Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939)

By June 1934, the Albanian Kingdom had signed trade agreements with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Greece, and Benito Mussolini had suspended all payments to Tirana.^{[citation needed]} An Italian attempt to intimidate the Albanians by sending a fleet of Regia Marina warships to Albania failed because the Albanians only allowed the forces to land unarmed.^{[citation needed]} Mussolini then attempted to buy off the Albanians.^{[citation needed]} In 1935, he presented the Albanian government with 3 million gold francs as a gift.^{[citation needed]}

This article is part of a series about Zog I
King of Albania 1925 leader of Albania 1922-1939 Government Republic(1925–1928) Kingdom(1928–1939) Royal Albanian Army Zogist salute Franga Treaties of Tirana Albanian nationalism Creation of Bank of Albania 1928 parliamentary election 1932 1937 Battle World War II in Albania Italian invasion of Albania Life in exile and death Life in exile and death Legacy Legality Movement Zogu I Boulevard King Zog (statue) Family House of Zogu
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Zog's success in defeating two local rebellions convinced Mussolini that the Italians had to reach a new agreement with the Albanian monarch. Relations with Italy were improved in 1936. A government of young men led by

Secondary education was organized "in the most suitable way to strengthen the will and discipline in the work of the Albanian youth and to awaken the sense of duty towards oneself and towards the Motherland and equip it with a general and national culture."[4]

The types of secondary schools were: gymnasium and lyceum where all subjects were taught in French; Normal commercial institutes, city schools and technical institutes. In secondary schools, lessons were extended: eight years in full gymnasium, nine years in lyceum, of which one is preparation; normally four years; in the commercial institute four years; 4 years in the city and 4 years in the Technical Institute. The normal school of the commercial institute was considered as a high level school, the city school is the lower level and the technical institute high level.

The branches that a city school could have, the division of which begins in the third year, were: trade, woodworking, ironworking, animal husbandry, agriculture and home economics.

The grades used in secondary schools were: 1 (very good); 2 (good); 3 (fairly good): 4 (passable); 5 (bad); 6 (very bad). In the lyceum of Korça, the system of grades was different: 10 was the best grade, 5 was a passing grade, and 0 was the worst grade.

The following lessons were taught in high schools and lyceums:

• Civil and moral knowledge.
• Language and literature.
• Mathematics.
• History.
• Geography.
• Biology.
• Old Greek.
• Latin.
• Elements of philosophy.
• Elements of political economy and law.
• Calligraphy and Drawing.
• Music.
• Gymnastics.^[5]

Economy

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In 1928, the Basic Statute was adopted, along with a

In 1929, the world was caught by a major crisis caused by overproduction.^{[dubious – discuss]} Its effects were very damaging to Albania. During this year, Zog saw the first signs of the crisis, mainly in the financial and monetary system; they became more sensitive in 1930. The peak of the crisis was between 1934 and 1935. Most industries were paralyzed or went bankrupt. The crisis deeply affected all credit systems. At this time, due to the ongoing budget deficit, and financial difficulties evident in many areas and sectors of the country, loans were taken from Western countries, but the majority were from Italy.

In 1931, Albanian agriculture was affected by a major drought which caused serious consequences in the national food supply. In 1932, as a result of this situation, 33% more wheat and corn was imported.

The crisis of 1930–1934 differs in many ways: the percentage of the population living with non-agricultural employment was reduced from 15.9% in 1930 to 15.4% in 1938. Albanian exports grew from 2 million gold francs to 12 million between 1923 and 1931, but fell back to 1923 levels within the next two years. A difficult situation occurred between 1935 and 1936 when the government was forced to distribute emergency food aid in poor areas. Places that sold Albanian goods placed tariffs on imports of cheese and butter. The crisis affected the livestock industry, which accounted for 70% of total national exports. Another significant impact was the establishment of the so-called "tax xhelepit", which applied to head/livestock. In 1933, the state cut the taxes by 50%.

Peasant farmers accounted for the vast majority of the Albanian population. Albania had practically no industry, and the country's potential for hydroelectric power was virtually untapped. Oil was the country's main extractable resource. The Italians took over the oil-drilling concessions of all other foreign companies in 1939 by creating the company "Sveja". A pipeline between the Kuçovë oil field and Vlorë's port expedited shipments of crude petroleum to Italy's refineries. This company dealt with Albania's natural resources. Albania also possessed: bitumen, lignite, iron, chromite, copper, bauxite, manganese, and some gold. Shkodër had a cement factory; Korçë, a brewery; and Durrës and Shkodër, cigarette factories that used locally grown tobacco.

In 1934, the price of the grain reached the lowest level, at about 7.5 gold francs. A strong decline in prices, mainly in the agricultural and livestock industry, affected the monetary and credit policies of the National Commercial Bank. During the years of the crisis, the bank reduced the amount of currency in circulation, which worsened the deflation. The artificially increased value of the franc lowered the prices of products. In mid-1935, Albania entered a recovery phase. Industry recovered, and Zogu created tax incentives, especially for cement factories, which were made exempt from taxes for three years.

Between 1933 and 1935, economic development emerged in the agriculture, livestock and industrial capital industries. Construction of roads and bridges began, along with fifty-three telegraph post links.

During much of the interwar period, Italians held most of the technical jobs in the Albanian economy. Albania had four ports: Durrës, Shëngjin, Vlorë, and Sarandë. Albania's main exports were petroleum, animal skins, cheese, livestock, and eggs. Primary imports were grain and other foodstuffs, metal products, and machinery. In 1939, the value of Albania's imports was four times that of its exports. About seventy percent of Albania's exports went to Italy. Italian factories furnished about forty percent of Albania's imports, and the Italian government paid for the rest.

In 1938 there was a general activation of the national capital in industry. During this period the number of enterprises reached 244, while the number of employees at State administration rose up to 7.435. Industrial production rose, while agriculture declined. In 1938, the total area of agricultural land estimated at 1,163 hectares (2,874 acres), about 39.5% of the occupied state and private property, while smallholders owned 60%.

Cereal production in Albania did not meet its needs. Wheat production was estimated at 38,000 tons, while production of maize was 143,000 tons. After the crisis, the production of industrial crops rose. Tobacco accounted for about 1,100 hectares (2,600 acres). Cereal crops were also grown. Framers planted about 1.2 million roots for cereal crops, 100,000 citrus roots, 41.5 million vineyard roots, and 1.6 million olive trees roots.

During the period between 1936 and 1938 the economy recovered. Trade amounted to 32.7 million gold francs, with 65% growth. Exports grew by 61.5% and imports by 67.3%. Exports in 1938 represented 66.3% of the 1928 level. During the 1936–1938 period the state budget had increased. The Albanian kingdom period was characterized by the growing number of utility works; in 1939 there were thirty-six enterprises in the construction industry.

During this eleven-year period serious efforts were made to create a national road network using an investment of sixty million gold francs borrowed from the Italian Kingdom. During the ten-year period between 1929 and 1939 850 km of main roads, 456 km of secondary roads, 4,062 small bridges 10,250 miles long, and seventy-six major bridges 2,050 miles in length were constructed. This period also introduced the construction of a sewage network, and, for the first time, money was invested to build segments of roads in the northern part of Albania. The most important roads were: Shkodër-Puka, Mat-Bishop Bridge, Krujë-Mat, Tirana-Elbasan, Lushnjë-Mbrostar, Korçë-Burrel, Burrel-Dibër, Tiranë-Shijak-Durrës, Tiranë-Ndroq-Durrës, and Tiranë-Krrabë-Elbasan. Engineers from Europe were employed to complete these projects. In 1938, the value of investments reached 150 million

During 1938, 95,000 tons of cargo were transported, equal to 1 million tons per kilometer. During the same period, the total turnover of goods in retail trade amounted to 3,900 million in 1947 prices. On 28 November 1938, Radio Tirana, the national radio station began broadcasting. Construction of the port of Durrës began. The construction of brace works, irrigation canals, etc., was interrupted by the beginning of World War II (1939–1945).

Military

The Royal Albanian Army was the army of the Albanian Kingdom and King Zogu from 1928 until 1939. Its commander-in-chief was King Zog; its commander was General Xhemal Aranitasi; its Chief of Staff was General Gustav von Myrdacz. The army was financed mainly by Italy during period between 1936 and 1939.^[6] The army had 15,600 deployed personnel and 29,860 reserve personnel.

Social conditions

Poor and remote, Albania remained decades behind the other

The American Red Cross opened schools and hospitals at Durrës and Tirana, and one Red Cross worker founded an Albanian chapter of the Boy Scouts that all boys between twelve and eighteen years old were subsequently required to join by law. Although hundreds of schools opened across the country, in 1938 only 36% of all Albanian children of school age were receiving education of any kind.

During the reign of Zog primary education became necessary. Despite meager educational opportunities, literature flourished in Albania between the two world wars. Substantial progress had been achieved in literature, and art publishing operations. Distinguished writers included: