The Formation Of The Albanian National Consciousness

Albanian leaders met at Prizren in 1878 to devise a strategy to defend their national rights. The Formation of the Albanian National Consciousness explores the origins of the movement that ultimately led to the creation of the modern-day Albanian nation-state.

As the multi-national Ottoman Empire began to fall apart in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish war of 1878, the Albanian people faced the peril of being absorbed into the surrounding newly formed nation-states of Southeastern Europe. Albanian leaders met at Prizren in 1878 to devise a strategy to defend their national rights. The Formation of the Albanian National Consciousness explores the origins of the movement that ultimately led to the creation of the modern-day Albanian nation-state.Had a national consciousness failed to develop prior to the crisis of 1878, the creation of a national movement, which not only sought to protect Albanian lands against foreign annexation but also strove to unite the four Albanian vilayets into a single autonomous administrative unit, would not have been possible. The development of a national consciousness during the decades preceding 1878 built the foundation for the national movement that culminated in the creation of the League of Prizren and ultimately led to the formation of an independent Albanian nation-state in 1912.

67 texts, including hymns, manifestos, articles or extracts from lengthy studies exemplify the relation between Romanticism and the national movements in the cultural space ranging from Poland to the Ottoman Empire. Each text is accompanied by a presentation of the author, and by an analysis of the context in which the respective work was born.The end of the 18th century and first decades of the 19th were in many respects a watershed period in European history. The ideas of the Enlightenment and the dramatic convulsions of the French Revolution had shattered the old bonds and cast doubt upon the established moral and social norms of the old corporate society. In culture a new trend, Romanticism, was successfully asserting itself against Classicism and provided a new key for a growing number of activists to 're-imagine' their national community, reaching beyond the traditional frameworks of identification (such as the 'political nation', regional patriotism, or Christian universalism). The collection focuses on the interplay of Romantic cultural discourses and the shaping of national ideology throughout the 19th century, tracing the patterns of cultural transfer with Western Europe as well as the mimetic competition of national ideologies within the region.

Professor Skendi, a native of Albania, traces the progress and setbacks of Albania's long struggle for national unity during this least-known period of its intricate history. He discusses the heritage of its people and examines in detail the developments that led to Albanian independence: national resistance to the decisions of the Congress of Berlin, later opposition to Turkey, and the struggle between the Albanians and the Young Turks. Consideration is given to such internal problems as geographic configuration, religious and political division, and to such external problems as Italo-Austrian rivalry, political interference from neighboring states, and the involvement of great powers. Originally published in 1967. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Discover the fascinating story of the Albanian people, whose rich heritage dates back to the ancient Illyrians, inhabitants of the Balkan peninsula since pre-Homeric times. A Short History of Albania and the Albanian People takes you on an enlightening expedition through the pivotal moments that shaped this unique and resilient culture, leading up to the establishment of Albania as a sovereign nation in 1912.At the heart of Albania' s distinctiveness lies its language, derived from ancient Illyrian, setting it apart from neighboring Slavic and Greek communities. This linguistic connection with their ancestors has played a significant role in preserving their ethnic identity throughout history despite political and religious divisions.In the fifteenth century, George Castriota Scanderbeg emerged as a charismatic leader, uniting Albanians from diverse regions and dialects in a shared resistance against foreign aggression. This pivotal moment in history solidified the foundations of the Albanian ethnic identity. The Ottoman conquest ultimately increased religious divisions among the people, but their unwavering sense of ethnic unity persisted. As Iorga demonstrates, by the late nineteenth century, the seeds of a national state had been sown.Among the pioneers in exploring the history of Albania, the esteemed Romanian historian, Nicolae Iorga (1870-1941) uncovered profound connections between the Albanian people and his own Romanian heritage, both tracing back to a shared origin as Thraco-Illyrian descendants. His insightful analysis enriches his narrative and provides a broader context for understanding Albanian history.The book is enhanced with an illuminating introduction by A.K. Brackob, a renowned scholar of Southeast European history whose books include Scanderbeg and The Formation of Albanian National Consciousness. Now available for the first time in English, A Short History of Albania and the Albanian People is an essential read for history enthusiasts and anyone seeking to grasp the complexity and resilience of a people whose roots date back to ancient times. Embark on this captivating voyage, delving into the rich tapestry of Albania' s past and the indomitable spirit of the Albanian people that endures to this day.

Explores the foundations of conflict in Kosovo, charging that the international community's failure to support the Albanians in their initial passive resistance to Serbian repression led to violence.

This dissertation surveys specific episodes in the process of Albanian national formation. Its aim is to contest the official narrative of Albanian historiography which portrays the creation of the Albanian state and the Albanian national movement in a teleological and primordial manner. This present study underscores the resistance to the notion of "Albania" and a secular ethnic "Albanian" from local Muslim and Christian peoples in what, after 1913, was to constitute the modern nation-state of Albania. To present this we have analysed numerous personal memoirs, works of nationalist Albanians, poems and folk songs, newspaper articles and archival materials, school textbooks and personal interviews, which have been used to explain the development of Albanian nationalism. Our analysis commences in late Ottoman Albania, where the ideas of "Albania" and "Albanianism" were conceived within Albanian intellectual circles within the Ottoman Empire. After this we visit the period of Yong Turk revolution and show how Albanianism was forced to compete with Yong Turkism among the intellectual elites of Albania. A portion of our research deals with Tirana - the present-day capital of Albania - where the peasants and most Muslim urbanites rejected secular Albanianism and struggled against it. We also investigate the political factors and the importance that Great Powers played in the 1913 creation of the Albanian state. We explain why the creation of Albania did not create nationalist bliss among the people inhabiting Albania during this time. The Orthodox Christians of the south and Muslims of the center rejected outright and fought against the Albanian state, triggering its collapse in 1915. In the last chapters of our dissertation we show how Albania came into being again following the end of the First World War and the peace conference held in Paris. The crossroads in Albania's fate came with the Congress of Lushnja held in 1920 which led to the solidification of an Albanian secular state. The formation of this state gave the nationalists the tool by which they could now turn the country's Muslims and Christians into Albanians. We furthermore analyse the deliberations of the first Albanian parliament, the endeavors of the politicians and the policies of successive post-Lushnja governments that enabled the secularization of society and state. In the last part we analyse the national school system and its textbooks, both of which were produced and managed by the nationalists in order to produce "Albanians." This last portion examines selected textbooks through which Albanian nationalists sought to persuade the Muslims and the Christians of Albania that they were members of Europe's oldest people: Pelasgians and Illyrians.