with Yugoslav communist Miladin Popović. Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša were the Yugoslav delegates that helped unite the Albanian communist groups in 1941. After

2552-441: The people to submit to Italian occupation. The people were infuriated by this demonstration of force and they called for the government to resist the Italian occupation and release all of the Albanians who were previously arrested on the suspicion that they were "communists". The crowd shouted, "Give us arms! We are being sold out! We are being betrayed!". While a mobilization of the reserves was called, many high-ranking officers left

2610-796: The racial affinity of Albanians and Italians, especially as opposed to the Slavic Yugoslavs. Italian Fascists claimed that Albanians were linked to Italians through an ethnic heritage due to links between the prehistoric Italiotes , Roman and Illyrian populations, and they also claimed that the major influence over Albania of the Roman and Venetian empires justified Italy's right to possess it. When Mussolini seized power in Italy, he turned to Albania with renewed interest. Italy began to penetrate Albania's economy in 1925, when Albania agreed to allow Italy to exploit its mineral resources. That action

2668-409: The responsibility of which was to implement the decisions made by the Central Committee. Starting from December 1941 the communist party began to create small groups of resistance made up of 5-10 people called guerilla units. These detachments began to engage in various acts of sabotage against the Italian forces. They also started to disseminate antifascist propaganda in order to gain the attention and

2726-525: The roads were to be accompanied by strong Italian military detachments. It was at this time (September 1942) that the Albanian Communist Party made their bold move of calling up a national conference, the Conference of Peza, which took place on 16 September 1942 in the house of Myslim Peza , a known resistance leader, (in Pezë village, near Tirana). In the conference the Communist Party of Albania invited all

2784-728: The support of the civilians. As of 1942 the local press and the foreign consulates began to report an increasing number of attacks. The most spectacular act of sabotage was the interruption of all telegraphic and telephone communications in Albania in June and July 1942. Although the communist activity was increasing, the main concern for Italians were the northern bands. The Italians had given up on governing Northern Albania. The security posts composed of gendarmes in Northern Albania were mostly concerned for their own security and rarely ventured themselves outside their posts, and convoys along

2842-632: The village of Greva in the district of Dibra while traveling with the British Major Victor Smith and an armed guard, apparently killed by Liri Gega and Ndreko Rino at the behest of Miladin Popović and Enver Hoxha . His body was buried, dug up and reburied several times. According to Owen Pearson, in his Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History: Volume II: Albania in Occupation and War, 1939–45 , Gjinishi

2900-452: The war, conduct espionage, organize the economic struggle against Italian companies, and sabotage the collection of agricultural products by the fascists. In already liberated areas, they were to function as new state. They were to maintain law and order developing local economy; overseeing food supply, trade, education, culture, and press. They would also settle blood feuds, and maintain readiness for war. The conference managed to set in place

2958-638: The western coast of Epirus which was called Chameria was not annexed, instead, it was put under the rule of an Albanian High Commissioner who exercised nominal control of it. When Italy left the Axis powers in September 1943, German troops immediately occupied Albania after a short campaign, with relatively strong resistance. During the Second World War, the Albanian Partisans, including some Albanian nationalist groups, sporadically fought against

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3016-493: Was a brief military campaign which was launched by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime minister and dictator Benito Mussolini . Albania was rapidly overrun, its ruler King Zog I went into exile in neighboring Greece , and the country was made a part of the Italian Empire as a protectorate in personal union with

3074-447: Was allowed to dominate the Albanian economy. As a result, Italian companies were allowed to hold monopolies in the exploitation of Albanian natural resources. All petroleum resources in Albania went through Agip , Italy's state petroleum company. Albania followed Italy into war against Britain and France on June 10, 1940. Albania served as the base for the Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940, and Albanian troops participated in

3132-467: Was composed of 10 people: seven communists including Mustafa Gjinishi , Enver Hoxha , and known nationalists like Abaz Kupi , Myslim Peza and Baba Faja Martaneshi . Mehdi Frashëri was the honorary president of the conference, a fact suppressed later by the communist history. The General Council would supervise local liberation councils. The councils in areas yet to be liberated would function as propaganda agencies, would collect material necessary for

3190-642: Was followed by the signing of the First Treaty of Tirana in 1926 and the signing of the Second Treaty of Tirana in 1927, which enabled Italy and Albania to form a defensive alliance. Among other things, the Albanian government and economy were subsidised by Italian loans and the Royal Albanian Army was not only trained by Italian military instructors, most of the officers in the army were also Italians; other Italians were highly placed in

3248-773: Was important to the nationalistic aims of Italian Fascists, as the territory of Albania had long been part of the Roman Empire , even prior to the annexation of northern Italy by the Romans. Later, during the High Middle Ages , some coastal areas (like Durazzo ) had been influenced and owned by Italian powers for many years. Chief among them were the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Venice (cf. Albania Veneta ). The Italian Fascist regime legitimized its claim to Albania by conducting studies and using them to proclaim

3306-500: Was the first to translate the Lahuta e Malcis to English and he helped publish the first Albanian science newspaper " Shekulli XX " where he quoted Midhat Frasheri , Skender Luarasi , Tajar Zavalani and others. He was arrested for having brought communist literature to the country during Zogs reign . Gjinishi was sentenced to death by the anti-Zogist demonstrations. His sentence was however commuted to life in prison. He escaped during

3364-473: Was to protect the liberated zones and to serve as a source of replenishment for the regular partisan units. At the end of 1942 there were 2000 partisans plus a larger number of territorial units. The Mukje Agreement was a treaty signed on August 2, 1943, in the Albanian village of Mukje between the nationalist Balli Kombëtar and the communist National Liberation Movement. The two forces would work together in fighting off Italy's control over Albania. However,

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