Albania in November 1912

From: Juffy Pigeon

The events that culminated in the declaration of Independence on November 28, 1912, took place in the conditions when large displacements had taken place in the heart of Albanian society and when instead of the old feudal and Turkish state, severely compromised by the Ottoman regime, a new layer , represented by intellectuals with liberal and social democratic ideas, had appeared on the stage of history with the ambition to lead the Albanian people in the wars for freedom and for nation state.

Inspired by the ideas of the French Enlightenment and the Italian Risorgimento, ideologues and activists of the Albanian national movement saw the separation from the "old regime" as a historical necessity, which through a national and social revolution, together with the Ottoman rule, would throw away and all the power of the Albanian "chimneys", the old classes of beylers, pashalars, tribal leaders and high clergy, collaborators and co-ruler of the foreign ruler.

An analysis of social groups and their behavior towards the national issue in pre-independence Albania is masterfully done in his report of February 5, 1912, by the Austro-Hungarian consul in Ioannina, Belinski.

On one side, Belinski aligns the representatives of the aristocracy of beylers, pashalars and bajraktars, who according to him were united with the Ottoman ruling class. Here Bilinski includes characters such as Ferid Pasha Vlora, Myfid Bey Libohova, Esad Pasha Toptan and others. On the other side, according to him, were the true Albanian patriots, who, according to Bilinski, belonged to the middle class of Albanian school teachers, newspaper publishers, club secretaries, clerks and Albanian officers.

They were the ones who had created the National Renaissance, who had spread education in the Albanian language, who had strengthened national consciousness, who had made European circles aware of the existence of the Albanian nation and the national issue, and who had prepared and directed the armed struggles for freedom and independence of patriotic armed detachments. In his analysis of the Albanian society on the eve of Independence, Belinski does not forget to distinguish a group of feudal lords, who foresaw that with the fall of the Empire they would lose their power, prestige and old privileges, so he joined them, at the moment of lastly, the national movement.

They saw no other possibility, except that of involvement in the movement for independence, in order to be able to play a leading role in the political life of the country. "Nevertheless", consul Bilinski concludes his analysis, "the movement of the Toscan detachments last year was completely organized by the middle class of patriotic intellectuals. The beylers did not participate in this action at all... Some of these beylers, such as Mehmet Ali Pasha of Delvina, deputy Myfid Bey Libohova and some others, were forced in some cases to give the gangs financial aid, but they did so under pressure of the radical elements of the armed movement, who threatened to carry out terrorist acts against them if they did not cooperate". As the facts showed, in general, the old layer of beylers, pashalars, heads of bajraktars, remained loyal to the Ottoman Empire until the end, and even worse, began to flirt with the neighboring monarchies, precisely those that most threatened territorial integrity of Albania.

Aubrey Herbert, a member of the British Parliament and a great friend of the Albanians, confesses that Mehmet Konica and Filip Noga told him in 1913 in London that in Albania, "the people can no longer tolerate the Beylers and Pashallars and that a movement of great democratic was expected to explode there". Dervish Hima, like many other activists of the national movement, was convinced of the anti-national role of the Albanian Turkish Beylers. On September 12, 1901, from the pages of the "Albania" newspaper, he accused them of betraying the Albanian cause "for the tin medals that the Sultan hung on their chests". And, he reminded them menacingly, that "in Europe the kings, princes and nobles had fallen to the sword of the justice of the people", and that "those whom you have mistreated and humiliated, will be honored tomorrow".

The most emblematic figure of the old Albanian pariah in the period of transition from the debauchery of the Empire to the creation of the independent Albanian state, is undoubtedly Esad Pashë Toptani. Many are the assessments that have been given to him by people who knew him, but all of them are extremely negative: Esadi was the man "who did not know any foreign language, but who knew the value of all the currencies of Europe", the historian writes. Margaret McMillan. He was the man who "was ready to sell the whole country, so that he could rule even in one of his villages", declared Aubrey (Aubrey Herbert). He returned in shame from the defense front of Shkodra, and although he was invited to be part of the cabinet of Ismail Qemali, he did everything to sabotage the union of all the Albanian territories around the national government of Vlora. And, he tried to create his own state in Central Albania, the first time, in 1913, with the support of the Turkish and French feudal lords; and the second time, in 1915, with the help of Serbia. His secret agreements with E. Venizelos of Greece, with the "prime minister" of the government of the "autonomous Epirus" Zografos and with N. Pashici of Serbia, in August-September 1914, made him the prototype of the Albanian politician, that in order to preserve power, he does not hesitate to auction the interests and territories of his homeland.

On the other side, the highest representative of the group of patriotic activists was Ismail Qemali. A personality that summed up to the highest degree all the features of a wise and visionary leader. He was quickly separated from his beyler class. In 1900, the Austro-Hungarian consul, Petrović, described Ismail Qemali as a learned and intelligent person, but without wealth. Like the Frashëri brothers, Faik Konica, Said Toptani, Fehmi Zavalani and Shahin Kolonja, he lived with the strength of his mind, and not with feudal rent, like the other nobles of the Vlora family. Unlike Faiku, he never signed as "Bej", even though others addressed him with this title out of respect. It was devoted to civil service education. It was formed in the spirit of the "Declaration of the Rights of Man" announced by the French Revolution, which is why it did not hesitate to denounce precisely France, the land of freedom, which brutally oppressed the freedom and populations of its colonies. As an intellectual with liberal ideas, he was involved in the reform process of the Ottoman Empire, convinced that thus, in that Commonwealth of Nations, Albanians would find the space to affirm their denied nationality. When he saw that the despotic power of the sultans did not give any chance to decentralizing reforms, he cut off all relations with the High Gate, escaped and decided to devote himself to the Albanian cause.

In the appeal that Ismail Qemali addressed to the Albanians, on October 15, 1900, he said: "I realized that it was no use to continue trying to save the Turkish Empire... I felt that in the general upheaval that would involve the Empire, Albania would be the first to be torn apart." . Meanwhile, he had experienced all the cultural thrills of the National Renaissance: he had been involved in the debates about the Istanbul Alphabet and had staunchly defended the Latin alphabet; had intervened strongly to enable the publication of Christopher's dictionary; had tried to explain in Albanian the inscriptions discovered in Crete by the archaeologist Artur Evans and he himself had discovered the oracle of Dodona, the temple of the Pelasgians, whom he, like many other revivalists, considered the ancestors of the Albanians. Convinced of the rapid collapse of the Empire and of the eminent danger of Pan-Slavism, Qemali worked to build principled alliances with neighboring countries.

In this view, he tried to build a stable alliance with the Greeks, a people as old and with similar interests as the Albanians. In this context, as a simple citizen, without office and without powers, he met the Hellenic Prime Minister Theotokis in 1907. After his death, Greek propaganda, supported by voices from within Albania, claimed that in that meeting with Theotokis, Ismail Qemali signed a statement in which he agreed that South Albania should be given to Greece. This alleged statement was cited by Greek representatives at the Peace Conferences, Venizellosi in Versailles in 1919 and Caldaris in Paris in 1946, to support Greece's territorial claims. But such a statement simply does not exist. No press, no historical book publishes such a statement, not even Vasil Kondis's last book on "Vorio-Epirin", accompanied by four volumes of documents. On the contrary, Qemali presented his position on the Greek-Albanian borders, which he probably also presented to Theotok, in the protocol he signed on the same days of his stay in Athens with the chairman of the "Helenizmos" society, Neokles Kazazi. Article 2 of this protocol states that "the two peoples, Greek and Albanian, would summarize their territorial ambitions within their historical and geographical boundaries, taking as a basis the language spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of the contested areas".

We are in 1907, when even in the administration of the Greek state, not only Chameria, but all of Epirus was called "Lower Albania" (Kato Allvania). Despite the desire to form an alliance with Greece against Ottomanism and Pan-Slavism, I. Qemali did not make any compromise at the expense of the national interest. In 1911, he refused the request of Athens to give up organizing insurgent movements in South Albania. When in 1912 Greece openly declared its claims on the Albanian territories, invading, burning and destroying the South of Albania, he set to work to build an alliance with Turkey, and after the outbreak of the Second Balkan War, also with Bulgaria, two countries these, which with the insight of a seasoned politician, Ismail Qemali evaluated them as natural allies of the Albanians, from the moment that for their own interests they returned their weapons against the Greeks.

The old man of Vlora and other patriots around him did not trust the great Albanian "chimneys", who remained loyal to the Ottoman Empire until its last days. The Beylers did not respond to his call to join the uprising of 1911. They did not even respond when on February 10, 1913 I. Qemali called on the "pariah" of the south to mobilize people to help Ioannina surrounded by Greek armies. This time too, the pashlars and beylers of the South took care of preserving their properties and privileges, even if they came to an agreement with the Greek districts. He had hoped that at that dramatic moment, when his government was without means, without an army and with a country torn apart from all four sides, the Beylers and Pashalars would come to the service of the country with their armed camps, which until then they had put available to the Padishah. For this purpose, in his cabinet composed of prominent intellectuals, he included Myfid Bey Libohova, as Minister of the Interior, and Mehmet Pashë Dërralla as Minister of Defense. But these did not justify his hopes. The first tried to undermine the government from within, becoming the spokesperson and informer of the Italian and French representatives in the International Commission, the second did not leave any mark in the organization of the defense of the lands bitten by the Greek and Serbian armies. In that situation, which is a bit chaotic, I. Qemali called the union of Shkodra with the national government of vital importance, and for this purpose he invited the priest of that city several times, and even sent Luigj Gurakuqi to convince him, performed this national gesture. But the parish of Shkodra replied that it felt good under the governance of the International Commission. Even in Vlorë, Ismail Qemali was surrounded by opponents, intriguers and skeptics, who could only conceive of independence and the Albanian state as a creature of unscrupulous deals with foreigners.

Such were his close people, Ferit Pasha, Syrja Bey and his son Eqerem Bey Vlora. These were the first to denounce him as a "baker" and "traitor", when Ismail Qemali escaped from Beirut, declaring that from now on he would dedicate himself to the Albanian cause. When on April 16, 1911, Ismail Qemali declared that the people of Vlora were ready to take up arms and join the insurgents of the North, Syrja Bey Vlora, Xhemil Bey Vlora, the mufti and other representatives of the city's leadership rushed to calm him down and reassure him. The gate that "peace and tranquility reigned" in Vlora and throughout the South of Albania, and in fact they worked to sabotage popular movements there. It was the cousins ​​who reported I. Qemali to the International Control Commission for his alleged involvement in the "Beqir Gebreneja case", which also brought down the national government of Vlora.

In spite of these blows in the back, in spite of the disappointments given to him even by his associates and friends, who, upon hearing of the imminent arrival of Prince Wied, abandoned his national government and ran to Durrës to take some post in the feudal government of To the German prince, Qemali did not lose his hope and faith in the future of the homeland. "We need to win Kosovo, Manastir, Ioannina and all of Chameria by any means", he wrote from the forced emigration, "but for this I do not have hope in the beylers and archons who look to win titles and become princes... Hope mine is with the small owners and opingars who are the real masters of Albania".

About Ismail Qemalin, there has been the perception of a "wise old man", "master of political and diplomatic games" or a "salon negotiator". Of course, Ismail Qemali was also like that. But he was also the organizer of the anti-Ottoman uprisings in the period 1900-1912, as described by foreign consuls or Young Turk officials and agents. When he met him for the first time in Italy, in 1903, Dervish Hima was surprised to discover in Ismail Qemali a supporter of the "revolution". "Ismail Qemali", he wrote, "thinks that the revolution is a kind of all-encompassing vortex, which would enable the capture of lost time. In the conditions of deep backwardness, the Albanian people had to be put on the road by force". Such a "revolutionary" concept regarding the acceleration of historical processes through inclusiveness would not have been expected from a regular functionary of the Ottoman Empire. In view of the armed uprisings, Qemali undertook the difficult task of supplying them with weapons. On May 5, 1909, the governor of Ioannina reported that I. Qemali was in Corfu, from where he was trying to bring 50 rifles into Albania. During the uprising of 1911, he himself went to the Highlands of Mbishkodra, where he drafted the so-called Memorandum of Greece, which was supposed to ensure the autonomy of Albania.

The period of 1911-1914 is one of the most dramatic moments, when foreign factors were involved in the Albanian issue like never before. Against them, Ismail Qemali defended the national interests with rare dignity and from a sovereign position. He did not recognize servility and the inferiority complex, which continues to be the endemic vice of the Albanian political class. He valued the irreplaceable role that Austria-Hungary played in the advancement of Albanian national interests. But it opposed its status-quo politics. He did not forgive Austria-Hungary for its intervention to put down the Mbishkodra uprising, using the Catholic clergy for this purpose. In his bitter statement in the Viennese newspaper "Die Zeit", dated July 31, 1911, Ismail Qemali stated: "Political mistakes are unforgivable, but a political stance that costs the lives of an entire people is contrary to any political morality." ".

With an unparalleled intuition and foresight, I. Qemali opposed the Austro-Hungarian project of the Sandzhak railway, which Vienna decided to build after the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908, which railway would extend to Mitrovica in Kosovo and from there to Durres. According to consul Kraus, who met and talked with I. Qemali about this issue, the Albanian leader opposed the realization of this project, since, according to him, this railway could become the carrier of Slavic expansion in the Albanian lands in the future. Not for nothing, Ismail Qemali called that railway "Slavic railway". The man, who had predicted the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in time, knew very well that one day the Austro-Hungarian Empire would also disintegrate. As if to confirm his suspicions, six years later, on September 14, 1914, representatives of the Serbian government signed an agreement in Nis with an Albanian Pasha, clause 11 of which provided for the construction of the "Adriatic Railway", which would in Durres. At the end of 1915, the same agreement was renewed, sanctioning, apart from the construction of the railway, a real union between Serbia and Albania, with the unification of the army, customs, diplomacy, finance and trade. From the Albanian side, the signatory of the two agreements was the same person: Esad Pashë Toptani.

In January 1914, on the basis of an insidious denunciation of the discredited figures, Myfit bey Libohova and Syrja bey Vlora, a denunciation arranged in cooperation with the Russian and French members of the International Control Commission, the head of the Provisional Government was forced to resign leave the place. Despite all the betrayals of political opponents, despite all the disappointments he suffered from some of his close collaborators, Ismail Qemalin did not lose his nerve as a patriotic statesman. Only a few months later, in August 1914, he was informed that Haxhi Qamili's insurgent forces had arrived at the entrance to Vlora. From there, the rebels sent a list of ultimate demands to the municipality: surrender the city, disband the administration and the gendarmerie, allow the deployment of a thousand rebel troops in the city, and, above all, lower the national flag and raise it instead. his Ottoman flag. Ismail Qemali responded to the request of his countrymen and co-patriots, what answer he advised to be given to the Hajiqamilist rebels with the calmness and determination that characterized him. In the extreme conditions in which the country and especially Vlora was located, there was no other way but to talk with the rebels about all their demands, with the exception of one: the request for the removal of the Albanian flag. "We", he wrote to his fellow citizens, "must at all costs keep the flag with the national colors, without which the country would lose the only symbol of its independence and would ipso facto become a neighbor's property".

A worthy response for the man who identifies with that flag all day today. /Newspaper "Dita"/