Robert Elsie
Texts and Documents of Albanian History
Albanian History
1900 — 1919
The French consul in Shkodra, Alexandre Degrand, describes his visit to Tirana around 1898.
Chapter on the Albanians from British journalist Henry Noel Brailsford’s seminal book on the peoples of Macedonia.
The Austro-Hungarian explorer and travel writer, Karl Steinmetz, ventured into the remote valley of Theth, but a dispute between the native tribesmen forced him to change his travel plans.
Albanian rebels slay the Turkish commander of Gjirokastra.
Excerpts from the book Život i običaji Arbanasa (The Life and Customs of the Albanians), Belgrade 1907, written by the old Montenegrin warrior, Marko Miljanov (1833-1901), known in Albanian as Mark Milani.
A Croatian priest travels through Kosovo in the final years of Ottoman rule.
Description of the old bazaar of Shkodra a century ago, before its destruction.
A study by Hungarian scholar Baron Nopcsa on the influence of blood feuding in northern Albania upon the mortality rates among men from the various tribes.
On a journey through Mirdita and Dibra in 1907, the Austro-Hungarian scholar, Baron Nopcsa, was taken prisoner and held for hostage by the notorious bandit Mustafa Lita.
Auf einer Reise durch Mirdita und Dibra im Jahre 1907 wurde der österreichisch-ungarische Forscher Nopcsa durch den berüchtigten Räuber Mustafa Lita als Geisel gefangen genommen.
Tale of a journey through Kelmendi, Gucia and the Rugova highlands, as narrated by an intrepid Russian traveller in 1908.
An Albanian nobleman records his impressions of a visit to Berat in 1908.
A French traveller reports on his journey through Kosovo and northern Albania (Mitrovica, Peja, Gjakova, Prizren and Kukës) in the summer of 1909.
Edith Durham gives an account of her tour through the northern Albanian mountains to pay a surreptitious and illegal visit to Kosovo under Ottoman rule.
German journalist and author Paul Siebertz devotes this chapter of his book on Albania to the lot of women in northern Albania.
A British diplomat in Ottoman service takes part in a government mission to Kosovo and Albania in the last months of Ottoman rule in the Balkans.
The events leading up to the Declaration of Albanian Independence and the text of the Declaration itself are given here as published in a Vlora newspaper at the time.
A German baroness describes the declaration of Albanian independence that she witnessed in 1912, and for which she came up with a flag.
Impressions of the Albanian aristocrat, Ekrem bey Vlora, from the time of Albanian independence in 1912.
British public figure, diplomat and writer, Aubrey Herbert, recounts his encounter with Kosovo freedom-fighter Isa Boletini in August 1912, whom he describes as the Robin Hood of Albania.
As a young journalist, Russian revolutionary Leo Trotsky experienced at first hand the Serbian invasion of Kosovo and Macedonia in October 1912 and described it in all its horror in a report back to a Ukrainian newspaper.
Als junger Journalist erlebte der russische Revolutionär Leo Trotzki den serbischen Einfall in Kosovo und Makedonien im Oktober 1912 und berichtete in einer Kiewer Zeitung schonungslos darüber.
Croatian historian Milan von Šufflay published this article in the Viennese press in November 1912 to counter Serbian claims to Albanian territory.
A report that appeared in ‘The New York Times’ on 31 December 1912 on the Serbian invasion of Kosovo.
In the early eighteenth century, the northern Albanian Kelmendi tribe were exiled by force to the desolate Peshter Plateau, now in Serbia. And they want to go home.
A front-page newspaper editorial in Germany denounces Serbia's extermination policies of the Kosovo Albanians during the First Balkan War in 1913.
A German journalist visits Shkodra just after the Montenegrin assault of April 1913.
Der deutsche Journalist Egon Erwin Kisch besucht Skutari kurz nach der montenegrinischen Eroberung im Frühjahr 1913.
An Austrian lieutenant reports back to the Military Chancery of Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand in Vienna on the situation in newly independent Albania, as he experienced it.
The full text of Austrian publicist Leo Freundlich’s moving book on the Serbian invasion of Kosovo in late 1912.
Buch in vollem Wortlaut des österreichischen Publizisten Leo Freundlich über den serbischen Einmarsch in Kosovo im Oktober 1912.
The Great Powers gathered in London in 1913 and, among many other things, came to the following eleven-point decision that provided a basis of the international recognition of Albanian independence.
This report, published in December 1913, detailed the carnage caused by the Serbian invasion of the Dibra and Luma region along the present Albanian-Macedonian border.
Correspondence from the Austro-Hungarian consul in Skopje on the chilling situation there and in Kosova (Kosovo) following the Serbian invasion.
Lazër Mjeda was the Catholic archbishop of Skopje from 1901-1921. He reports to the Vatican here on the carnage caused by the Serbian invasion of Kosova (Kosovo) and Macedonia in the autumn of 1912.
An overview of Albanian history published in ‘The Fortnightly Review’ by British diplomatic figure Wadham Peacock.
The Congress of Trieste of early March 1913 was an important gathering of Albanian leaders from Albania and abroad to support Albania’s declaration of independence. Hungarian scholar, Baron Nopcsa, who took part in the proceedings, describes what actually took place.
Bei dem Kongress von Triest im März 1913 handelte es sich um eine bedeutende Versammlung albanischer Führer vom In- und Ausland, um Solidarität zu bekunden und um die Lage in dem neu unabhängig geworden Land zu erörtern. Der ungarische Gelehrte, Franz Baron Nopcsa, der daran teilnahm, beschreibt, was dort tatsächlich geschah.
The Anglo-Irish journalist E. J. Dillon was in Durrës, staying in the villa of the ambitious Essad Pasha Toptani, at the time of the dramatic events of 1914 that led to the collapse of the short reign of Prince Wilhelm zu Wied as sovereign of the newly independent Albanian State. In this article, he offers opinions and first-hand views of what he observed.
An Austro-Hungarian official reports on the situation in Prizren one year after the Serbian conquest of Kosovo.
Ein Jahr nach der serbischen Eroberung von Kosovo berichtet der österreichische Vizekonsul über die Lage in Prizren.
Short report of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace concerning the Serbian invasion of Kosovo during the First Balkan War, 1912.
Every winter, the Albanian shepherds of Upper Reka migrated with their flocks down to the Mediterranean coast.
Jeden Winter wanderten die albanischen Schafhirten des Oberen Rekatales mit ihren Tieren zur Winterweide runter bis an die Mittelmeerküste.
Letter from Edith Durham on the chaotic situation in Vlora on the eve of the Greek invasion.
Buch im vollem Wortlaut des serbischen Sozialdemokraten Dimitrije Tucović, in dem er sich aus sozialistischer Sicht u.a. mit der serbischen Eroberung von Kosovo kritisch auseinandersetzt.
Irish Captain Duncan Heaton-Armstrong was the private secretary of Prince Wilhelm zu Wied, Albania’s monarch for a brief six months in 1914. He witnessed the Muslim uprising against the prince in central Albania at first hand.
Albanian journalist Christo Anastas Dako informs Aubrey Herbert in London about the atrocities committed by Greek troops in southern Albania in early 1914.
British travel writer Norman Douglas presents the Albanian minority in the mountains of southern Italy in his book ‘Old Calabria.’
Political figure Mid’hat bey Frashëri denounces the destruction of much of southern Albania by Greek military and paramilitary forces in 1913-1914.
Agenturmeldungen der "Albanischen Korrespondenz" aus den Jahren 1916 bis 1918.
A Czech historian presents an inventory of the major early settlements of the Shkodra (Scutari) region in the Middle Ages.
An overview of Albanian history in the early decades of the 19th century, by Austrian scholar and diplomat Theodor Ippen.
Extract from the memorandum of Wilhelm zu Wied, who was Albania’s monarch for a short six months in 1914, in which he recounts the history of his accession to the throne and the factors that led to his downfall.
Austrian publicist Leo Freundlich describes the visit of a large delegation of Albanian leaders to Vienna in April 1917.
Der österreichische Publizist Leo Freundlich beschreibt die Ankunft einer großen Delegation albanischer Führer in Wien, um dem neuen Kaiser zu huldigen.
Brigade General G. F. Phillips, head of the British Military Mission in Albania in late December 1918, describes the situation in the country.
A memorandum sent to U.S. President Wilson and European leaders at the start of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 to plead for continued recognition of Albania as a sovereign state.
An overview of Albanian history and an appeal for a just solution to the Albanian question, by Mehmet Bey Konitza, who was foreign minister in 1914 and 1920 and Albanian envoy to London in 1922.
Statistics of a massacre in the Rugova Highlands in Kosovo in February 1919.
A memorandum written by Essad Pasha, in exile in London, to persuade the Paris Peace Conference that he was the sole legitimate rule of Albania.