The “Central Albania Uprising” began, an anti-nationalist uprising that engulfed Albania in 1914-1915. It erupted due to internal disagreements (between Albanian political figures, among themselves and their advisors or foreign military personnel, as well as among different layers of Albanian society and the administration of Prince Wilhelm of Wied, appointed as the prince of Albania by the Great Powers), the disruption of the balance of interests between the Great Powers, and the hostile stance of neighboring countries towards the newly formed Albanian state. The uprising involved liberated soldiers who had once served in the Ottoman army, landless or insecure peasants, Bosnians settled in the Shijak areas after the Eastern Crisis, and those with pro-Turkish inclinations, among others. The political demands of the uprising, encapsulated in its slogans, were Albania to be annexed to Turkey, persecution of patriots, denial of the national flag, and the Albanian language. The uprising unfolded in May 1914 – October 1914 and October 1914 – June 1915. It began with an armed group attacking a government army battalion at the Limuth Bridge (between Tirana and Durrës) on May 17, 1914. Suspicions about the arming and incitement of the rebels fell on Esat Toptani, the most authoritative figure in Middle Albania, who historically sought to establish that region under his authority. Albanian soldiers and Dutchmen serving alongside Prince Wilhelm arrested Esat, but with the help of the Italian minister in Durrës, he managed to escape Albania for Italy. On May 19, the day Esat Pasha was arrested, the rebels entered Shijak and seized the hills of Rrashbull near Durrës. On June 3, 1914, the uprising leaders organized a general assembly in Shijak, called a congress, where they announced their program. Mustafa Ndroqi was elected chairman of the general center of the uprising, Xhenabi Adili vice-chairman, and members included the mufti of Tirana, Musa Qazimi, Arif Hikmet, and Haxhi Adili. Qamil Haxhi Feza was elected Commander-in-Chief of the army. All of these individuals were known for their pro-Turkish views. The uprising’s program included these demands: overthrowing Prince Wilhelm and his government, uniting Albania with Turkey, installing a Turkish prince in Albania, using the Turkish flag instead of the Albanian one, using the Turkish language, etc. Anyone who opposed this program would be punished with house burning and death. As the uprising expanded, the rebels took control of Tirana, Shijak, Kruja, Kavaja, Lushnja, Elbasan, Fier, and Berat and raised the Turkish flag in Vlorë on September 1. In the regions where the insurgents entered, they ousted Prince Wilhelm’s administration and established their own rule. The tense situation in the country and the onset of World War I, which created a new constellation of political forces and disrupted the Austro-Hungarian balance, forced Prince Wilhelm to leave Albania on September 3, 1914. A month later, on October 2, 1914, Esat Toptani returned to Durrës and, through cunning and demagoguery, peacefully extended his power throughout the uprising area (Middle Albania and beyond). His coexistence with the uprising leaders was disrupted only when Turkey entered the war against the Allies (Britain et al.) on November 2, 1914. At the end of November 1914, the rebels burned Esat’s towers in Lapraka. Then Esat Pasha began to consider and fight the pro-Turkish leaders and participants of the uprising as political adversaries of Turkey. At the same time, the leaders of the uprising considered Esat Pasha a political traitor to Turkey and fought against him as such. Turkey’s entry into the war also brought divisions among the leaders of the uprising because the Turkish government, in alliance with Austria-Hungary, had accepted Albania to be fully included in the Austro-Hungarian sphere of influence and, in line with this new political orientation, had sent three delegations to Albania to convey special instructions. The pro-Turkish leaders of the uprising: Mustafa Ndroqi, Musa Qazimi, etc., in line with these orientations, began propaganda for Albania as a separate state, where the Albanian flag, Albanian language could be used, and even demanded Prince Wilhelm to return to Albania. The turn of the leaders was not understood by the mass of the insurgents and by some of their fanatic pro-Turkish commanders, such as Haxhi Qamili, Haxhi Qira, Reshit Gjata, Man Picari, etc., who continued the war with the previous slogans. Among these fanatic insurgents, Haxhi Qamili, a former comrade-in-arms of Esat Pasha in the garrison of Shkodra and a participant in the uprising against Prince Wilhelm, began to stand out. At the beginning of 1915, the uprising was in complete anarchy, and military commanders and members of local councils acted without being informed and disagreed with each other. Even the landlords who were imprisoned, interned, or killed during this time were those who had supported the national movement and the Independence of Albania. The social motives were weak and did not change the general political line of the uprising. The Serbian army suppressed the Middle Albania Uprising, which, considering the uprising and its demands a threat to Serbia, pursued the rebels to near Durrës, where it only stopped due to the opposition of the Italian government. Dozens of insurgents were killed in clashes with the Serbian army. Many others were arrested and sentenced to death or imprisonment by Esat Toptani, who collaborated with the Serbs. The Middle Albania Uprising in 1914-1915 plunged the country into complete anarchy. (Pictured: Henderik Reimers, Dutch captain of the international gendarmerie, captured by the insurgents, June 1914,)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1373-1375.
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