Albanian Kingdom (1943–44)

The Albanian Kingdom (Albanian: Mbretnija Shqiptare, German: Königreich Albanien) existed as a de jure independent country, between 1943 and 1944. Before the armistice between Italy and the Allied armed forces on 8 September 1943, Albania had been in a de jure personal union with and was de facto under the control of the Kingdom of Italy. After the armistice and the Italian exit from the Axis, German military forces entered Albania and it came under German influence.

The Germans favoured the Balli Kombëtar over King Zog I's Legalists and therefore put Balli Kombëtar in charge of Albania under German rule. Albania under the Balli Kombëtar included most of Kosovo, as well as Western Macedonia, the town of Tutin in Central Serbia and a strip of Eastern Montenegro. It was the policy of the Balli Kombëtar to have all Albanian populated territories under one state.

History

German invasion and construction of a German Albania

In anticipation of such invasion, the Wehrmacht drew up a series of military plans for action against Italian holdings in the Balkans code-named Konstantin. And for a more direct nature, units of German Military Intelligence (Abwehr) section II were sent to Mitrovica (present day Kosovo) in April 1943 in an attempt to gain some influence among the growing number of Albanians disaffected with the Italians. Even more directly, in July and August 1943, the German army occupied Albanian airports and ports, ostensibly to protect Italian Albania from the possibility of an Allied invasion. By mid-August there were some six thousand German troops in Albania.

Kingdom of Albania

Kingdom of Albania may refer to:

See also

Albanian Kingdom (1939–43)

The Albanian Kingdom (Gheg Albanian: Mbretnija Shqiptare, Standard Albanian: Mbretëria Shqiptare, Italian: Regno albanese), also known as Greater Albania, existed as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. It was practically a union between Italy and Albania, officially led by Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III and its government: Albania was led by Italian governors, after being militarily occupied by Italy, from 1939 until 1943. During this time, Albania ceased to exist as an independent country and remained as an autonomous part of the Italian Empire led by Italian government officials, who intended to make Albania part of a Greater Italy by assimilating Albanians as Italians and colonizing Albania with Italian settlers from the Italian Peninsula to transform it gradually into an Italian land.

Albanian Kingdom (1928–39)

The Albanian Kingdom (Gheg Albanian: Mbretnija Shqiptare, Standard Albanian: Mbretëria Shqiptare) was the official name of Albania between 1928 and 1939. During this period, Albania was a de facto protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. Albania was declared a monarchy by the Constituent Assembly, and President Ahmet Bej Zogu was declared King Zog I. The kingdom was supported by the fascist regime in Italy, and the two countries maintained close relations until Italy's sudden invasion of the country in 1939. Zog fled into exile and never saw his country again. The Communist Party of Labor of Albania liberated the country toward the end of World War II, installed a Communist dictatorship, and formally deposed Zog.

Zog's kingdom

In 1928, Zogu secured the parliament's consent to its own dissolution. A new constituent assembly amended the constitution making Albania a kingdom and transforming Zogu into Zog I, "King of the Albanians". International recognition arrived forthwith. The new constitution abolished the Albanian Senate creating a unicameral Assembly. Although nominally a constitutional monarch, in practice King Zog retained the dictatorial powers he had held as President Zogu. Civil liberties remained more or less nonexistent, and political opponents were frequently imprisoned and killed. Thus, for all intents and purposes Albania remained a military dictatorship.