The Republic of Central Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë së Mesme) was a short-lived unrecognised state established on 16 October 1913, with its administrative centre in

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

, today in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

History

The government of the Republic of Central Albania was established in

on 16 October 1913 by Essad Pasha Toptani and ended when

Wilhelm of Wied Prince Wilhelm of Wied (German: ''Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich Prinz zu Wied'', 26 March 1876 – 18 April 1945), reigned briefly as sovereign of the Principality of Albania as Vilhelm I from 7 March to 3 September 1914, when he left for exile. H ...

, prince of Principality of Albania, took control over the country upon his arrival in

on 7 March 1914. There are sources that connect the end of the Republic of Central Albania with the date of 1 February 1914, when an Albanian delegation led by Essad Pasha Toptani offered the Albanian throne to

. The

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

of the Republic of Central Albania was red with white star in lower right part. The Republic of Central Albania issued its own post stamps. Faik Konitza initially gave his support to the government of Essad Pasha.

Essad Pasha Toptani

The most important role in establishing the Republic of Central Albania had Essad Pasha Toptani. During the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

, he became famous for his resistance during the Siege of Scutari. He was a member of the Toptani family, one of many families that were rich feudal

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

landowners with privileged status during Ottoman rule. These Muslim landowners, together with Muslim priests, were afraid of losing their privileged status after the signing of the London Peace Treaty and the decision of the

Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power in ...

about the future status of the territory which today belongs to

Support from the Kingdom of Serbia

The

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Prin ...

agreed to support Essad Pasha's government financially, and even with military force if needed. In exchange, Essad Pasha agreed to neutralize a large group of about 20,000

kachak Kachaks ( sq, kaçak, sr, качаци / ''kačaci'') is a term used for the Albanian bandits active in the late 19th and early 20th century in northern Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, and later as a term for the militias of Alban ...

s from Kosovo and Macedonia. They were led by Isa Boletini and supported by

Ismail Qemali Ismail Qemal bey Vlora, mostly known as Ismail Qemali (; 16 January 184426 January 1919), was an Albanian diplomat, politician, rilindas, statesman and the Founding Father of modern Albania, and one of the most famous Southern Albanian perso ...

and his Provisional Government of Albania. Essad Pasha agreed to help the Kingdom of Serbia acquire part of the coastal areas north of Black Drin.

Relations with the Ottoman Empire

Pro-Ottoman Muslim landowners and priests supported Essad Pasha Toptani, who remained loyal to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and maintained close contacts with the government in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. Young Turks from

were still hoping to restore Ottoman suzerainty over

and sent agents to Albania. A plot by the Young Turk government and led by

Bekir Fikri Bekir Fikri ( tr, Bekir Fikri or Bekir Aga Grebenali, sq, Beqir Grebeneja; 1882–21 December 1914), was an Albanian Ottoman revolutionary that participated in the Young Turk Revolution (1908) and fought with distinction during the Balkan Wars ( ...

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 Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. The

International Control Commission The International Control Commission (ICC), or in French la Commission Internationale de Contrôle (CIC), was an international force established in 1954. More formally called the International Commission for Supervision and Control, the organisati ...

(ICC), an organisation temporarily administering Albania on behalf of the Great Powers 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 ensured throughout Albania.

Rivalry with Qemali's Provisional government of Albania

While Essad Pasha Toptani established the Republic of Central Albania, there was another rival government in Vlore — the Provisional Government of Albania — led by

that wished to control the territory of the Republic of Central Albania. This government was established by a group of

Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Ser ...

led by

and gathered from four Ottoman vilayets. During the negotiations between Albanian rebels and negotiators from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, the parties had agreed to merge the four vilayets of

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

, Scutari, Monastir and Janina into one,

Albanian vilayet The Albanian Vilayet ( ota, ولايت ارناود, ''Vilâyet-i Arnavid'') was a projected ''vilayet'' of the Ottoman Empire in the western Balkan Peninsula, which was to include the four Ottoman vilayets with substantial ethnic Albanian popul ...

. Since the

started before this agreement was confirmed in the assembly of the

, this united

remained officially unrecognised. Its independence was declared on 28 November 1912, by a group of

that Qemali had gathered from all four Ottoman vilayets together with four men, Albanians of Romania. Austria and Italy supported the intentions of Ismai Qemali and his government to create a state whose territory would span all areas populated by Albanians, including Kosovo, parts of Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece. In his work, ''Memorandum on Albania'', Essad Pasha Toptani denied that Qemali's government was legitimate, writing that it was ''"the personal creation of a number of men."''

Aftermath

By establishing the Republic of Central Albania, Essad Pasha Toptani isolated supporters of

and his Provisional Government of Albania from the northern part of

mainly populated with

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

population. These Catholics were reluctant to submit to any of the two national governments, just as they were reluctant to surrender to the

Porte Porte may refer to: *Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire *Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy *John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator *Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who competes ...

. Thus, after the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

and before prince Wilhelm of Wied took control of the newly established Principality of Albania on 7 March 1914,

was divided into three parts. One part north of River the Mat was under the control of Catholics, the central part was territory held by the Republic of Central Albania and under control of government led by Essad Pasha Toptani, while the third part, south of the Shkumbin river, was under the control of the Provisional Government of Albania led by

who declared independence of

References

External links

Memorandum on Albania by Essad Pasha Toptani, published on the web site of Robert Elsie

The highland lute: (Lahuta e Malcís) : the Albanian national epic by Gjergj Fishta,Robert Elsie,Janice Mathie-Heck,Centre for Albanian Stud

The Albanians: a modern history, By Miranda Vickers

Newspapers news about attempt of to accept call from Muslim landowners in Albania for throne of the province
{{DEFAULTSORT:Republic Of Central Albania States and territories disestablished in 1914

Central Albania Central Albania ( sq, Shqipëria Qendrore) is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania. It consists of two counties: Tirana County and Elbasan County. See also * Northern Albania (''Ghegeria'' or ''Gegeria'') *Southern Albania Southern Alb ...

Modern history of Albania States and territories established in 1913 1913 establishments in Europe 1914 disestablishments in Europe