Pact II of Tirana was signed in Rome, called the “Defensive Alliance Treaty”. The treaty established between Italy and Albania an “unchangeable defensive alliance” for a period of 20 years, a term unparalleled in the relations of other states. In the event of an attack from outside, each of the signatory parties would share the fate of the other party, putting all military, financial, etc. means at the service of its “ally”, if this was requested by the threatened party. The new treaty further strengthened Italy’s influence in Albania, through military intervention in case of war and aggression, and gave it the masked form of “reciprocity” that was missing from the one of 1926. Finally, the term of this the treaty, set for 20 years, gave Italy the possibility that, even if the 1926 treaty with a term of 5 years was not repeated by the government of Tirana, as it actually happened, Italian control over Albania and the possibility of interference in its internal affairs was not avoided. The “defensive alliance treaty” aimed, after all, to turn Albania into a military base for Italy in the Balkans. Pact II of Tirana became even more effective, when on August 31, 1928 it was supplemented with new secret Italian-Albanian military agreements, which determined in detail the manner of establishing Italian military control over Albania, as well as the manner of implementing pact in case of war and aggression. According to these agreements, the Albanian government was obliged to accept only Italian officers as organizers in the Albanian army. Italian officers, unlike officers from other countries, were not forced to obtain Albanian citizenship, but only to wear the Albanian uniform. Although they were paid by the Albanian state, they continued to be called officers of the Italian army. Thus, according to the agreement, a new military mission consisting of 280 Italian officers was established in Albania, headed by General Alberto Pariani. In addition to the military organizers, at the head of the Albanian army, which should not exceed 6 thousand people, there would be a staff of officers, which should depend directly on the head of the Albanian state and not on the high command of the Albanian army. An Italian advisor was assigned to Ahmet Zogu, who was all-powerful for military matters and without whose advice Ahmet Zogu himself would not make any decisions in this field. Pact II of Tirana was seen as subjugation of the country and then influential for its occupation. This pact further aggravated the relations between France and Yugoslavia on the one hand, and Italy and Albania on the other. (Pictured: Signatories immediately after signing Pact II, 1927.)
Text: The history of the Albanian people – Vol. III , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Toena”, Tirana, 2007, page 269-270.
Photo: © https://bulevardionline.com/pakti-i-dyte-i-tiranes/
Graphic processing: AHCF
