Peasant Revolt in Albania

The Peasant Revolt in Albania, also known as the Islamic Revolt or Muslim Uprising in Albania, was the uprising of peasants from central Albania, by mostly Muslims, against the regime of Prince Wilhelm of Wied during 1914. It was one of the reasons for the prince's withdrawal from the country, marking the fall of the Principality of Albania. It was led by Muslim leaders Haxhi Qamili, Arif Hiqmeti, Musa Qazimi and Mustafa Ndroqi. As well as total amnesty, the rebels demanded the return of Albania to the suzerainty of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Background

Prince Wilhelm of Wied took the throne of Principality of Albania on March 7, 1914, and had to face a chaotic political situation, both within the country and with its neighbours. Based on the Treaty of London signed on May 30, 1913, the Great Powers resolved on July 29, 1913 that they should establish International gendarmerie to take care of public order and security on the territory of newly recognized Principality of Albania. On the same basis they established International Commission of Control (ICC) on October 15, 1913, to take care of the administration of newly established Albania until its own political institutions were in order.

Prince Wilhelm of Wied had to deal with a difficult political situation:
# Essad Pasha Toptani, who dominated new government of the Principality of Albania because he was both minister of interior and minister of war. By choosing to reside in Durres instead of Shkodër, the prince of Wied was at mercy of Essad Pasha.
# the International Commission of Control and foreign advisers who still had great deal of authority
# the representatives of Austria-Hungary and Italy
# the resistance in Northern Epirus, which was finally given a special administration by Protocol of Corfu
# the fighting between forces under control of Essad Pasha Toptani and the Provisional Government of Albania
# the major peasant revolt of mostly pro-Ottoman Muslim peasants.

There were numerous armed groups in Principality of Albania during regime of prince Wilhelm:
# the International Gendarmerie under control of the International Commission of Control and prince Wilhelm
# the irregular bands of southerners led by local leaders
# the native outlaw
# the Bulgarian outlaw, Komitadjis
# the Greek rebels from the Northern Epirus
# the peasant rebels in central Albania
# Essad Pasha's gendarmerie
# the Romanian volunteers
# the Austro-Hungarian volunteers
# the volunteers from Kosovo led by Isa Boletini
# the Mirdita Catholic volunteers from the northern mountains under the command of Prênk Bibë Doda

Essad Pasha Toptani, as minister of war and interior, was against peaceful solution of problem with Northern Epirote Declaration of Independence of February 28, 1914. He opposed International Commission of Control which believed that problem can be solved by diplomatic means. Prince and his cabinet accepted proposals of Essad Pasha to decide for military solution. In order to increase the military strength of the Principality of Albania, several thousand Italian rifles and Austrian machine and mountain guns were purchased and distributed to the (predominantly Muslim) population of the central Albania.

The rebellion was only tacitly supported by the Ottomans, who as a consequence of the Balkan Wars were physically separated from the Albanian lands. The Ottoman preoccupation with the looming First World War also rendered diplomatic and material support impractical.

Events

The plot of pro-Ottoman Albanians

A plot by the Young Turk government and led by Bekir Fikri to restore Ottoman control over Albania through the installment of an Ottoman-Albanian officer Ahmed Izzet Pasha as monarch was uncovered by the Serbs and reported to the ICC. Ismail Qemali supported the plot for military assistance against Serbia and Greece. The ICC allowed their Dutch officers serving as the Albanian Gendarmerie to declare a state of emergency and stop the plot. They raided Vlorë on 7–8 January 1914, discovering more than 200 Ottoman troops and arrested Fikri. During Fikri's trial the plot emerged and an ICC military court under Colonel Willem de Veer condemned him to death and later commuted to life imprisonment, while Qemali and his cabinet resigned. After Qemali left the country, turmoil ensued throughout Albania. At that time the Commission was not able to force Essad Pasha to leave Albania, because it did not have enough authority.

Revolt

The pro-Ottoman peasants believed that the new regime of the Principality of Albania was a tool of the six Christian Great Powers and the landowners that owned half of the arable land. Revolt was led by Muslim leaders Haxhi Qamili, Arif Hiqmeti, Musa Qazimi and Mustafa Ndroqi. This group of discontented Muslim clerics gathered around Essad Pasha Toptani who proclaimed himself the savior of Albania and Islam.

After receiving the news that thousands of rebels surrounded Shijak on May 17 (only 10 km from Durres), Essad Pasha Toptani was accused of fomenting the revolt against William of Wied. He was exiled to Italy on May 20, without trial. In Italy, he was received with honor since both Italian and Austrian representatives played roles in intrigues that surrounded the revolt.

The chaos and revolts deteriorated after Essad Pasha was exiled. In order to gain support of the Mirdita Catholic volunteers from the northern mountains Prince of Wied appointed their leader, Prênk Bibë Doda, to be the foreign minister of the Principality of Albania. The International Dutch Gendarmerie was also joined by Isa Boletini and his men, mostly from Kosovo. Dutch gendarmes together with northern Mirdita Catholics attempted to capture Shijak, but when they engaged the rebels on May 23, they were surrounded and captured, as well as another expedition from Durres which attempted to release the captured gendarmes. Rebels launched the attack on Durres and even started firing on it with their light weapons. The people in Durres panicked and the Prince and his family found shelter on an Italian ship anchored in the bay.

On the same evening the rebels released Dutch officer and sent him to Prince of Wied with their demands:
* total amnesty
* return of Albania under suzerainty of sultan of Ottoman Empire

Prince of Wied appointed Colonel Thomson to be commander of defence of Durrës. He was killed on June 15, during a rebel attack. During next week Dutch officers were captured by rebels in most of the central Albania. The rebels captured Berat on July 12 and Vlore, without fight, on August 21.

On 14 August, the rebels attacked the capital, which was protected mainly by Romanian and Austrian volunteers. The first insurgent attack lasted half an hour and was repulsed with heavy losses for the attackers. The second attack began after an hour, and lasted also for an hour, before it was once again repulsed, mainly due to the brave actions of the Romanians, who were greatly praised by their Christian Albanian comrades. After half an hour, the insurgents launched their third and final attack, but they were repelled everywhere by stiff Romanian resistance.

Only a week after prince Wilhelm of Wied's departure from Durres on September 3, 1914, another violent revolt arose. The rebels managed to lay siege on Durres, imprison Wied's supporters, to call for Muslim prince and to establish the Senate of Central Albania. Insurgents hoisted the flag of the Ottoman Empire. Vast majority of population living in the northern and the southern part of Albania disassociated themselves from the Senate of Central Albania.

Haxhi Qamili and his supporters were reported to have persecuted, bound, tortured and killed many teachers of the Albanian language. Because he supported the usage of the Arabic alphabet (as opposed to the Latin one), he viewed them as enemies of Turkey.

The revolt failed to generate much support in the regions surrounding Elbasan, which were inhabited by mix of Sunni, Bektashi and Orthodox Albanians, with the Sunnis being the most numerous. The local Muslims were noted for their opposition to ideas deemed "fanatical", and their identification with Albanian nationalism. Much of this is attributed to the charismatic leadership of the Albanian nationalist Aqif Pasha. Local Islamic leaders also denounced the "archaic" ideas of Haxhi Qamili, and supported the adoption of the Latin alphabet, contradicting much of the Sunni clergy elsewhere. The representative of Elbasan in Haxhi Qamili's uprising, Haxhi Feza, withdrew from the movement in protest against Haxhi Qamili's excesses, and for this, Haxhi Qamili personally ordered him to be imprisoned.

Aftermath

Dutch officers were gradually replaced with officers from Austria-Hungary and Germany, who arrived in Durrës on July 4. Soon the First World War broke out and by August 4 most of Dutch officers returned to Netherlands. In autumn 1914 Essad Pasha decided to accept invitation of Senate of the Central Albania to return to Albania to take over the power. First, he had to provide financial backing for his government. Therefore, he travelled to Niš, Kingdom of Serbia, where he and Serbian prime minister Pašić signed the secret treaty of Serbian-Albanian alliance on September 17, 1914. In October 1914 Essad Pasha returned to Albania. With Italian and Serbian financial backing he established armed forces in Dibër and captured the interior of Albania, including Dures.

Atrocities

During the revolt the "disciplinary forces" of rebels headed by the mufti of Tirana, Musa Qazimi, carried out executions in order to "clean" the "Bektashi schismatics". The rebels, led by the fanatic Haxhi Qamili, burnt down many Bektashi teqes from Martanesh in Bulqizë to as far south as Berat due to the strong links between Bektashism and Albanian nationalism (including the efforts Albanian Bektashis made towards the progression of Albanian education and Albanian independence) as well as the religious differences between the Shi'ite-oriented Bektashis and the Sunni Muslim rebels.

Other targets besides "Bektashi schismatics" included Christians, Albanian nationalist teachers who had been teaching using the Latin alphabet, and even Muslim clerics who were supporters of Albanian nationhood.

See also

* Wilhelm of Wied
* Principality of Albania
* Essad Pasha Toptani
* International Gendarmerie

References

External links

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Colonel Thomson and Albania
Harrie Teunissen

{{Authority control

Social history of Albania
1914 in Albania
Conflicts in 1914
Mass murder in 1914