German occupation of Albania
Albanian Kingdom | |||||||||||
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1943–1944 | |||||||||||
Motto: "Shqipëria Shqiptarëve, Vdekje Tradhëtarëvet" "Albania for the Albanians, Death to the Traitors"[1] | |||||||||||
Anthem: Himni i Flamurit Hymn of the Flag | |||||||||||
Status | Client state of Nazi Germany | ||||||||||
Capital | Tirana 41°31′N 19°48′E / 41.517°N 19.800°E | ||||||||||
Common languages | Albanian | ||||||||||
Demonym(s) | Albanian | ||||||||||
Government | Regent constitutional monarchy under military occupation | ||||||||||
Head of State | |||||||||||
• 1943 | Ibrahim Biçakçiu[note 1] | ||||||||||
• 1943–1944 | Mehdi Frashëri[note 2] | ||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||
• 1943–1944 | Rexhep Mitrovica | ||||||||||
• 1944 | Fiqri Dine | ||||||||||
• 1944 | Ibrahim Biçakçiu | ||||||||||
Legislature | Regency Council | ||||||||||
Historical era | World War II | ||||||||||
• German takeover | 8 September 1943 | ||||||||||
• Liberation | 29 November 1944 | ||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||
1939 | 28,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi) | ||||||||||
1940-1943 | 52,667 km2 (20,335 sq mi) | ||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||
• 1939 | 1,063,893 | ||||||||||
• 1940-1943 | 1,701,463 | ||||||||||
Currency | Franga (1943–1944) | ||||||||||
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History of Albania |
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Timeline |
The German occupation of Albania occurred between 1943 and 1944 during
The Germans favoured the nationalist
History
German invasion and construction of a German Albania
In anticipation of such invasion, the Wehrmacht drew up a series of military plans for action against Italian holdings in the Balkans code-named Konstantin. And for a more direct nature, units of German Military Intelligence (
The Germans planned to construct an independent neutral Albania controlled by a government friendly to the Germans. After the
After the capitulation of Italian forces on 8 September 1943, German troops swiftly occupied Albania with two divisions. The Germans formed a 'neutral government' in Tirana.[8]
The occupation of Albania was necessary. We come to Albania not as enemy but as friends, and there is no reason you should be afraid. We shall leave Albania as soon as we consider necessary. We shall leave you free in all your internal affairs and shall not interfere with them. We ask for your obedience and those who do not obey will be punished.[9]
— Maximilian von Weichs address to Albanians on 10 September 1943
An independent state of Albania
The Germans were intent on setting up an autonomous administration and endeavored to persuade Albanian leaders to form a government to take over the administration of the country themselves. Many hesitated, in particular when rumors spread that British forces were preparing to invade Albania. Kosovo Albanian leaders, however, realizing that a German defeat would mean a return to Yugoslav rule, were more willing to cooperate. On 14 September 1943, an Albanian government was then set up under
German promises to preserve the 1941 borders of Albania, assurances of "non-interference" with the new Albanian administration and a general Pro-German outlook of most Albanians (dating from the years before and during the First World War where Austro-Hungarian foreign policies were supportive of an independent Albanian state),[13] ensured that the new government initially enjoyed a large amount of support from the people.[14] The new government, which promised to remain neutral in the war, succeeded in restoring a good deal of stability.[2] The administration and justice systems functioned once again, and Albanian schools were reopened throughout northern and central Albania. Steps were also taken to implement a land reform.[2]
The Germans made a genuine effort, often to their own disadvantage, to leave the Albanian people the impression that they possessed at least some level of autonomy. There was no effort to forcibly recruit labour from Albania for the Reich, as it was incompatible with the notion of Albanian independence. The regent Frashëri also came to an agreement with the Germans in February 1944 which stipulated that Albanian prisoners would not be transported out of the country, however the Germans did not always live up to this, particularly towards the end of 1944. In line with Neubacher's policies towards Albania, reprisals on the civilian population for attacks on the German army were uncommon and certainly not as brutal as in other occupied territories.[15]
Frashëri negotiated for as much independence as he could extract from the Germans and was able to convince Neubacher to recognise Albania's "relative" neutrality and "relative" sovereignty. Albania had a status similar to that of
Partisan resistance and Civil War
The new government and the Germans had to contend with the increasingly Communist dominated NLM and were subsequently able to coerce much of the nationalist resistance into its camp.[19] The Germans launched a series of offensives against the Partisans, who were primarily concentrated in Southern Albania and to a lesser extent in Central Albania. The first offensive, operation "505", started in early November 1943 to clear Partisan units from the Pezë region and remove the threat to the Durrës-Tirana road. Within eight days the Germans declared the campaign a success having killed some 100 "bandits" and having taken over 1,650 prisoners, all of whom were, by earlier agreement turned over to the Albanian civil authorities.[20] The Balli Kombëtar was also involved in fighting the Partisans during the Winter offensive and by late winter the NLM found itself in considerable difficulty. The NLM came perilously close to being destroyed by the German and Nationalist forces, with the units that managed to escape encirclement suffering from lack of food, clothing and ammunition (as the allies were unable to resupply them from the air).[21] German figures put the number of partisan casualties at 2,239 by the end of January, 401 dead in February and 236 in March. By then all prefectures of the new state, except Gjirokstra in the south, remained in the hands of the Albanian government. Enver Hoxha himself acknowledged that "the situation is difficult".[21]
End of World War II and the beginning of Communism
The success of the Winter campaign proved to be short lived, and the Partisans proved to be much more resilient than the Germans, British and many Albanians had anticipated.
Collaboration
Government
After the Union with Italy was officially dissolved; many of the laws passed after Italian invasion were revoked, and Albania was declared free, neutral and independent.[2] At the same time, the assembly revoked the draft law of June 1940 that declared Albania to be a co-belligerent with Italy. The assembly announced that Albania would be governed by a regency of four, one representative from each of Albania's four major religious communities,[2] for the remainder of the war. The Germans had created a government similar to the one that had ruled after the retreat of Prince Wied in September 1914, demonstrating an appreciation for not only Albanian history but also for Albania's religious makeup.[2]
The leadership of the council was originally designed to rotate, but Lef Nosi declined for health reasons and Anton Harapi argued that as a Catholic monk he could accept no position in which he would be forced to sanction the death penalty.[2]
Once committed, the regency moved to form a permanent government, which would begin the process of ending the chaos and stabilizing Albania. Following hurried negotiations, on 5 November, a government headed by the Kosovar,
Military
In line with the German policy of "non-interference" and a desire to save their own troops for deployment elsewhere[25] an Albanian Army commanded by General Prenk Pervizi was formed soon after the new government was set up.[26][27] The Germans added to the strength of several units of the regular Albanian army and also increased the effectiveness of the gendarmerie.[25] Many units which had collaborated with the Italians were preserved and subsequently utilised by the Germans in anti-partisan operations, with the staunchly anti-communist Balli Kombetar (National Front) also being used.[25] Soon after the Ballists and German forces pressed hard against the Communists.[28] The Ballists destroyed a fairly large Communist partisan group south-west of Tirana.[28] The partisan force of about 2,000 strong had been annihilated. With other major partisan forces losing, the Albanian Communists tactically retreated, establishing guerrilla warfare to fight the Balli Kombetar. The Ballists, along with the Germans, occupied the region of Chameria (Cham Albanian collaboration with the Axis). The Balli Kombetar forces were subsequently declared to be "co-operating with the Germans, who are exploiting them with arms in large quantities" according to a British Special Operations Executive report from December 1943.[29]
In Kosovo and western Macedonia, when it was a part of the independent state of Albania, the German and Ballist forces had occasional skirmishes with
The Albanian and Yugoslav partisans were the main threat to Albania, but not the only force. In the
Police
To maintain the military occupation in the new German state of Albania, the
Demographics
Using Italian estimates from July 1941 the population of the Albanian Kingdom was estimated at 1,850,000. The total population of "old Albania" (encompassing pre 1941 borders) stood at 1,100,000, while "new Albania" (consisting of Kosovo, Debar and parts of Montenegro) was 750,000.
Economy
When Germans entered Tirana, they had hoped to find enough money in the national bank to pay their troops. This was to be considered a loan. In actuality, they only found 30 million francs. Meanwhile, overhead expenses for the German army in Albania were about 40 million francs a month.[2] With some degree of urgency, they turned to the German authorities in Rome, where an SS commando raid had recently captured 120 million francs in notes, the plates, 23 sacks of gold coins and 29 cases of gold bars from the main branch of the National Bank of Albania.[2] The gold was sent to Berlin, and the notes were sent to Tirana. The substantial sums were immediately transferred to the National Bank of Albania in Tirana.[2]
The money was used to pay German troops in Albania and Montenegro. It was also used to finance German construction projects such as buildings, roads, road repairs, airports and coastal gun emplacements.[2]
Influences of Nazi Germany
In the Albanian Kingdom, which Nazi Germany formally treated as a sovereign state, much of the industrial and economic activity was either monopolised, or given a high priority for exploitation, by Germany. Almost all of the export companies operating were managed by the Germans, and mostly by the German military.[13] The chrome ore, magnesite and lignite mines and the oilfields present across Albania were under direct German control.[13]
The most important ore reserves for the Wehrmacht in Albania were
Currency
The currency that was used during the German occupation was the Albanian Gold Franga.[2]
See also
- 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
- Albanian Resistance of World War II
- National Liberation Movement (Albania)
- The Holocaust in Albania
Notes
- ISBN 978-1-84511-104-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55753-141-4.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-105-2.
- ISBN 978-0-85045-513-7.
Balli Kombetar, however, preferred German rule to Italian and, believing that only the Germans would allow Kosovo to remain Albanian after the war, began to collaborate.
- ISBN 978-0-7156-3201-7.
Balle Kombetar, strongly Albanian nationalist, Muslim and at times pro-German
- ^ Robert Elsie. "Balli Kombëtar: The Ten-Point Programme". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ISBN 0-8223-0773-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-5628-4.
- ^ Pearson 2006, p. 273.
- OCLC 42922446.
- ISBN 9788690873326.
- ^ "Albania: Heads of State: 1939-1944". Archontology.org. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g Robert Elsie. "1945 Final Report of the German Wehrmacht in Albania". Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ Vickers 2001, p. 152.
- ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 187.
- ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 172.
- ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 175.
- ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 176.
- ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 195.
- ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 196.
- ^ a b Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 198.
- ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 199.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-934536-12-4.
- OCLC 32859822.
- ^ a b c Tomasevich 2001, p. 153.
- ^ a b Dorril 2002, p. 357.
- ^ "Biography of Prenk Pervizi". Retrieved 24 November 2011.
Appointed Minister of Defence on October 1943 following resignation of Aqif Permeti
- ^ a b Pearson 2006.
- ^ Dorril 2002, p. 357-358.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-014-7.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-105-2.
- ^ Bojić, Mehmedalija; Trgo, Fabijan (1982). The National Liberation War and Revolution in Yugoslavia (1941–1945): Selected Documents. Military History Institute of the Yugoslav People's Army.
- ^ a b Tomasevich 2001, p. 152.
- ISBN 9781850652786. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
the activities of numerous Albanian nationalist movements, and life consequently became increasingly difficult for Kosovo's Serb population whose homesteads were routinely sacked by the Vulnetari.
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 154.
- ISBN 978-1-4422-0665-6.
- ^ "Heroji Sandzaka - Acif Hadziahmetovic (1887-1945)". bosnasancak.net (in Bosnian). 2012-04-26. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
- ^ Pearson 2006, p. 326.
- ^ Dorril 2002, p. 358.
- ^ ISBN 0-253-34656-8.
- ISBN 978-1-57488-838-6.
- ^ ISBN 9780521845151.
Sources
- Dorril, Stephen (2002). MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service. Simon and Schuster.
- Pearson, Owen (2006). Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History: Volume II: Albania in Occupation and War, 1939–45. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781845111045.
- Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2.
- Vickers, Miranda (2001). The Albanians: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1860645410.
- Jürgen Fischer, Bernd (1999). Albania at War, 1939–1945. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 1850655316.