April 7, 1939/ 86 years since the Italian occupation of Albania

2025-04-07 14:26:00, Kuriozitete CNA

The Italian invasion of Albania, which took place from 7 to 12 April 1939, was a military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Kingdom of Albania . The conflict was the result of the imperialist policies of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Albania was quickly invaded. Its ruler, King Zog I, was forced to flee to Greece and the country became part of the Kingdom of Italy, as a protectorate in personal union with the Italian Crown.

April 7, 1939/ 86 years since the Italian occupation of Albania

Mussolini's interest in Albania

When Mussolini took power in Italy he turned with renewed interest to Albania. Italy began to intervene in the Albanian economy in 1925, when Albania agreed to allow Italy to exploit its mineral resources. This was followed by the First Pact of Tirana in 1926 and the Second Pact of Tirana in 1927, by which Albania and Italy entered into a defensive alliance. Among other things, the Albanian government and economy were subsidized by Italian loans, and the Royal Albanian Army was not only trained by Italian military instructors, but most of the officers in the army were Italian; other Italians were placed in high positions in the Albanian government. One-third of Albanian imports came from Italy.

April 7, 1939/ 86 years since the Italian occupation of Albania

What happened on April 7th?

On 7 April, Mussolini's troops, led by General Alfredo Guzzoni, attacked all the ports of Albania simultaneously. The Italian fleet consisted of the battleships Giulio Cesare and Conte di Cavour, 3 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, 9 destroyers, 14 torpedo boats, 1 minelayer, 10 auxiliary ships and 9 transport ships. The ships were divided into four groups and landed in Vlorë, Durrës, Shëngjin and Saranda. In Durrës, a force of 500 Albanians, gendarmes and volunteers, led by Abaz Kupi (commander of the Durrës gendarmerie), and Mujo Ulqinaku, resisted the Italian forces. Armed with light weapons and three machine guns, the defenders held out for several hours. After a large number of tanks were landed from the ships, the resistance was broken and within 5 hours the Italians took the city.

April 7, 1939/ 86 years since the Italian occupation of Albania

When the Italian military aggression against Albania began on the morning of April 7, 1939, Zog did not declare a state of war against Italy, and this was political suicide that damaged not only him but also Albania. This led to Zog being treated in the West as an ordinary immigrant and not as the head of a democratic state. After looting the state treasury, he left Albania without making any statement and as soon as he crossed the border he dissolved the government, leaving Albania without an anti-fascist government in exile. Upon hearing this news, an angry crowd attacked the prisons, freed the prisoners and looted Zog's residence. By 1:30 p.m. on the first day, all Albanian ports were in Italian hands. At 9:30 a.m. on April 8, Italian troops entered Tirana and took over all government buildings. Columns of Italian soldiers marched towards Shkodra, Fier and Elbasan. Shkodra surrendered in the evening after 12 hours of fighting. During the Italian attack on Shkodra, the crowd attacked the prisons and freed 200 prisoners.

April 7, 1939/ 86 years since the Italian occupation of Albania

Zog's escape created an institutional vacuum in Albania, which allowed Benito Mussolini to manipulate the political status of Albania according to the interests of fascist Italy . On April 12, a National Assembly composed of collaborationists recruited from monarchist Zogist circles and anti-Zogist circles in exile declared that there had been no military occupation in Albania, but only a change of head of state. /CNA