Zog of Albania
King Zog (October 8 1895 - April 9 1961) was an Albanian politician and the first king of Albania from 1928-1939.
Ahmed Bey Zogu was born in Castle Burgajet, Albania to Xhemal Pasha Zogu and Sadije Toptani. His original last name was Zogolli. During the First World War, when various armies marched through Albania, Zogu sided with Austria-Hungary, a break with the Albanian tradition, which has been mostly on the side of either Eastern Europeans or Ottomans.
Zogu held various ministerial posts in the fledgling Albanian government that began in 1920. His power base was composed of southern feudal landowners, called beys (A Turkish title for village chieftain) and leaders from noble families of the north, as well as merchants, industrialists and intellectuals. Zogu became a leader of a reformist Popular Party and a prime minister of the republican government. In 1923 he was shot and wounded in parliament. His main rivalry came from the leftists that included bourgeoisie, socialists, and communists led by Luigj Gurakuqi and Fan S. Noli.
The leftist revolt and the eventual capture of the government led by Noli forced Zogu into exile in June 1924. He returned to Albania with the assistance of Yugoslavia-based Russian troops sent by the Tsar, who wanted to overthrow Noli since he had recognized the communist regime of the Soviet Union.
February 1, 1925 he became a president of a similarly newly-proclaimed republic. Although difficult to conceieve such a thing after 500 years of Ottoman colonization and when the whole Tosk Albania had applied the Arab-Turkish social structure where villages were semi-slave planatations run by Bey (Chieftan), Zogu's government was modeled after the Western kingdoms. He went as far as to forbid the muslims to cover their face (a muslim himself) and arrested people for beating up animals. His main partner was Italy. In fact Italy had a free hand over Albania's many matters due the expertise and money they provided, both of which the newly formed Albanian government needed so much.
Even today in Albania various social and ethnic groups are played against each other - something that at Zog's time was quite normal. However, he handled the country very well. The society enjoyed relative peace and prosperity. The Beys of the south ended their semi-slaveryand the northerners who had refused to be part of the Ottoman Empire social structure began to settle in the Middle Albania cities. Albania began to take its shape as a nation for the first time since the death of Skenderbeu.
On September 1, 1928 Zogu declared Albania to be a monarchy and proclaimed himself King Zog. However, his regime was a constitutional monarchy. His rule seemed to share many of the characteristics of the Italian monarchial government, with a strong police force, which the country needed in its first independent government after 500 years. He also instituted a Zogist salute -- flat hand over heart with palm facing forwards. He claimed to be a successor of Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg. He collected gold coins and other precious jewelry and compensated the people with printed or stamped money by establishing the first official currency of Albania. Expenses of his household amounted to 2% of the total national budget, which was still much less than other European courts spent. Other European monarchs primarily ignored him.
Zog's regime brought a semblance of stability in Albania. He worked to crush brigands and institute an education system. Naturally the country's dependence on Italy was increased as they were the main lenders. Unfortuantely, Mussolini did not have any plans for the Albanian King to last long (nothing personal). Mussolini made Albania his link to Balkans and began to control Albania's finances and army. In 1932, Zog tried to resist his influence but failed miserably. When depression grew bleaker, Albania had to import grain from abroad and many Albanians emigrated.
In April 1938, the Albanian King Zog (raised muslim) married a Catholic, Countess Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi, who was half Hungarian and half American. Their only son, Leka Zogu, was born April 5, 1939.
Two days later, in April 7, 1939, Italian troops entered Albania. Mussolini turned the country into a protectorate under the rule of Italy's king Victor Emmanuel III and forced Zog into exile. He moved first to Greece and then to Britain. During World War Two, the northern Albanian resistance groups that were officially royalist were not particularly successful. In fact Albania did not resist the Fascists until they were somehow incorporated into the Eastern European communist movement through Yugoslavian militants. Most of the communists of Albania have their roots in the semi-slave population of the South. After 1942, the truly democratic forces from North and South dominated Albanian social and Political life. They knew they could not fight the Germans or the Italians, so they co-existed with them. However, they ignored the poorly dressed and the uneducated partisans that were growing especially among the villagers of the south and the half-educated Albanians. Those would be the ones that would shut the monarchy and the democracy after WWII.
After the war, Zog's attempt to reclaim the throne was stymied by Enver Hoxha's communists, who exercised a Stalinist type of government over Albanians for 45 years . The King abdicated officially in January 2, 1946 although he did not abandon his claim to the throne. He died in Suresnes, France on April 9, 1961. Queen Geraldine died in 2002.
After the fall of communist regime, Zog's son, Leka Zogu (from 1961 self-styled Leka I, King of the Albanians) returned to Albania in 1997. The government of Sali Berisha forbode Leka Zog to enter Albania, something that many Albanians supported seeing the monarchy too similar with the communist regime of the past. However, Leka Zogu is now in Albania and is trying to establish himself as one of the political leaders of the country. The failure of the Socialists (the sweetened communist party) to create jobs, to fight prostitution and drugs in the South and vendetta in the North has made Leka Zogu an attractive alternative for many people, especially those who believe the Socialist government to be a bunch of mafiozi with no desire or expertize in running a country.
Zog I was the first monarch of the nation. Prince William of Wied had officially run Albania for six months but nobody paid any attention to him, so he left.
See also
External links
- Photos of the royal family (http://pub76.ezboard.com/falbasoulhistoriaeshqiperise.showMessage?topicID=305.topic)
| Preceded by: New kingdom | King of Albania | Succeeded by: Victor Emmanuel |
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