Independent Albania in the context of "Kingdom of Montenegro"

The Albanian Declaration of Independence (Albanian: Deklarata e Pavarësisë) was the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912. Six days later the Assembly of Vlorë formed the first Government of Albania which was led by Ismail Qemali and the Council of Elders (Pleqnia).

The success of the Albanian Revolt of 1912 sent a strong signal to the neighboring countries that the Ottoman Empire was weak. The Kingdom of Serbia opposed the plan for an Albanian Vilayet, preferring a partition of the European territory of the Ottoman Empire among the four Balkan allies. Balkan allies planned the partition of the European territory of the Ottoman Empire among them and in the meantime the territory conquered during First Balkan War was agreed to have status of the Condominium. That was the reason for Qemali to organize an All-Albanian Congress in Vlorë.

The Assembly of Vlorë (Albanian: Kuvendi i Vlorës) was an Albanian assembly constituted during the All-Albanian Congress in Vlorë, on November 28, 1912.

Ismail Qemali, or Ismail Kemal Bey Vlora, (Albanian: [ismail cɛmali] ; 16 October 1844 – 26 January 1919), was an Albanian politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of modern Albania. He served as the first prime minister of Albania from December 1912 until his resignation in January 1914.

Born in Vlorë to an Albanian noble family, Qemali developed an early interest in languages and later studied law in Istanbul. He travelled across Europe and returned to Albania after the Young Turk Revolution. He took part in the Congress of Ottoman Opposition and played a major role in the Albanian revolt of 1912.

The Albanian Vilayet (Ottoman Turkish: 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 populations: Kosovo Vilayet, Scutari Vilayet, Manastir Vilayet, and Janina Vilayet. In some proposals, it included the Salonica Vilayet as well. The creation of the Vilayet was confirmed in September 1912, but negotiations were interrupted a month later in October by the beginning of the First Balkan War. Plans for an Albanian Vilayet were lost with the Partition of Albania.

A separate Albanian vilayet was a part of the agenda of many Albanian organizations and societies since 1877, during the period known as the Albanian National Awakening. Establishment of such a vilayet was agreed between the Albanian rebels and the authorized representatives of the Ottoman government on 4 September 1912, following the Albanian Revolt of 1912. Soon after that agreement however, the First Balkan War broke out and most of the remaining European territory of the Ottoman Empire was occupied by the Balkan League member states. After the army of the Kingdom of Serbia captured Skopje, Ismail Qemali invited a group of Albanians from all four Ottoman vilayets that were agreed to be united into the Albanian Vilayet, to attend an All-Albanian Congress in Valona. There they declared independence on 28 November 1912, and set up the Provisional Government of Albania.

The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro) against the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan states' combined armies overcame the initially numerically inferior (significantly superior by the end of the conflict) and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies, achieving rapid success.

The war was a comprehensive and unmitigated disaster for the Ottomans, who lost 83% of their European territories and 69% of their European population. As a result of the war, the League captured and partitioned almost all of the Ottoman Empire's remaining territories in Europe. Ensuing events also led to the creation of an independent Albania, which dissatisfied the Serbs. Bulgaria, meanwhile, was dissatisfied over the division of the spoils in Macedonia and attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 June 1913, which provoked the start of the Second Balkan War.

The Provisional Government of Albania (Albanian: Qeveria e Përkohshme e Shqipërisë), also called the Qemali Government, was the first government of Albania, created by the Assembly of Vlorë on 4 December 1912. It was a paternal government, led by Ismail Qemali, until his resignation on 22 January 1914, followed by the International Control Commission until the proclamation of the Principality of Albania.

The Elderly Assembly (Albanian: Pleqënia) was a senate of Albania which independence was declared on 28 November 1912 in Vlorë (then Ottoman Empire, today Republic of Albania). The senate was established on the 4 December 1912 by the Assembly of Vlorë. It was composed of 18 members of the assembly and had advisory role to the government of Albania.

All provinces of the independent Albania were represented by its members in the senate:

The Partition of Albania (Albanian: Copëtimi i Shqipërisë) is a term used for the partition of the Albanian state, which proclaimed its independence on 28 November 1912. The delineation of the newly established Principality of Albania under the terms of the London Conference of 1912–1913 (29 July 1913) and the Ambassadors of the six Great Powers of that time (Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Italy) left Albanian and non-Albanian populations on both sides of the border. Representatives of the Albanian National Movement viewed this as a partition of claimed Albanian-inhabited territories, also territories contained in a proposed Albanian Vilayet.

After the establishment of the Albanian state, there were plans to further partition Albania during World War I; however, Albania was not partitioned and maintained its independent existence. Additional plans of partition were negotiated during and after World War II.