German occupation of Albania

Coordinates: 41°31′N 19°48′E / 41.517°N 19.800°E / 41.517; 19.800
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Albanian Kingdom
Mbretëria Shqiptare (Albanian) Albanisches Königreich (German)
1943–1944
Flag of German occupation of Albania
Flag
Coat of arms of German occupation of Albania
Coat of arms
Motto: "Shqipëria Shqiptarëve, Vdekje Tradhëtarëve"
"Albania for the Albanians, Death to the Traitors"[1]
Anthem: Himni i Flamurit
Hymn of the Flag
The Albanian Kingdom 1943–1944
The Albanian Kingdom 1943–1944
StatusClient state of Nazi Germany
CapitalTirana
41°31′N 19°48′E / 41.517°N 19.800°E / 41.517; 19.800
Common languagesAlbanian
Demonym(s)Albanian
GovernmentRegent 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
LegislatureRegency Council
Historical eraWorld War II
• German takeover
8 September 1943
• Communist Takeover & Liberation
29 November 1944
Area
193928,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi)
1940-194352,667 km2 (20,335 sq mi)
Population
• 1939
1,063,893
• 1940-1943
1,701,463
CurrencyFranga (1943–1944)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Italian protectorate of Albania
Democratic Government of Albania
Democratic Federal Yugoslavia
Today part of
  1. ^ As Chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee
  2. ^ As Chairman of the Provisional Administration Committee
Part of a series on the
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State emblem of Albania
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Kingdom of Italy. After the armistice and the Italian exit from the Axis, German military forces entered Albania and it came under German occupation, creating the client-state, the Albanian Kingdom (Albanian: Mbretëria Shqiptare; German: Königreich Albanien).[2][3]

The Germans favoured the nationalist

King Zog's Legalists and the occupation was marked by collaboration between them and the Germans.[4][5] Albania under German occupation retained control of the areas it had received during Italian rule, including most of Kosovo, as well as Western Macedonia, the town of Tutin in Serbia and a strip of Eastern Montenegro. It was the policy of the Balli Kombëtar to have all Albanian populated territories under one state.[6]

History

German invasion and construction of a German Albania

See also: German invasion of Albania

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.[7]

— Maximilian von Weichs address to Albanians on 10 September 1943

An independent state of Albania

Nazi occupation.[8]

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),[9] ensured that the new government initially enjoyed a large amount of support from the people.[10]

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.[11]

Soon after

Ustashi regime in Croatia extended their recognition to the Albanians.[12]

Partisan resistance and Civil War

See also:
Albanian Resistance of World War II
Enver Hoxha, leader of the Albanian partisans, at Odriçan, Gjirokastra, in 1944.

The first offensive, operation "505", started in early November 1943 to clear Partisan units from the Pezë region.[13] The Balli Kombëtar was also involved in fighting the Partisans during the Winter offensive and by late winter the NLM came perilously close to being destroyed by the German and Nationalist forces.[14] 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".[14]

End of World War II and the beginning of Communism

Collaboration

Government

See also: List of heads of state of Albania
Members of Regency Council – From left to right: Fuat Dibra, Mihal Zallari, Mehdi Frashëri, Father Anton Harapi, Rexhep Mitrovica and Vehbi Frashëri

Military

German soldiers next to an Italian tank in Tepelena, Albania in September 1943
See also:
Military history of Albania during World War II

In line with the German policy of "non-interference" and a desire to save their own troops for deployment elsewhere

Vulnetari were also used as frontier guards of the re-organised Albanian state. Fighting in their own local areas (in Kosovo and Macedonia), they fought against both Partisans and Chetniks, "against whom they showed themselves skilled and determined fighters".[19] This unit often carried out cross-border raids in Nedić's Serbia against civilian and military targets.[20] The 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg, established in April 1944,[21] was better known for murdering, raping, and looting in predominantly Serbian areas than for participating in combat operations on behalf of the German war effort.[22]

Police

See also: Second League of Prizren
German column in Tirana

Xhafer Deva was the Minister of the Interior and therefore the head of the police and gendarmerie in the country.[16] A native Kosovar Albanian and deemed the most "effective and reliable" by the Germans, Deva's forces were involved in targeting the internal enemies of the state.[19] On 4 February 1944, police units under his authority were implicated in the massacre of 86 residents of Tirana suspected of being anti-fascists[23] and other excesses committed by the Gestapo in collaboration with the Albanian gendarmerie.[24] Large number of Serbs were killed across Kosovo or deported to camps in Albania starting from 1942.[25] Roma (Gypsies) were also targeted by the gendarmerie and police force.

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.

Serbs of Kosovo and recent Italian Colonists scattered across Albania.[9]

Economy

Albanian 20-franc note

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.[9] The chrome ore, magnesite and lignite mines and the oilfields present across Albania were under direct German control.[9]

The most important ore reserves for the Wehrmacht in Albania were

Devoll roughly one million tons of crude oil were processed after the oilfields were up and running by May 1944.[9]

Currency

The currency that was used during the German occupation was the Albanian Gold Franga.[2]

See also

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-1-84511-104-5
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-55753-141-4
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-84511-105-2
    .
  4. 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.
  5. ISBN 978-0-7156-3201-7
    . Balle Kombetar, strongly Albanian nationalist, Muslim and at times pro-German
  6. ^ Robert Elsie. "Balli Kombëtar: The Ten-Point Programme". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  7. ^ Pearson 2006, p. 273.
  8. OCLC 42922446
    .
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Robert Elsie. "1945 Final Report of the German Wehrmacht in Albania". Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  10. ^ Vickers 2001, p. 152.
  11. ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 187.
  12. ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 176.
  13. ^ Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 196.
  14. ^ a b Jürgen Fischer 1999, p. 198.
  15. ^ a b c Tomasevich 2001, p. 153.
  16. ^ a b Dorril 2002, p. 357.
  17. ^ "Biography of Prenk Pervizi". Retrieved 24 November 2011. Appointed Minister of Defence on October 1943 following resignation of Aqif Permeti
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ a b Tomasevich 2001, p. 152.
  20. 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.
  21. ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 154.
  22. ISBN 978-1-4422-0665-6
    .
  23. ^ Pearson 2006, p. 326.
  24. ^ Dorril 2002, p. 358.
  25. ISBN 0-253-34656-8
    .
  26. ^
    ISBN 9780521845151
    .

Sources

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