Greater Albania

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Areas inhabited by Albanians with information on the proportion of the total population

With the term Greater Albania ( Albanian  Shqipëri e Madhe ) or United Albania , also Ethnic Albania (Shqipëri Etnike) and Natural Albania (Shqipëri Natyrale) , three different things are usually described:

  • Greater Albania refers to the satellite state founded by the occupying powers Italy and Germany during the Second World War , the territory of which included the present-day state of Albania and Yugoslav regions inhabited by Albanians.
  • The aim of some Albanian nationalists to unite all areas inhabited by a majority of ethnic Albanians in one state.
  • The unification of the four historic Ottoman vilayets Shkodra , Üsküp , Manastir and Janina, which individual Albanian nationalists strive for or demand . Today, however, this geographical area is not (no longer) or only partially inhabited by Albanians and includes other nationalities in addition to this ethnic group.

history

Albania in World War II, including annexed areas

These demands went back to the League of Prizren founded in 1878 . The league campaigned for an independent Albania and against the fragmentation of the Albanians and their territories. The demand for an “ Albanian Vilayet ” also emerged.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Great Albanian hopes were given a boost: Albania proclaimed independence in 1912 with the support of Austria-Hungary , who wanted to prevent Serbia from accessing the Adriatic . Independence was accepted at the London Ambassadors Conference (1912–1913) , but under the limits set at that time , as they are known today.

In the Balkan Wars of 1912/13, the already existing Balkan countries were largely able to assert themselves and there was only room for Albania within today's borders. This means that around half of the Albanians lived outside the new nation state. Therefore, the demand for a border revision was very popular for a long time among Albanian nationalists.

During the Second World War , a kingdom of Greater Albania became a reality for a short time and under Italian rule. After the Balkan campaign was divided Mussolini on 12 August 1941, the since April 1939 annexed Albania, Kosovo and some Macedonian territories. This rearrangement of the borders was only recognized by the Axis powers . The Communist Party of Albania under Enver Hoxha limited itself in its program expressly to the territory of Albania within the borders of 1913 and not to that of Greater Albania. The pre-war territorial status was also decisive for Tito .

After the liberation of Tirana in November 1944, Greater Albania was a thing of the past. Albania was re-established within its pre-war borders as a result of agreements between the communists of Albania and Yugoslavia. Greek nationalists expelled almost the entire Albanian population from northern Greece after World War II. The reason they gave was the collaboration with the occupying powers.

Since Kosovo gained independence in February 2008, parts of the Albanian and Kosovar elite have been trying to unite the two states . The unification of Kosovo with Albania, however, contradicts the Ahtisaari plan for the independence of Kosovo , which is accepted by the West and the Kosovar leadership . Before the parliamentary elections in Kosovo 2010/2011 , however, these efforts were openly announced by the young political protest party Vetëvendosje! brought into the election campaign, which at least does not want to rule out the possibility of unification.

The Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos canceled his participation in Albania's centenary at short notice because of comments by Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha . Berisha had declared that the founding fathers of Albania wanted to create a state "from Preveza to Preševo , from Skopje to Podgorica ".

Territorial ideas

Today's moderate nationalists claim, in addition to today's Albania , the entire Albanian-speaking area of Kosovo , the Preševo ​​valley , the predominantly Albanian areas of northern Macedonia such as Tetovo , Gostivar , Debar , Struga etc. and also the majority for the state they are striving for areas of Montenegro around Ulcinj inhabited by Albanians .

In addition to this "moderate" current, there is a "more extreme current" which, in addition to the areas mentioned above, also includes the entire Kosovo, other parts of Serbia such as the Toplica , the Sanjak and the Niš region , other parts of North Macedonia such as Kumanovo , Skopje , Kičevo , Ohrid and Bitola , other parts of Montenegro such as Plav , Rožaje and Podgorica as well as parts of Greece ( Epirus ) claimed. These newly named regions are not or no longer inhabited by an Albanian majority. In addition to Albanians, Bosniaks, Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Greeks, Roma, Aromanians and Turks also live there .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolf Oschlies: Eurasisches Magazin : Albin Kurti: With well-known methods on the way to Greater Albania , literally: “They had a little more luck in World War II when Mussolini gave them a“ Greater Albania ”, in which they did not have much had to say, but were allowed to harass non-Albanians with weapons. "
  2. ^ Society for Threatened Peoples ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gfbv.de
  3. ↑ "When the extreme is normalized, the normal appears as extreme" . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . December 9, 2010 ( interview on NZZ Online ).
  4. ↑ dpa : Greek Foreign Minister stays away from the 100th anniversary in Albania. In: Europe Online. November 28, 2012, accessed January 23, 2013 .