Peasant Revolt (Albania)

The Peasant Revolt, also known as the Muslim uprising, was an uprising of peasants from central Albania, mostly Muslims against the regime of Wilhelm, Prince of Albania during 1914. It was one of the reasons for the prince's withdrawal from the country which marked the fall of the Principality of Albania.[1] The uprising was led by Muslim leaders Haxhi Qamili, Arif Hiqmeti, Musa Qazimi and Mustafa Ndroqi.[2] Along with a demand of total amnesty, the rebels required the return of Albania to the suzerainty of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.[3][4]

Peasant Revolt
Hendrik Reimers, Dutch captain of the International Gendarmerie, captured by rebels (June 1914)
Hendrik Reimers, Dutch captain of the International Gendarmerie, captured by rebels (June 1914)
Date1914
Location
Principality of Albania
Result

Principality of Albania victory

Belligerents
Albania Albanian Muslims
Commanders and leaders
Vilhelm I
Lodewijk Thomson †
Prênk Bibë Doda
Isa Boletini		 Haxhi Qamili Executed
Arif Hiqmeti †
Musa Qazimi Executed
Mustafa Ndroqi
Units involved

Background
Prince William and his wife Sophie arriving in Albania on March 7, 1914
Further information: Principality of Albania; International Commission of Control; and Wilhelm, Prince of Albania

Prince Wilhelm took the throne of the Principality of Albania on March 7, 1914. Unfortunately, he immediately had to face a chaotic political situation, both within the country and with its neighbors.[5] Based on the Treaty of London signed on May 30, 1913, the Great Powers resolved on July 29, 1913 that they should establish International gendarmerie to take care of public order and security on the territory of newly recognized Principality of Albania.[6] On the same basis, they established International Commission of Control (ICC) on October 15, 1913, to take care of the administration of newly established Albania until its own political institutions were in order.[7]

Prince Wilhelm had to handle a difficult political situation:[8]

  1. Essad Pasha Toptani, who dominated the new government of the Principality of Albania, was both minister of interior and minister of war. By choosing to reside in Durres, instead of Shkodër, Prince Wilhelm was at the mercy of Essad Pasha.[9]
  2. The International Commission of Control and foreign advisers still had a great deal of authority.
  3. There were representatives of both Austria-Hungary and Italy
  4. There was resistance in Northern Epirus, which was finally given a special administration, by Protocol of Corfu
  5. There was fighting between forces under control of Essad Pasha Toptani and the Provisional Government of Albania[9]
  6. The major peasant revolt consisted mostly of pro-Ottoman Muslim peasants.

There were numerous armed groups in Principality of Albania during the regime of Prince Wilhelm:[10]

  1. The International Gendarmerie was under the control of the International Commission of Control and Prince Wilhelm.
  2. The irregular bands of southerners were led by local leaders.
  3. The native outlaw
  4. The Bulgarian outlaw, Komitadjis
  5. The Greek rebels from the Northern Epirus
  6. The peasant rebels in central Albania
  7. Essad Pasha's gendarmerie
  8. The Romanian volunteers
  9. The Austro-Hungarian volunteers
  10. The volunteers from Kosovo led by Isa Boletini[11]
  11. The Mirdita Catholic volunteers from the northern mountains under the command of Prênk Bibë Doda[12]

Essad Pasha Toptani, as Minister of War and Interior, was against a peaceful solution to the problem with the Northern Epirote Declaration of Independence on February 28, 1914. Toptani opposed the International Commission of Control which believed that problems can be solved by diplomatic means. The prince and his cabinet accepted the proposals of Essad Pasha to decide for a military solution. In order to increase the military strength of the Principality of Albania, several thousand Italian rifles as well as Austrian machine guns and mountain guns were purchased and distributed to the (predominantly Muslim) population of the central Albania.

The rebellion was only tacitly supported by the Ottomans, who as a consequence of the Balkan Wars, were physically separated from the Albanian lands. The Ottoman preoccupation with the looming First World War also rendered diplomatic and material support impractical.

Events

The plot of pro-Ottoman Albanians
Ahmed Izzet Pasha

A plot by the Young Turk government led by Bekir Fikri to restore Ottoman control over Albania through the installment of an Ottoman-Albanian officer, Ahmed Izzet Pasha, as monarch was uncovered by the Serbs and reported to the ICC.[13][14][15] Ismail Qemali supported the plot for military assistance against Serbia and Greece.[16][13][17] The ICC allowed their Dutch officers serving as the Albanian Gendarmerie to declare a state of emergency and stop the plot.[14][16][15] They raided Vlorë on January 7-8, 1914, discovering more than 200 Ottoman troops and arrested Fikri.[14][13][18] During Fikri's trial, the plot emerged and an ICC military court under Colonel Willem de Veer condemned him to death.[18] His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment,[14] while Qemali and his cabinet resigned.[16] After Qemali left the country, turmoil ensued throughout Albania.[19] At that time, the Commission was not able to force Essad Pasha to leave Albania because it did not have enough authority.

Revolt
Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, Isa Boletini and officers of the International Gendarmerie: Duncan Heaton-Armstrong and Colonel Thomson near Durres in June 1914

The pro-Ottoman peasants believed that the new regime of the Principality of Albania was a tool of the 6 Christian Great Powers and the landowners that owned half of the arable land.[20] The revolt was led by Muslim leaders Haxhi Qamili, Arif Hiqmeti, Musa Qazimi and Mustafa Ndroqi.[21] This group of discontented Muslim clerics gathered around Essad Pasha Toptani who proclaimed himself the savior of Albania and Islam.[22]

After receiving the news that thousands of rebels had surrounded Shijak on May 17 (only 10 km from Durres), Essad Pasha Toptani was accused of fomenting the revolt against Prince Wilhelm.[23] Without trial, he was exiled to Italy on May 20.[24][25] In Italy, he was received with honor, since both Italian and Austrian representatives played roles in intrigues that surrounded the revolt.[26]

The chaos and revolts deteriorated after Essad Pasha was exiled.[27] In order to gain support of the Mirdita, Catholic volunteers from the northern mountains, Prince Wilhelm appointed their leader, Prênk Bibë Doda, to be the foreign minister of the Principality of Albania. The International Dutch Gendarmerie was also joined by Isa Boletini and his men from Kosovo.[28] Dutch gendarmes, together with northern Mirdita Catholics, attempted to capture Shijak, but when they engaged the rebels on May 23, they were surrounded and captured. It also happened to another expedition from Durres which attempted to release the captured gendarmes. Rebels launched the attack on Durres and even started firing with their light weapons. The people in Durres panicked and the Prince and his family had to find shelter on an Italian ship anchored in the bay.[29]

On the same evening, the rebels released a Dutch officer and sent him to Prince Wilhelm with their demands:[30]

Prince Wilhelm then appointed, Colonel Thomson, to be commander of defense of Durrës. Thomson was killed on June 15 during a rebel attack. The next week, Dutch officers were captured by rebels in central Albania. The rebels captured Berat and Vlore on July 12 and August 21 without fight.[31]

On August 14, the rebels attacked the capital, which was protected mainly by Romanian and Austrian volunteers. The first attack lasted 30 minutes and was repulsed with heavy losses. The second attack began after an hour before it was once again repulsed, mainly due to the brave actions of the Romanians who were greatly praised by their Christian Albanian comrades. After 30 minutes, the insurgents launched their third and final attack, but they were repelled by stiff Romanian resistance.[32]

Only a week after Prince Wilhelm’s departure from Durres on September 3, 1914, another violent revolt arose. The rebels laid siege on Durres, imprisoned Prince Wilhelm's supporters, called for the Muslim prince to establish the Senate of Central Albania.[33] Insurgents hoisted the flag of the Ottoman Empire.[34] The vast majority of population living in the northern and the southern part of Albania disassociated themselves from the Senate of Central Albania.[35]

Haxhi Qamili and his supporters were reported to have bound, tortured and killed many teachers of the Albanian language. Because Qamili supported the usage of the Arabic alphabet (as opposed to the Latin one), he viewed them as enemies of Turkey.[36]

The revolt failed to generate much support in the regions surrounding Elbasan, which were inhabited by a mix of Sunni, Bektashi, and Orthodox Albanians, with the Sunnis being the most numerous. The local Muslims were noted for their opposition to ideas deemed "fanatical" and their identification with Albanian nationalism. Much of this is attributed to the charismatic leadership of the Albanian nationalist Aqif Pasha. Local Islamic leaders also denounced the "archaic" ideas of Haxhi Qamili and supported the adoption of the Latin alphabet, contradicting much of the Sunni clergy elsewhere. The representative of Elbasan in Haxhi Qamili's uprising, Haxhi Feza, withdrew from the movement in protest against Haxhi Qamili's excesses, and for this, Haxhi Qamili personally ordered him to be imprisoned.[37]

Aftermath
Border crossing between the area controlled by the Senate of Central Albania (left) and the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus (right), in lake Maliq, September 1914.

Dutch officers were gradually replaced with officers from Austria-Hungary and Germany, who arrived in Durrës on July 4.[38] Soon the First World War broke out and by August 4 most of Dutch officers returned to the Netherlands. In the autumn of 1914, Essad Pasha, decided to accept the invitation of Senate of the Central Albania to return to Albania to take over the power.[39]

First, he had to provide the financial backing for his government. Therefore, he travelled to Niš, Kingdom of Serbia, where he and Serbian Prime Minister Pašić, signed the secret treaty of Serbian-Albanian alliance on September 17, 1914.[40] In October 1914, Essad Pasha returned to Albania. With Italian and Serbian financial backing, he established armed forces in Dibër and captured the interior of Albania which included Dures.

Atrocities

During the revolt, the "disciplinary forces" of rebels headed by the mufti of Tirana, Musa Qazimi, carried out executions in order to "clean" the "Bektashi schismatics".[41] The rebels, led by the fanatic Haxhi Qamili, burned down many Bektashi teqes from Martanesh in Bulqizë as far south as Berat, due to the strong links between Bektashism and Albanian nationalism and the religious differences between the Shi'ite-oriented Bektashis and the Sunni Muslim rebels.[42]

Other targets besides "Bektashi schismatics" included Christians,[43] Albanian nationalist teachers who had been teaching using the Latin alphabet,[43] and even Muslim clerics who were supporters of Albanian nationhood.[44]

See also
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References
  1. Heaton-Armstrong, Duncan (2005). "An Uprising in the Six-Month Kingdom". Gervase Belfield and Bejtullah Destani (IB Tauris, in association with the Centre for Albanian Studies). Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Muslim uprising in central Albania, one of the factors that led to the Prince's withdrawal from the country and the fall of the so-called six-month kingdom on the eve of the First World War.
  2. "The Efforts to settle amputated Albania state". albaniainbrief.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2011. Thousands of muslim peasants, …were exploited by their leaders Haxhi Qamili, Arif Hiqmeti, Musa Qazimi and Mustafa Ndroqi, …to rebel
  3. Jelavich, Barbara (1999) [1983], History of the Balkans: Twentieth century, vol. 2, Cambridge, UK: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, p. 103, ISBN 0-521-27459-1, retrieved January 25, 2011, Soon the government was faced with major peasant revolt
  4. "Fighting in Albania, The armistice broken". The Advertiser. Adelaide: 15. 1914. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Essad Pasha wished to obtain the Crown of Albania, and the peasants' revolt as well as Arif Hikmet's actions were his work.
  5. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Wied agreed to accept the Albanian throne, and arrived in Durrës on 7 March 1914… The chaotic political situation both within Albania and with Albania's neighbours
  6. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. they reached a formal decision on 29 July 1913 that Albania would be an autonomous, sovereign and hereditary principality… newly recognized principality of Albania needed not only a sovereign, but also fixed borders, a government and… public order and security should be assured by an internationally organised gendarmerie.
  7. Zaharia, Perikli (March 24, 2003). "The post-1989 constitutional course of south east europe". Athens: Centre for European Constitutional Law. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011. Treaty of May 30, 1913. As it was decided at the London Conference of Ambassadors, the sovereignty of Albania was under the protection of the six great powers: Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. At the same time, an International Control Commission was created.
  8. Jelavich, Barbara (1999) [1983], History of the Balkans: Twentieth century, vol. 2, Cambridge, UK: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge, p. 103, ISBN 0-521-27459-1, retrieved January 25, 2011
  9. Vickers, Miranda (1999). The Albanians: a modern history. IB Tauris. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9.
  10. Heaton-Armstrong, Duncan (2005). "An Uprising in the Six-Month Kingdom". Gervase Belfield and Bejtullah Destani (I.B. Tauris, in association with the Centre for Albanian Studies). Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Southerners, whose local leaders... irregular bands ..native and Bulgarian "Komitadjis" (an outlaw or brigand)..."Royal" (Essad Pasha's Own) mounted gendarmes.. Epirotes...troops... peasants...insurgents
  11. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. volunteers from Kosova under their leader Isa Boletini
  12. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. volunteers from Catholic Mirdita and the northern mountains under Simon Doda, nephew of Prenk Bibë Doda
  13. Gostentschnigg, Kurt (2017). Wissenschaft im Spannungsfeld von Politik und Militär: Die österreichisch-ungarische Albanologie 1867-1918. Springer-Verlag. p. 575. ISBN 9783658189112.
  14. Kiefer, Dorothea (1979). Entwicklungspolitik in Jugoslawien. Ihre Zielsetzungen, Planungen und Ergebnisse. Oldenbourg Verlag. p. 320. ISBN 9783486496017.
  15. Tütüncü 2017, pp. 41–42.
  16. Winnifrith, Tom (1992). Perspectives on Albania. Springer. p. 111. ISBN 9781349220502.
  17. Tütüncü 2017, pp. 40, 42.
  18. Tütüncü 2017, p. 41.
  19. Tütüncü, Mehmet (2017). "Grebeneli Bekir Fikri Bey Albay Thomson'a Karşi 1914 Avlonya Olayı [Grebeneli Bekir Fikri Bey against Colonel Thomson: The Case of Vlorë 1914]". Düşünce Ve Tarih. 3 (31): 43.
  20. Jelavich, Barbara (1999) [1983], History of the Balkans: Twentieth century, vol. 2, Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge, p. 103, ISBN 0-521-27459-1, retrieved January 25, 2011, peasants..willing listeners to Ottoman propaganda... attached the new regime as a tool of the beys and Christian powers
  21. "The Efforts to settle amputated Albania state". albaniainbrief.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2011. Thousands of muslim peasants,...were exploited by their leaders Haxhi Qamili, Arif Hiqmeti, Musa Qazimi and Mustafa Ndroqi, ...to rebel
  22. Vickers, Miranda (1999). The Albanians: a modern history. I.B.Tauris. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9. He gathered round him a group of discontented Muslim priests ... and proclaimed himself the savior of Albania and the Champion of Islam.
  23. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. It was obvious to Wied and the Dutch officers that Essad Pasha had his hand in the unrest.
  24. Heaton-Armstrong, Duncan (2005). "An Uprising in the Six-Month Kingdom". Gervase Belfield and Bejtullah Destani (I.B. Tauris, in association with the Centre for Albanian Studies). Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Essad would be sent into exile, without a trial.
  25. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. to exile Essad Pasha to Italy
  26. Jelavich, Barbara (1999) [1983], History of the Balkans: Twentieth century, vol. 2, Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge, p. 103, ISBN 0-521-27459-1, retrieved January 25, 2011, The Italian and Austrian representatives played roles in intrigues surrounding this event...to Italy, and there received with honor.
  27. Vickers, Miranda (1999). The Albanians: a modern history. I.B.Tauris. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9.
  28. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. ... mostly volunteers from Kosova under their leader Isa Boletini
  29. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Panic broke out in Durrës, and the royal family sought refuge on an Italian vessel ....
  30. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. total amnesty and the restoration of the sultan...
  31. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. situation was not much better for the Dutch officers in the other parts of the country. ...Berat fell to the rebels on 12 July and Vlora was occupied without a struggle on 21 August.
  32. "Românul" newspaper, 9/22 august 1914 edition (Romanian)
  33. Vickers, Miranda (1999). The Albanians: a modern history. I.B.Tauris. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9. Barely a week after Wied's departure yet another violent revolt, this time led by supporters of Young Turks, laid siege on Durres. The rebels raised Ottoman flag, imprisoned Wied's supporters and called for, upon other things, a Muslim prince.... the insurgents set up a Senate for Central Albania
  34. Bataković, Dušan T. (1992), "Serbian government and Essad Pasha Toptani", The Kosovo Chronicles, Belgrade, Serbia: Knižara Plato, ISBN 86-447-0006-5, archived from the original on September 6, 2010, retrieved January 19, 2011, The insurgents hoisted the Turkish flag.
  35. Vickers, Miranda (1999). The Albanians: a modern history. I.B.Tauris. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9. vast majority of northern and southern Albanians disassociated themselves from the actions of the Senate.
  36. "A duhet ndryshuar historia e Kombit tonë?". noa.al (in Albanian). Retrieved 2017-10-29. Haxhi Qamili ishte një fshatar i paditur nga krahina e Tiranës. Pse histeriografia, diktuar nga regjimi komunist, e quajti Haxhiun "Pukaçovi Shqiptar"? Ky i paditur, me ca pasues si vetja e tij, në shërbim të xhonturqëve, për t'u bërë i besuar tek fshatarësia e varfër shqiptare dhe me ëndrrën për t'u bërë si kryetar i tyre, dogji kulla të pasurish, përfshi edhe atë të Toptanëve në Tiranë gjatë viteve 1914-15... Një inskinim i tillë nga regjimi komunist, ishte sfidë dhe përbuzje ndaj figurave patriotike, që drejtonin lëvizjet fshatare anekënd Shqipërisë, duke kundërshtuar me armë edhe çmenduritë e Haxhi Qamilit. Haxhi Qamili, propagandonte në popull me parrullën: "Duam – duam Babën, Turqinë!" Ai kërkonte që shkronjat e alfabetit tonë latin të zëvëndësoheshin me hiroglife turke-arabe. Haxhi Qamili filloi të persekutojë dhe vrasë mësues patriotë... Haxhi Qamili, me pasuesit e tij, të shtunave, ditë pazari, vinte në Kavajë. Arrestonte mësuesit e gjuhës shqipe, i lidhte dhe i torturonte. Pas torturave, i hipte mbi gomar, me fytyrë kthyer mbrapsht. Vetë bërtiste para turmës qytetare: "Shikojini kaurrët, duan të na ndajnë nga Turqia!?".
  37. Carcani, Leonard. Fete ne Elbasan. Page 16: "Dhe së fundi nën ndikimin e patriotit mysliman me peshë Aqif Pasha qyteti I Elbasanit do të jetë ndër të parët që do e ngrejë flamurin e pavarësisë më 25 Nëntor 1912. Dhe ishte po ndikimi I tij siç do flasim më poshtë qo do pengojë përhapjen e kryengritjes pro osmane të Haxhi Qamilit në vitin 1914." Page 18: "Fanatizmi I theksuar I myslimanëve në Shqipërinë e mesme do të sillte si dukuri kryengritjen e haxhi qamilit në vitin 1914,por do të ishte ndikimi I Aqif Pashës dhe moderimi i banorëve myslimanë të trevës së Elbasanit do të bëjë që kjo kryengritje të mos marrë zhvillim në këtë trevë. Nga ana tjetër përfaqësuesi elbasanas në këtë kryengritje Qamil Haxhi Feza pasi pa qëllimet aventuriere të Haxhi Qamilit u tërhoq nga kryengritja. U fut në burg për këtë qëndrim me urdhër të vetë Haxhi Qamilit." Page 54: "Kurse Sheh Hysen Sulova do të kundërshtonte Haxhi Qamilin për qëndrimet e tij arkaike dhe do ishte kundër shkronajve arabe dhe I quan mëkat përdorimin e tyre dhe ishte për latinet." Page 77: "Një gjë është për tu theksuar se myslimanët syni elbasanas nuk u përfshinë në lëvizjen e Haxhi Qamilit,pavarësisht edhe nga ngjyrimet fetare që kishte marrë kjo lëvizje.Kjo edhe falë ndikimit të madh që kishte në këto shtresa patrioti Aqif Pasha"
  38. Elsie, Robert. "Albania under prince Wied". Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Dutch officers ... were gradually replaced by... German and Austrian officers who arrived in Durrës on 4 July
  39. Bataković, Dušan T. (1992), "Serbian government and Essad Pasha Toptani", The Kosovo Chronicles, Belgrade, Serbia: Knižara Plato, ISBN 86-447-0006-5, archived from the original on September 6, 2010, retrieved January 19, 2011, The senate of free towns in central Albania invited Essad Pasha to take over power.
  40. Bataković, Dušan T. (1992), "Serbian government and Essad Pasha Toptani", The Kosovo Chronicles, Belgrade, Serbia: Knižara Plato, ISBN 86-447-0006-5, archived from the original on September 6, 2010, retrieved January 19, 2011, Essad Pasha signed a secret alliance treaty with Pasic on September 17.
  41. Gazmend Bakiu and Kastriot Dervishi. "Musa QAZIMI -- N/Prefekt i Tiranes 1913-1914". Tirona. Archived from the original on 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  42. Elsie, Robert (2021). The Albanian Bektashi : the history and culture of a dervish order in the Balkans. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 8–9. ISBN 9780755636464.
  43. "A duhet ndryshuar historia e Kombit tonë?". noa.al (in Albanian). Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  44. Gazmend Shpuza (1986). Kryengritja fshatare e Shqipërisë së Mesme 1914-1915. Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Historisë. p. 339.
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