On April 9, 1961 , in the “Foch” hospital, in Syren, Paris, Ahmet Zogu (King Zog the First), founder of the Albanian Kingdom, president and prime minister of Albania, political and military personality, passed away. He was born in the village of Burgajet of Mat, in a family of bayraktars. In the years 1903-1912 he studied at a military school in Istanbul and then in Austria. After the Declaration of Independence, he became involved in the country’s national and political movement, where he distinguished himself as a politician and officer. He participated actively in the Congress of Lushnja (1920) and was elected Minister of Interior. Member of the National Council (1921-1923); prime minister (2.12.1922– 25.02.1924). After the assassination attempt on him, in February 1924, he resigned. After Iljaz Vrioni’s government was overthrown by the Democratic Revolution of June 1924, Ahmet Zogu and all the other governors left Albania. Ahmet Zogu stayed 6 months in Yugoslavia. There, with the help of the Yugoslav authorities and the support of other powers, he prepared the armed intervention against the democratic government of Fan S. Noli. On December 24, 1924, at the head of the forces recruited by him, he entered Tirana. In the years 1925-1928, with the proclamation of the Republic of Albania (January 21, 1925), Ahmet Zogu was elected its president. In 1928, the Constitutional Assembly proclaimed him King of the Albanians and sanctioned the monarchical form of the state. The “Statuti Themeltar i Mbretnis Shqiptare” (“The Basic Statute of the Albanian Kingdom”) that sanctioned the monarchy, approved by the Constitutional Assembly, entered into force on 1.12.1928. In governing the country, Ahmet Zogu implemented a series of reforms in the social, cultural and educational fields, the most important of which were those that were taken in the field of legislation, such as the Criminal Code, the Civil Code and the Commercial Code, drafted according to the models of the codes of western countries. Ahmet Zogu approved laws for the separation of religion from the state and supported the independence of religious institutions from foreign centers. In order to overcome the economic backwardness of the country, Ahmet Zogu attracted foreign capital to Albania, mainly Italian capital, as well as that of England, the USA, France, etc., to whom he granted concessions for the exploration and exploitation of oil on large surface areas, the concession of the creation of the National Bank (1925) based in Rome, as well as other concessions. Under the pressure of the government of Rome, which took advantage of the financial difficulties of the Albanian state, Ahmet Zogu signed with Italy the “I Italian-Albanian Pact of Friendship and Security” (Tirana, 1926) and in 1927 the Pact II of Tirana (“The Treaty of Defensive Alliance”), which paved the way for the political and military subjugation of Albania by Italy. Economic, political and military pacts and alliances with Italy threatened the Albanian state’s independence. In the first days of April 1939, when fascist Italy had already decided to invade Albania and increased military pressure on the Albanian government, Ahmet Zogu opposed and rejected several times the repeated requests and ultimatums of Rome to accept the entry of the Italian army into Albania and for its “peaceful” occupation. He lived as an immigrant in several countries, in Turkey, England, Egypt and finally in France. His attempts to return as king to Albania, through the help of his sympathizers or interested states of the West, were unsuccessful. (In the photo: King Ahmet Zogu)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2995-2996.
Photo: © https://Albanianroyalcourt.al/sq/zog-i-mbret-i-shqiptareve/
Graphic processing: AHCF
