Year 1920: Independent Albania

What are the events that marked Albanians and the world in 1920?

The year 1920 is an important year for Albanians. This year, great names of Albanian art, culture and education are born, such as e.g.: geography, ethnography and writer Mark Krasniqi; historian Kristo Frashëri; poet, linguist and critic Arshi Pipa; actress Marie Logoreci; poet and theater director, Zef Zorba; musicologist and composer Ramadan Sokoli; as well as the folklorist, writer and professor of literature, Anton Çetta, better known as the leader of the Central Council of the National Movement for the Reconciliation of Blood in Kosovo. Thanks to his commitment, at the beginning of the 1990s, the bad phenomenon of blood feud almost disappeared in Kosovo. And, when reconciliation is achieved, the people are united and ready for... war!

In 1920, the Albanian communists, Qemal Stafa and Rita Marku, were born. This Rita was a man! Meanwhile, in 1920 Zef Lush Marku, who was a member of the Yugoslav Communist Party, died. Albania was the worst communist country in Europe, but it must be admitted that the first Albanian communists were from Kosovo.

In 1920, the composer and conductor Palokë Kurti also died.

The year 1920 marks a very important event for the history of the Albanian state: the Congress of Lushnja, which took place on January 21-31.

"The Congress of Lushnja would have the profound effect of emphasizing in the nation's aspirations the idea of ​​absolute independence and the integrity of the country, letting foreigners understand, the political world, that the country works according to the principles of nationality, relying on his rights without being a tool of any foreign power. It can be said that since the League of Prizren, it was the first manifestation of a very special importance for this people, of a work done with the power that came only from his body", the Congress, intellectual and patriot Mit'hat Frashëri said about this in the work "Problems of independent Albania".

The Congress of Lushnja approves the constitutional act for the complete independence of Albania, as well as elects the high council of four people who would perform the functions of the head of state and a national council of 37 people. Sulejman Delvina was elected Prime Minister. This is how the Government of Durrës is overthrown. But, to be sure of this, an assassination is ordered that will be the most sensational in the history of Albanians: the murder of Esat Paşe Toptan by Avni Rustemi, on June 13 in Paris - an assassination that still creates confusion among Albanians.

Toptani was brave and defended Shkodra from the Montenegrins (the siege started on October 8, 1912, while it lasted until the controversial surrender of the city, by Esat Pasha, on April 25, 1913). However, he was also a careerist, a power-thirsty dallkauk. So, he is not holy, but it cannot be said that he was the personification of the devil, as the communist system presented him. That Zef Pllumi, in the first book "Just live to show me" and deeds "As we were saying yesterday..." showed that, according to the archives of the Franciscans that he had seen as a young man, Esat Pashë Toptani wanted an ethnic Albania. According to him, Avni Rustemi was a naive patriot who was encouraged by Luigj Gurakuqi and Mehmet Konica to kill Esati. Their advice was to go to Paris and ask for a scholarship for his studies. Esati meets him and agrees that he will help him, since Albania needs educated people. When Avni refuses to carry out the assassination, they fill his mind with his "betrayals". And he killed the man who welcomed him.

The intellectual and the man who best documented the Albanian history of the first decades of the 20th century, Eqrem bey Vlora, in the second volume of his book, "Memories", wrote: "That Esat Pasha in any civilized country would have avenged the tripod, this is not disputed. But, that he was eliminated in this unworthy way, this does not honor the members of that government (of Lushnja - vj)". Meanwhile, he said about Avni Rustem: "A boy named Avni Rustemi, one of the most unsuccessful students, who wanted to make a name for himself with this murder, was nothing more than a tool in the hands of Esat Pasha's opponents. They gave him the necessary tools for this murder and immediately took over his defense before the French court... French justice, with a surprising manipulation of the law, acquitted Avni Rustem and the Albanian government declared him a hero and made him a deputy, when this treacherous killer, therefore, roamed around Tirana like some savior of the homeland. This example showed all the Albanian boys how by means of a bullet shot from behind the back like burracaks, you can become a great man".

Avni Rustemi was a leftist. He was a hero for Ahmet Zogu, then for Fan Noli and, above all, for the communist regime of Enver Hoxha. All of them designed an enemy who does not want the good of the Albanian (Esatin) and a hero who threatens that the opponents, those who think differently, will be punished (Avniun). But the case of Enver Hoxha proves that comparison with evil leads to another, greater evil.

The Congress of Lushnja made Tirana the new capital of Albania. But, most importantly, he revived patriotism by warning that Albanians will protect Albania from further divisions.

"The taking over of Shkodra (March 25, 1920) was the first political success, along with it a sign of sympathy given by the Great Powers. It was also the first degree for the grouping of different parts of the motherland around a single authority. The capture of Gjirokastra (April 27), the release of Korça from the French (May 15) and its peaceful reunification, once again completed the success of the new government, increased its confidence and once again awakened the will of the nation. , who crowned the work started in Lushnje", said Frashëri. "Both years, 1919 and 1920, inside Albania and before the Peace Conference, there was a continuous struggle against the Secret Treaty of London, against the dismemberment of Albania. The Congress of Lushnja and the bloody efforts of Vlora crowned the patriotic work by proclaiming the will of the nation universally and with great fanfare. These gestures definitively settled the issue, ensuring the triumph of two principles: political independence and territorial integrity. After those events, the Peace Conference no longer dared to discuss the violation of these two rights. But the biggest effect of the fighting would be for the internal psychology of the people, for their dignity and character. In 1912, a dangerous and very harmful belief appeared among the Albanians, according to which Albania was not made by the Albanians, but by Europe. This mentality had the fatal result of an apparatus, a magnanimity and a carelessness. Since the foreigners made us, then we no longer had any burden, any duty. Logic, really a crooked logic, wanted that, who did it, who caused it to happen, let him try to root it out! Mortal judgment that kills and destroys all responsibility for a nation. But now, in 1920, Albania was made, created, prepared not only by the Albanians themselves, but also against Europe, against all the powers and nations wrapped around the Peace Conference. The work was done by the Albanians themselves, against the malice of others, without any help from eyes, not even a sympathy was late in coming, when the world saw that the Albanian was trying for himself, with his own power and means. Such an event has great significance for the history of a nation. He exercises an action, it influences his whole life. It is a lamp: it shines and should shine whenever it is in darkness and evil, at any time and on any occasion. Remembering great acts of patriotism is a happiness as well as a duty."

Albanian patriotism is evidenced by the War of Vlora, otherwise known as War of the Twenties. This war starts on June 4. After three months of fighting, the Albanians entered the city on September 3 as winners. The song-anthem is dedicated to the War of Vlora, "Vlora-Vlora", with music by Thoma Nasi and lyrics by Ali Asllani. These verses are also sung there: "Vlora, brave Albanians / like a slave, you don't love your life at all / will Albania remain / will it become smoke and ashes / Vlora, Vlora, Vlora, Vlora / lay down your weapons, fight." After Vlora, the Italians also leave Saranda, Durrës and Shengjini.

Apart from Vlora, the Albanians led by Elez Isufi and Bajram Curri attack the Serbian forces positioned in the Dibra area on August 13. After many battles, the Serbs retreated in November 1921. While, under the leadership of Xhemal beg Bushati, Sulço beg Bushati and Malik Sokol, in what is known as the Battle of Koplik, on July 27, 1920, the war began against the Serbian and Montenegrin forces who were inserted in the surroundings of Shkodra. The Serbs retreat to the borders of 1913, on February 14, 1921. In the Dibra and Koplik Wars, Ahmet Zogu played an important role - the future enemy of Elez Isufi, Bajram Curri and Xhemal Beg Bushati. And, Sulço will work against Hasan Prishtina.

On November 9, 1920, the Conference of Ambassadors recognizes Albania's borders of 1913, while on November 17, Albania becomes a member of the League of Nations.

In 1920, with the creation of the National Council, or the first Parliament of Albania, the first political parties were created. On October 10, the People's Party was formed, where the following figures stood out: Fan Noli, Ahmet Zogu, Luigj Gurakuqi, Bajram Curri, etc. A month later, the Albanian Progressive Party was formed, dominated by the following figures: Hoxhë Kadri Prishtina, Hasan Prishtina, Shefqet Vërlaci and... Bajram Curri. These two parties started the divisions that have not yet stopped in Albania.

The events that marked the world in 1920 are: on January 7, the civil war in Russia begins; on January 10, with the Treaty of Versailles, the First World War officially ends. But this treaty was nothing more than a fuse that will start another bigger and more terrible war - World War II. On January 17, Prohibition begins in the USA; on February 12-24, the London Conference is held where Great Britain, France and Italy meet to discuss the division of the Ottoman Empire; on February 24, Adolf Hitler presents the National Socialist program of the German Workers' Party, later to be known as the Nazi Party; on March 10, Sweden's first social democratic government is peacefully installed; in April, the Spanish Flu pandemic ends, the last before the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which will kill 17-50 million people in the world; on April 23, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk installs the Great National Assembly in Ankara, which dismisses the government of Sultan Mehmed VI, who on August 10 signs the infamous Treaty of Sevres for the partition of Turkey; on September 5, Mahatma Gandhi starts the Non-Cooperation Movement that aimed for India's independence; Gabriele D'Annunzio proclaims the Independent State of Fiume/Rijeka. D'Annunzio has an interesting history with Hasan Pristina. In 1920, these two meet. Pristina is looking for weapons and d'Annunzio – as an opponent of Serbian expansionism that he was. These weapons would be used against Serbian forces in Kosovo. He agrees to send them, without any compensation, to the port of Shengjin. But this is where Sulejman Pasha Delvina and Ahmet Zogu's fight "to protect Albania" begins. Because, according to them, Serbia would attack Kosovo, while the worst thing for them is not this attack but the other eventual attack on the territory accepted as an Albanian state. In order to save himself in the name of "Albania", Sejfi Vllamasi commits to pay over 20 thousand gold francs to Sulço and Malo Bushati from Shkodra to stop, in any way, this "smuggling". As we also learn from the work of Vllamasi ("Political confrontations in Albania"), they succeed.

On November 11, the Cenotaph of the Unknown Soldier is unveiled in London. In 1920, but the exact date is unknown, the first case of HIV/AIDS was registered in Kinshasa, Congo.

Also born in 1920 were: Secretary General of the United Nations Organization in the years 1982-1991, Javier Perez de Cuéllar; the great film director, Federico Fellini; King Farouk of Egypt, the last ruler of the Albanian dynasty of Mehmet Ali Pasha; actors Toshiro Mifune, Yul Brynner and Montgomery Clift; Pope John Paul II; singer Peggy Lee; as well as, the famous science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov. Meanwhile, the famous painter Amedeo Modigliani and the goldsmith Peter Carl Faberge, known especially for the so-called Faberge Eggs, died. /Telegraph/