Albanian_Kingdom_(1939–43) | TriviaQuestions.online

⭐ Core Definition: Albanian Kingdom (1939–43)

The Kingdom of Albania was in personal union with the Kingdom of Italy following the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939 and until the German occupation in September 1943. It is also referred to as Italian Albania or Greater Albania, and was a state controlled by Fascist Italy. The monarch was Italian King, Victor Emmanuel III, who was represented in Albania by Italian governors. During this time, Albania ceased to exist as an independent country and became an autonomous part of the Italian Empire. Officials intended to make Albania part of a Greater Italy by assimilating Albanians as Italians and colonizing Albania with Italian settlers from the Italian peninsula to transform it gradually into an Italian land.

In the Treaty of London during World War I, the Triple Entente had promised territories in Albania to Italy as a reward for fighting against the Central Powers. Italian Fascists claimed that Albanians were ethnically linked to Italians through association with the prehistoric populations, and that the major influence exerted by the Roman and Venetian empires over Albania gave Italy the right to possess it. In addition, several hundred thousand ethnic Albanians had already been absorbed into southern Italy, which was used to justify annexation as a measure that would unite all Albanians into one state. Italy supported Albanian irredentism, directed against the predominantly Albanian-populated Kosovo in Yugoslavia, but also against Epirus in Greece, particularly the border area of Chameria, inhabited by the Cham Albanian minority.

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👉 Albanian Kingdom (1939–43) in the context of Balkans campaign (World War II)

The Balkans campaign of World War II began with the Italian invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940. In the early months of 1941, Italy's offensive had stalled and a Greek counter-offensive pushed into Albania. Germany sought to aid Italy by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria and attacking Greece from the east. Meanwhile, the British landed troops and aircraft to shore up Greek defences. A coup d'état in Yugoslavia on 27 March caused Adolf Hitler to order the conquest of that country.

The invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy began on 6 April 1941, simultaneously with the renewed invasion of Greece; on 11 April, Hungary joined the invasion of Yugoslavia. By 17 April the Yugoslavs had signed an armistice, and by 30 April all of mainland Greece was under German or Italian control. On 20 May Germany invaded Crete by air, and by 1 June all remaining Greek and British forces on the island had surrendered. Although it had not participated in the attacks in April, Bulgaria occupied parts of both Yugoslavia and Greece shortly thereafter for the remainder of the war in the Balkans.

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⭐ Core Definition: Albanian Kingdom (1939–43)
👉 Albanian Kingdom (1939–43) in the context of Balkans campaign (World War II)
Albanian Kingdom (1939–43) in the context of Albanian nationalism in Kosovo

Albanian Kingdom (1939–43) in the context of Albanian nationalism in Kosovo

Kosovo is the birthplace of the Albanian nationalist movement which emerged as a response to the Eastern Crisis of 1878. In the immediate aftermath of the Russo-Ottoman war, the Congress of Berlin proposed partitioning Ottoman Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans among neighbouring countries. The League of Prizren was formed by Albanians to resist those impositions. For Albanians those events have made Kosovo an important place regarding the emergence of Albanian nationalism. During the remainder of the late Ottoman period various disagreements between Albanian nationalists and the Ottoman Empire over socio-cultural rights culminated in two revolts within Kosovo and adjacent areas. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) ending with Ottoman defeat, Serbian and later Yugoslav sovereignty over the area generated an Albanian nationalism that has become distinct to Kosovo stressing Albanian language, culture, and identity within the context of secession from Serbia. Pan-Albanian sentiments are also present and historically have been achieved only once when part of Kosovo was united by Italian Axis forces to their protectorate of Albania during the Second World War.

Reincorporated within Yugoslavia, Albanian nationalism in Kosovo has drawn upon Kosovar folk culture and traditions which became imbued with theories of descent from ancient Illyrians and Dardanians stressing the purported precedence of Albanian settlement and rights to the area over the Serbs. Traditions of armed resistance by local Albanians to Serbian forces have existed since the interwar period resulting in various and protracted conflicts, ethnic cleansing and violence on both sides. The most recent was the Kosovo War (1999) between the guerilla fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Yugoslav army who later were evicted from Kosovo through NATO military intervention. Placed under an international United Nations framework, Kosovar Albanians declared independence (2008) which is internationally recognised by some number of countries satisfying a main tenet of Kosovar Albanian nationalism. Albanian nationalism in Kosovo stresses a secular character sidelining religion.

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Albanian Kingdom (1939–43) in the context of "Balkans campaign (World War II)"

⭐ In the context of the Balkans campaign, the initial impetus for increased German military involvement in the region stemmed from what development concerning the Kingdom of Albania?

⭐ Core Definition: Albanian Kingdom (1939–43)

👉 Albanian Kingdom (1939–43) in the context of Balkans campaign (World War II)

Albanian Kingdom (1939–43) in the context of Albanian nationalism in Kosovo