Albanian Independence: From the National Awakening to 1912

The National Awakening (Rilindja Kombëtare, "National Rebirth") was the Albanian movement for a language, schools and a state of their own, lasting from the 1830s to 1912. It began with the first primers and with uprisings against Ottoman reforms. It continued through the League of Prizren and the creation of a single alphabet, and it ended with the proclamation of Albanian independence in Vlorë on 28 November 1912.

This is the fourth chapter of our guide to the history of Albania. It covers the years from the Tanzimat to the birth of an independent state.

What was the Albanian National Awakening?

The Awakening spans the years from the 1830s to 1912. Its leaders wanted to free Albanians from Ottoman rule and unite the Albanian lands in a nation state. They also set out to develop the Albanian language and Albanian schools.

The movement followed two paths, which Albanians call "the pen" and "the rifle". The pen meant primers, books, newspapers and schools. The rifle meant armed resistance. The political programme rested on two ideas: autonomy for Albania and the defence of its territorial integrity. The leading figures of the Awakening drew inspiration from the memory of Skanderbeg's era and from the ideas of the French Enlightenment.

Among the champions of the pen, the primers and schools of Veqilharxhi, Kristoforidhi and the Istanbul Society stood out. The rifle took the form of the uprisings against the Tanzimat, the armed struggle of the League of Prizren and the uprisings of 1910–1912. Both lines led to the same goal, and in 1912 they came together in Vlorë.

The Albanian question

The textbook calls the central task of the era the Albanian question. It means the independence of the Albanian lands from the Ottoman Empire and the creation of a nation state within ethnic borders.

For the 19th century this was a very bold aim. The Ottoman authorities did not recognise Albanians as a separate nation, and neighbouring states laid claim to part of the lands where Albanians lived. The leaders of the Awakening therefore usually began with a moderate demand, autonomy within the empire, but behind it there always stood the defence of the integrity of the Albanian lands.

Freedom from Ottoman rule, the union of the lands and the development of the mother tongue and schools were three sides of a single task. Without schools and a written language of their own, Albanians could hardly be recognised as a nation, and without recognition as a nation there could be no state of their own.

The Tanzimat and the uprisings of the 1830s–1840s

In the 19th century the Ottoman Empire tried to modernise. For Albanians, the reforms brought new taxes, conscription and a ban on schools in their own language, and a series of uprisings followed.

Even before the reforms began, in 1830, around 500 Albanian chieftains were killed in an ambush in Monastir. In 1833–1835 two regions rose against the Ottoman changes. In the south the centre of the revolt was Berat, under Tafil Buzi. In the north it was Shkodër, under Hamza Kazazi.

The Tanzimat. The reforms began in 1839. They centralised the administration and introduced compulsory military service (nizam) and new taxes. The empire classified its subjects by religion alone, so Albanians were not recognised as a separate nation and opening Albanian schools was forbidden.

The resistance went on:

• 1843–1844: the uprising of Dervish Cara in Skopje. For a time the rebels freed Gostivar, Tetovo and Skopje.

• June 1847: an assembly in Mesaplik rejected conscription and the new taxes and declared Muslim and Christian Albanians a single people. In the same year an alliance known as the "Albanian National League" was formed in the south under Zenel Gjoleka. Gjoleka and Rapo Hekali led the uprising.

• 1861: Oso Kuka took up the defence of Albanian lands against raids by Montenegrin bands.

The uprisings of the 1840s showed that Albanians were ready to act together regardless of faith. The Mesaplik assembly openly declared Muslims and Christians one people, which ran against the very logic of the Tanzimat, with its division of subjects by religion.

The reforms of 1856 and 1864

The Tanzimat did not stop at its first decrees. The decree of 1856 gave non-Muslims equality with Muslims in taxation, education, justice, property and appointments to office. But it too did not recognise Albanians as a nation: the equality concerned religion, not nationhood.

The administrative reform of 1864, known as the Law of the Vilayets, introduced a new system of provinces. It lasted until 1912, that is, until the end of Ottoman rule over the Albanian lands.

The Albanians found themselves divided among four vilayets:

• Shkodër;

• Kosovo;

• Monastir;

• Janina.

This division made it hard for Albanians to act as a single whole. That is why one of the main demands of the Awakening later became the union of these lands in a single autonomous Albanian vilayet.

The League of Prizren (1878–1881)

The League of Prizren was the defining political event of the Awakening. Founded on 10 June 1878, it aimed to stop lands with an Albanian population being handed to neighbouring states after the Russo-Turkish War. For three years it defended them through diplomacy and arms, until the Ottoman army crushed it.

The trigger was the Treaty of San Stefano of 3 March 1878. It gave Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria lands where Albanians lived, and Bulgaria was even to receive Korçë, Pogradec and Bilisht. A Central Committee for the Defence of the Rights of the Albanian Nation had already been set up in Istanbul in December 1877.

The League itself arose in response to the Eastern Crisis of 1875–1878. While the Great Powers and the Balkan states were dividing up the legacy of the weakening Ottoman Empire, Albanians needed to show that their lands were not a blank space on the map.

Founding and programme

Around 80 delegates attended the founding assembly in Prizren, with Ilyas Pasha Dibra (Qoku) as chairman. The assembly adopted two documents:

• the Kararname (Act of Decisions), signed on 18 June by around 47 chieftains;

• the Talimat (Regulation).

The aim was to defend the Albanian lands "inch by inch" and to secure an autonomous Albanian vilayet.

The League had a General Council with legislative powers and a Central Committee with executive powers, plus around 40 branches across the Albanian lands. Its chief ideologist was Abdyl Frashëri, who headed the southern branch in Gjirokastër.

The two documents of the founding assembly complemented each other. The Kararname, signed on 18 June 1878, set out the main goal: the defence of Albania's territorial integrity. The Talimat laid down how the League would operate. Together they turned a gathering of chieftains into an organisation with its own programme and governing bodies.

The Congress of Berlin and the struggle for land

From 13 June to 13 July 1878 the Congress of Berlin revised the Treaty of San Stefano. The League sent the Congress a memorandum demanding a solution to the Albanian question. The German chancellor Bismarck refused to consider it, declaring that "the Albanian nation does not exist". The Congress awarded Montenegro Bar and Podgorica, along with Plav and Gusinje, and gave Serbia Niš, Pirot and Vranje.

In 1879–1880 the League held on to Plav and Gusinje by force of arms. In January 1879 an extraordinary assembly in Preveza resolved not to give up any Albanian land. Abdyl Frashëri and Mehmet Ali Vrioni then led a mission to the Great Powers. Instead of Plav and Gusinje, the powers gave Montenegro Ulcinj. Albanians defended the town, but in November 1880 Ottoman troops put down the resistance and Ulcinj passed to Montenegro. Ottoman units entered the town on 23 November 1880, and on 26 November it was handed over to Montenegro.

In the south the League achieved more. Abdyl Frashëri and Abedin Bey Dino defended the southern Albanian lands against Greek claims, and of Epirus Greece received only the district of Arta.

The demand for autonomy

Alongside the defence of the borders, the League spoke ever more insistently of autonomy. A resolution of 1 November 1878 demanded:

• the creation of an Albanian vilayet;

• the appointment of Albanian officials in it;

• teaching in the Albanian language;

• the convening of a Great Assembly and the establishment of a vilayet council.

Step by step the League moved from defence to building its own authority. At an assembly in Gjirokastër on 23 July 1880 it was decided to proclaim the League a "Provisional Government". The Assembly of Dibra soon continued the same course, and in January 1881 the decision was put into practice.

Provisional government and defeat. In October 1880 the Assembly of Dibra demanded that the Albanian lands be united in an autonomous vilayet. In January 1881 League forces under Sulejman Vokshi took Skopje and Prishtina, and the League proclaimed a Provisional Government headed by Ymer Prizreni. In March Dervish Pasha's Ottoman army marched against it, and on 23 April 1881 the League was crushed. Its work was taken up by the League of Peja, founded in January 1899 under Haxhi Zeka.

"The pen": primers, schools and books

While some fought, others taught. The Awakening produced Albanian primers, an alphabet, the first secular schools and a literature that called for unity. After the League of Prizren the cultural movement became secular, and politics found its way into literature.

Naum Veqilharxhi, born in Vithkuq in 1797, is regarded as the first ideologist of the Awakening. He devised his own 33-letter alphabet and in 1844–1845 published the primer Evetar, the work from which the Awakening is traditionally dated. Veqilharxhi wanted schools that were Albanian in language, secular in content and open to all.

Kostandin Kristoforidhi translated religious texts into both dialects, and in 1867 he published primers in Gheg and Tosk. Koto Hoxhi secretly taught children Albanian and love of their homeland.

The first educators had no common script. Veqilharxhi invented his own alphabet, while Kristoforidhi wrote separate primers for the Gheg and Tosk dialects. The question of which letters to use for writing Albanian remained open for several more decades, until the Istanbul Society and the Congress of Monastir.

The Istanbul Society and the first schools

On 12 October 1879 the Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters was founded in Istanbul. Its members included Sami Frashëri, Jani Vreto, Pashko Vasa and Hasan Tahsini. The Society created the Istanbul alphabet, also known as the Frashëri alphabet: 36 letters on a Latin basis, which remained in use for almost 30 years.

The Society appeared at the height of the League of Prizren's activity. While the League defended the land, the Society's members prepared the primers and books without which no Albanian school could open. The Istanbul alphabet later became one of the two approved by the Congress of Monastir.

Mësonjëtorja. On 7 March 1887 the first secular Albanian school, Mësonjëtorja, opened in Korçë. The Sultan's permission had been granted in 1885, the Bucharest society "Drita" put up the money, and Pandeli Sotiri became the first headmaster. In 1902 Sultan Abdul Hamid II ordered the school closed. Its opening day, 7 March, is celebrated in Albania as Teachers' Day.

In 1889 the teacher Mati Logoreci opened an Albanian school in Prizren. In 1891 the first Albanian school for girls opened in Korçë, founded by Gjerasim Qiriazi and his sister Sevasti.

Books of the Awakening

The Frashëri brothers, Abdyl, Naim and Sami, became the central figures of the Awakening. Naim is regarded as the national poet, and the 1899 work is described as the movement's manifesto. Among the Arbëresh of Italy, Jeronim De Rada, Demetrio Camarda and Zef Serembe wrote about the homeland.

The brothers played different roles. Abdyl was a politician and the chief ideologist of the League of Prizren, Sami was a member of the Istanbul Society and the probable author of the manifesto, and Naim was a poet. Pashko Vasa, a native of Shkodër, also combined literature and politics: his poem "O my Albania" called for unity, and his book The Truth about Albania and the Albanians, published in Paris, introduced Albanians to European readers.

Women in the Awakening

Women also took part in the Awakening. Their main field was the school: the first Albanian school for girls opened in Korçë in 1891 under the direction of Gjerasim Qiriazi and his sister Sevasti. Sevasti and Parashqevi Qiriazi worked at the school.

Sevasti Qiriazi-Dako published an Elementary Grammar for Primary Schools; the book came out in Manastir in 1912.

In the Albanian diaspora in Romania, Dora d'Istria (Elena Ghica) stood out. She defended the Albanian cause in her writings.

The role of the diaspora

Albanians living abroad did a great deal for the Awakening. The main communities were the colonies in Romania, Bulgaria and Egypt and the Arbëresh of Italy, later joined by the diaspora in the United States.

In the late 1890s Faik Konica founded the magazine Albania in Brussels; he later published it in London until 1909. That year he became editor-in-chief of the Boston newspaper Dielli. On 28 April 1912 the Pan-Albanian Federation "Vatra" was founded in the USA, with Fan Noli and Faik Konica as its leading figures.

The colonies abroad gave the Awakening what it lacked at home: money, printing presses and freedom of the press. It was the Bucharest society "Drita" that paid for the opening of Mësonjëtorja, the 1899 manifesto was published in Bucharest, and Dora d'Istria wrote in Romania. Konica's magazine appeared in Brussels from 1896–1897.

Fan Noli and the Church

Fan Noli was not involved in politics alone. He worked for the nationalisation of the Albanian Orthodox Church, that is, for Orthodox Albanians to have a church of their own, an Albanian one. According to the textbook, the foundations of this work were laid in 1908; the Church's final autocephaly was proclaimed later, after independence.

The Young Turks and the Congress of Monastir

In the early 20th century Albanians pinned their hopes on the Young Turks, a movement for constitutional government in the Ottoman Empire. Its first committee was founded in 1889 and later became known as "Union and Progress". One of its founders was Ibrahim Temo, an Albanian from Struga. From 1906 many Albanians joined in the hope of autonomy.

On 23 July 1908 the Young Turk Revolution triumphed, and Sultan Abdul Hamid II restored the Constitution of 1876. For Albanians this opened a brief period of freedom: in September 1908 the Albanian Club was founded in Salonica, headed by Mid'hat Frashëri, the son of Abdyl Frashëri. Clubs of this kind became centres of Albanian cultural life.

The slogan "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" promised Albanians schools and culture, and while the Young Turks were on their way to power the promise was partly kept. Its most important result was the Congress of Monastir, which opened on 14 November 1908. It was organised by the "Bashkimi" ("Unity") club, with Mid'hat Frashëri as chairman and Gjergj Fishta at the head of the alphabet commission.

The Congress approved two alphabets: the Istanbul alphabet and the Latin-based "Bashkimi" alphabet. Today's Albanian alphabet descends from the second, and Alphabet Day is celebrated on 22 November. You can read more about the letters and how to pronounce them in our section on the Albanian alphabet.

The Congress dealt with more than letters. It presented the Ottoman parliament with an 18-point programme of Albanian demands.

Once in power, the Young Turks broke their promises. They raised taxes, outlawed Albanian armed bands (çeta) and closed Albanian clubs and schools. They also began pressing for Albanian to be written in Arabic script. They convened the Congress of Dibra (23–29 July 1909) to promote the Arabic alphabet, but the Albanian delegates rejected it. The Congress of Elbasan (2–8 September 1909) decided to open a teacher-training school and to set up a society to oversee schools and textbooks. The Normal School of Elbasan opened in December 1909.

The Congress of Elbasan also decided to introduce Latin-script Albanian in all schools and recommended the Elbasan dialect as the common written language. So within just one year the questions of the alphabet and schools were settled by the Albanians themselves, against the plans of the Young Turks.

The uprisings of 1910–1912

The Young Turks' broken promises sparked major uprisings. They began in Kosovo in 1910, spread to the northern mountains in 1911, and in 1912 grew into a general uprising that forced Istanbul to back down.

1910. The Kosovo uprising saw two main battles. In the Kaçanik gorge Idriz Seferi held the line with about 3,000 fighters. At Carraleva the fighters were led by Isa Boletini. The Ottoman army was under the command of Shefket Turgut Pasha.

1911. On 24 March the whole of Malësia e Madhe rose up. On 6 April the highlanders under Ded Gjo Luli defeated the Ottomans at Tuzi, and the raising of the flag on Mount Deçiq is linked to this event. On 23 June Ismail Qemali and Luigj Gurakuqi drew up the Greçë Memorandum, known as the "Red Book". It was signed by 22 highland chieftains and handed to representatives of the Great Powers in Cetinje.

1912. The general uprising was led by Hasan Prishtina, Nexhip Draga, Bajram Curri and Riza Bey Gjakova. Bajram Curri raised the mountains of Gjakova, and the revolt spread to Central and Southern Albania and to Dibra. In August 1912 the rebels freed Skopje, and on 9 August they put forward 14 demands, known as the "points of Hasan Prishtina". On 4 September the government accepted all of them except the last. Hasan Prishtina himself (1873–1933) came from Vushtrri. Between 1908 and 1912 he was elected three times to the Ottoman parliament for the Vilayet of Kosovo, where he championed Albanian rights.

Results of the uprisings

In three years the uprisings grew from a local revolt in Kosovo into a general movement. In 1910 the rebels were defending gorges; in 1911 the highlanders of Malësia were already addressing the Great Powers with a memorandum; and in 1912 they forced the government to accept almost all of their demands.

The uprisings bound together different parts of the Albanian lands: Kosovo, the northern mountains, Dibra, and Central and Southern Albania. Their leaders included both commanders of armed bands, such as Isa Boletini, Idriz Seferi and Bajram Curri, and politicians such as Hasan Prishtina and Ismail Qemali. This experience proved useful only a few months later, when the Balkan War began.

28 November 1912: Albanian independence

The First Balkan War broke out on 8 October 1912, and the neighbouring states advanced on the Albanian lands, leaving no time to wait for autonomy. On 28 November 1912 the assembly in Vlorë, chaired by Ismail Qemali, proclaimed Albania's independence.

The war moved fast. The Serbian army took Skopje and reached Tirana, Elbasan and Durrës. The Montenegrin army laid siege to Shkodër, and the Greek army took Janina, Sazan and Himara.

On 14 October an assembly in Skopje informed the Great Powers that Albanians would fight for their lands. Ismail Qemali and Luigj Gurakuqi toured European capitals in search of support. The diaspora also took action: on 5 November 1912 an assembly of the Albanian colonies met in Bucharest and set up a steering committee and a commission to negotiate with the European chancelleries. On 21 November Qemali reached Durrës, where the Turkish command had issued a warrant for his arrest, and from there he made his way to Vlorë. Meanwhile Elbasan, Tirana, Durrës, Kavaja, Peqin and Lushnja raised the national flag.

On 28 November 1912 the Assembly of Vlorë proclaimed independence. The declaration was signed by 40 delegates, among them Nikollë Kaçorri and Luigj Gurakuqi, and the same day the government notified the chancelleries of the Great Powers. On 4 December a Provisional Government was formed under Ismail Qemali, together with a Council of Elders (Senate) to assist and oversee it. Albania was the last Balkan country to free itself from Ottoman rule.

The flag and the Senate

Immediately after the declaration was signed, the national flag was raised before the people outside the house where the assembly had met. The flag, which individual towns had raised before, became the symbol of the whole new state.

The Council of Elders, or Senate (Pleqësia), had an advisory role. Vehbi Agolli of Dibra was elected its chairman. So from its very first days the new state had a government and a body that assisted it and oversaw its work.

Recognition

The London Conference of Ambassadors recognised Albania de facto on 17 December 1912. On 29 July 1913 it ruled in favour of Albania's full independence: the country was to be a neutral state, guaranteed by the Great Powers and headed by a European prince.

Ismail Qemali was born in Vlorë in 1844. He served as the first prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, resigned on 22 January 1914 and died in Perugia in 1919.

The decisions of the London Conference meant that the independence proclaimed in Vlorë had won international recognition. The next chapter tells how life in the new state unfolded.

Key dates of the Awakening

Next: Albania in 1912–1939. Previous: Skanderbeg and Ottoman Albania.