From Isuf B. Bajrami
Part One
Memorie.al / Treated as an objective necessity, upon the realization of which the success of the struggle for liberation from Ottoman rule and for the preservation of the territorial integrity of the homeland would depend, the idea of the political and military unity of the Albanian people was developed by our prominent Enlightenment figures throughout the entire National Awakening (Rilindja), was placed at the center of this era, and became an integral part of the political platform of the Albanian National Movement. The path of the Albanian people toward national unification and the formation of an independent state undoubtedly had its own characteristics, in comparison with other countries of the Balkans and Europe, conditioned by historical, socio-economic, and internal and external political circumstances.
Nevertheless, Albanian society at the beginning of the 19th century, alongside changes, had many things in common with the neighboring Balkan states and managed to create, albeit with difficulty and at the slow pace characteristic of countries under Ottoman rule, all the premises that led to the formation of the Albanian nation and to the birth of the movement for national liberation and unification.
The issue of national unification was raised by the Rilindas (National Awakeners) not only with the fiery passion of patriots, but also as distinguished scholars. Their concepts regarding the Albanian nation and the role of national unity, supported by historical, ethnic, linguistic, geographical, and economic arguments, were correct and corresponded to the Albanian reality, which they knew so well. The evocation of Skanderbeg’s era served as an excellent example of the strength that unity gave to Albanians in the face of enemies.
The first thoughts regarding the unification of all Albanians, without distinction of religion or region, were given by the pioneers of our National Awakening: Naum Veqilharxhi, Konstantin Kristoforidhi, Zef Jubani, Jeronim De Rada, Thimi Mitko, etc. These were further enriched in the fire of the popular uprisings that filled the era of the Rilindja, and especially during the years of the Albanian League of Prizren (1878–1881). They were reflected most fully and consistently in an entire body of political and artistic literature, in dozens of memorandums and protests sent to the Sublime Porte and the Great Powers throughout the Rilindja, up to the Declaration of Independence and the first years of the existence of the Albanian state.
As evidence of the unity of Albanians, the Rilindas used the common Albanian language, which constitutes the most essential trait of the nation, the central point that united all Albanians regardless of region, religion, or social class. Thimi Mitko considered Albanians brothers and united because they spoke the same language, the beautiful Albanian language, because they had the same homeland, Albania. Sami Frashëri and other Rilindas defended the same idea when they wrote that without the Albanian language there can be no Albanians and no Albania, and that the preservation and cultivation of the language determines not only the unity of Albanians but also the very life or extinction of the Albanian nation.
Pashko Vasa wrote in 1879 that the success of the resistance that Albanians mounted against the Ottoman conquerors in the 15th century had its roots in their unification around a patriotic idea, “for it was precisely at that time that the Albanian union led by Skanderbeg was forged” (P.W.: La vérité sur l’Albanie et les Albanais. Paris, 1879, pp. 40–41). Naim Frashëri conveyed Skanderbeg’s “testament” to Albanians with the verses: “…if you remain united, / Albania is made” (N. H. Frashëri; Historia e Skënderbeut, Tirana, 1953, p. 341).
Upon the common Albanian language, which he valued as “the greatest and most complete proof of closeness,” Jani Vreto also sought to lay the foundations of the unification of Albanians (“Bashkimi”, Shkodër, no. 6, February 6, 1910). The Rilindas did not view the Albanian language, the establishment of a common alphabet—beginning with the approval of the Istanbul alphabet in 1879 and culminating in the decisions of the Congress of Manastir in 1908—its cultivation in literature, and the spread of native schools, simply as cultural issues, but also on the political plane, as powerful propaganda tools and patriotic actions that would aid the unity of the Albanian nation.
The experience of the centuries-long struggle of the Albanian people and that of the Rilindja era showed that national unity could not be achieved without sound organization. The need for organization became even more urgent due to the grave and extremely dangerous situation created for Albania by the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano and the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, which foresaw the partition of Albanian lands among the Balkan monarchies and aimed to erase the Albanian nation from the map of the Balkans.
Under these circumstances, when the internal premises for establishing a political and military unity of the Albanian people also existed, through the efforts of the patriotic Rilindas, led by Ymer Prizreni, Abdyl Frashëri, Sylejman Vokshi, Zija Prishtina, Pashko Vasa, etc., the Albanian League of Prizren was founded on June 10, 1878. Thus was born that all-Albanian Political-Military Organization, which fulfilled the historical duty imposed by the times, creating a true unity of the Albanian people, supported by the common struggle of all patriotic forces of the country for the national liberation of Albanians and the preservation of the integrity of their lands.
The unity in the League of all Albanians, Ghegs and Tosks, Muslims and Christians, was further reinforced by a clear organizational structure. The Central Committee, headed by Ymer Prizreni, with its seat in Prizren, through an entire network of branches and committees established in various cities of the country, maintained links with all regions of Albania, coordinating the activity of the Albanian people toward a single goal. The Albanian nation, just like the unity and compactness with which it acted during the years of the Albanian League of Prizren (1878–1881), could not have appeared suddenly nor be created artificially.
They had their roots in the common national consciousness of the people, formed long ago in the waves of anti-Ottoman uprisings—a consciousness that, during the years of the Eastern Crisis of 1875–1881, “at the moments when the existence of Albania was endangered” (Stefanaq Pollo – Selami Pulaha; Akte të Rilindjes Kombëtare Shqiptare 1878–1912, Tirana, 1978, doc. 40, p. 34), erupted like a volcano that had been simmering for centuries, bringing its fiery lava to the surface.
This eruption of the revolt of a unique nation, whose very existence and political rights were being denied, whose most precious wealth—the native soil—was being put up for auction, is felt powerfully in the numerous protests that, in the name of the homeland—now united by the national idea—and in the name of the interests of all Albania (ibid., docs. 63, 65), were sent simultaneously to the Congress of Berlin and the Sublime Porte from various centers of the country.
This was also seen in the crackle of the insurgent people’s weapons, which defended themselves with common forces against the Ottoman rulers and the new Balkan invaders. The struggle of the League’s forces for the defense of Plavë, Guci, Hoti, Gruda, and Ulcinj, as well as its entire diplomatic activity for the inviolability of the northern and southern borders, which lasted three full years (1878–1881), was transformed into a general national cause.
Precisely because the idea of unity responded to the highest interests of the homeland and represented the aspirations of the broadest masses, because it represented the most powerful and surest weapon that the Albanian people could oppose to their enemies, did those great acts of solidarity and that mass heroism—unprecedented in Albania until then—break out.
The patriotic Rilindas, by opposing the decisions of the Congress of Berlin (1878) for the partition of the native lands among the Balkan monarchies, fought simultaneously for the national affirmation of Albanians in Europe. To this end, they placed before European opinion the most powerful proof—the unity of Albanians—arguing with convincing evidence that the Albanian people constitute a distinct and united nation, “a nation unified in race (meaning: origin), language, traditions, history, and in all the elements that constitute national identity,” a “nation that has its own common will” (Akte të Rilindjes…, docs. 12, 42).
Abdyl Frashëri expressed this idea to representatives of the French government in Paris in the spring of 1879, when he emphasized that: “in the face of the wild greed of their neighbors and the dangers threatening them, Albanians are all bound by a solemn oath to preserve, through common efforts, their homeland, nationality, and language” (ibid. doc. 43).
The fact that Albanians were a united nation, which demanded respect for this principle of nationality, is also found in the views of those European personalities who knew the situation in Albania well and at close range.
We mention the report of the Austrian Consul-General in Shkodër, Lippich, sent to Vienna on April 3, 1881, in which he called “completely mistaken and contrary to the truth” the claim of the Italian Sonino, who had declared that Albanians “are a collection of tribes unrelated to each other.” “In what category does Sonino place the population of Shkodër, Lezhë, Tirana, Ulcinj, Gjakova, Peja, Tetovo, Dibër, Elbasan, Kavajë, and other cities? Even these have the same nationality. Not only Sonino, but no one else will be able to deny the nationality of Albanians” (Xh. Belegu; Lidhja e Prizrenit e veprimet e saj 1878–1881, Tirana, 1939, p. 88), wrote Lippich in his report.
The idea of the national unity of the Albanian people was further developed in the creative activity of the Rilindas who operated at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, especially the prominent ideologue Sami Frashëri, who gave it a broader and fuller meaning.
The generalization of the experience of the three-year activity of the League of Prizren for the unification of the country led him to the conclusion that “Albania must be one and undivided,” that “all Albanians want to be called brothers and sons of one beloved motherland” (Central State Archive of the RPS of Albania (now AQSH), Fund 51, file 4. S. Frashëri writes to De Rada, February 20, 1881).
In the political character “Shqipëria ç’ka qenë, ç’është dhe ç’do të bëhet?” (“What Albania Has Been, Is, and Shall Be?”) (1899), Sami treats the national unification of Albanians as a revolutionary thinker, with the conviction that it could only be achieved through organization and through political and armed struggle. Albanians, he emphasized, need do nothing more than “unite all of them as they are and demand their rights from Turkey and Europe. Turkey… will give them what they demand, willingly or by force.”
If Albanians were to succeed in establishing a strong league and unite all as one single man, Sami reasoned, then no force would be found that would dare to oppose Albania and Albanians (Sami Frashëri; Shqipëria ç’ka qenë, ç’është e çdo të bëhet?, Bucharest, 1899, Tirana, 1962, p. 66).
The idea of the unification of all Albanians, Muslims and Christians, Ghegs and Tosks, dominates the decisions and activities of the League of Peja (1899–1900), and especially the call “Rruga e shpëtimit është në besa-besë!” (“The Path to Salvation Is in the Solemn Pledge!”) Which constitutes its main programmatic act?
Following the path opened by the League of Prizren, the patriotic Rilindas fought so that “the unity created by the League of Peja would encompass all Albanians, Ghegs and Tosks, Muslims and Christians,” rising above religious and regional divisions, to prove to the enemies that Albanians are a unique nation, masters of their own homeland, and capable of governing it. “What will save our nation and homeland,” it was emphasized in this call, “is unity, a general Covenant, a Solemn Pledge (Besa-Besë)” (AQSH. Fond 12 file 1. *Rruga e shpëtimit është në Besa-Besën*).
United and on a single national front, the Albanians faced the Ottoman rulers during the general uprising of 1912. Evidence of their unity and coordinated action was both the engagement of almost all regions of Albania in the popular armed struggle that took place at one time, in April–August 1912, throughout the country, and the same programmatic demands expressed in the decisions of the General Albanian Assembly of Junik, May 1912, and in those of the Memorandum of Sinjë (Berat) of July 23, 1912, which emerged from the meeting of the representatives of Southern Albania.
The patriotic Rilindas rightly saw in them “the unification of the will of all Albanians,” regardless of religion or region, to set the country on the path of civilization. “We,” it was stated in one of the appeals that the insurgents addressed to the European states, “March toward war and death for this sacred ideal, without distinction of religion; one very high faith, which surpasses all others, brothers us, inspires us, urges us, guides us: the resurrection of our homeland, unity, and freedom” (Akte të Rilindjes…, doc. 154). / Memorie.al
To be continued in the next issue
