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The question of Kosovan sovereignty and independence has a history
which stretches far back beyond the outbreak of war in 1998. This
volume is a compilation of key documents on Kosovo from the first
half of the twentieth century. These texts, including numerous
diplomatic despatches from the British Foreign Office, deal
initially with the Albanian uprising against Ottoman rule in the
spring of 1912 and, in particular, with the period of the Serbian
invasion of Kosovo in late 1912 and the repercussions of the
conquest for the Albanian population. The documents from 1918 to
the early 1920s focus mainly on endeavours by Albanian leaders,
including those of the so-called Kosovo Committee in exile, to
bring the plight of their people to the attention of the outside
world - endeavours which largely failed. Further documents reflect
the situation in Kosovo up to the outbreak of World War II. This
collection provides new perspectives on the Kosovo question and
includes many documents which have been largely unavailable up to
now. It sheds new light on many of the major and minor episodes
that channelled and determined subsequent events, including the
Kosovo War of 1998-1999 and the declaration of independence in
February 2008.
Stalinism, that particularly brutal phase of the Communist
experience, came to an end in most of Europe with the death of
Stalin in 1953. However, in one country - Albania - Stalinism
survived virtually unscathed until 1990. The regime that the
Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha led from 1944 until his death in 1985
was incomparably severe. Such was the reign of terror that no
audible voice of opposition or dissent ever arose in the Balkan
state and Albania became isolated from the rest of the world and
utterly inward-looking. Three decades after his death, the spectre
of Hoxha still lingers over the country, yet many people - inside
and outside Albania - know little about the man who ruled the
country with an iron fist for so many decades. This book provides
the first biography of Hoxha available in English. Using unseen
documents and first-hand interviews, journalist Blendi Fevziu
pieces together the life of a tyrannical ruler in a biography which
will be essential reading for anyone interested in Balkan history
and communist studies.
The history of Albania includes some memorable characters - from
the legendary Albanian hero Scanderbeg to the glamorous Queen
Geraldine. Robert Elsie's extensively researched Biographical
Dictionary of Albania History provides fascinating and
comprehensible information on over 700 Albanian and Albania-related
historical figures, from the Ancient World via the centuries of
Ottoman rule, the struggle for independence and the years of
communism right up to the end of the twentieth century. Taking an
encyclopaedic approach, this unique book considers the colourful
cast of characters that influenced Albania's history and
development - be they native Albanians or visitors from overseas.
All notable historical and political figures - from the Kings of
Illyria to Enver Hoxha - are included as well as leading figures of
culture and the arts - from Marin Barleti to Faik Konitza. Visitors
who had intimate ties with Albania - including Lord Byron, Benjamin
Disraeli, Edward Lear, Aubrey Herbert, Edith Durham and Rose Wilder
Lane - are also studied. In addition to these well-known figures,
the entries also comprise individuals as diverse as an
eighteenth-century Montenegrin impostor, a German circus acrobat
and the Austrian mistress of King Zog. As the most reliable and
comprehensive source of information about Albanian history
available in English, this book will be essential reading for
anyone interested in the history of this pivotal Balkan state.
Robert Elsie shows how this important group of individuals
influenced Albanian history and helped to shape the country as it
is today.
As the seventh and probably last state to arise from the ruins of
the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo is the newest country in Europe. For
centuries, Kosovo, also known as Kosova, was part of the Ottoman
Empire, and for most of the 20th century, it was a province of what
was once Yugoslavia. After the military conflict in 1998-1999 and a
period of administration by the United Nations, Kosovo declared its
independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. Focusing not only on
Kosovo's turbulent recent years, the second edition of the
Historical Dictionary of Kosovo also relates the country's rich
culture and long history. This is done through a chronology, an
introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 400
cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places,
and events; institutions and organizations; and political,
economic, social, cultural, and religious facets. This book is an
excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone
wanting to know more about Kosovo.
Albania is not well known by outsiders; it was deliberately closed
to the outside world during the communist era. Now it has
thankfully become free again, its borders are open and it can be
visited, and it is increasingly integrating with the rest of Europe
and beyond. Unfortunately, Albania has had its share of problems in
the post-communist era; it's a land of destitution and despair,
thanks in part to the Albanian mafia, which has turned the country
into one of blood-feuds, kalashnikovs, and eternal crises. Yet,
Albania is, in essence, a European nation like any other and will
soon, it is to be hoped, advance and take its proper place in
Europe and the world. The second edition of the Historical
Dictionary of Albania relates the history of this little-known
country through a detailed chronology, an introduction, a
bibliography, appendixes, and over 700 cross-referenced dictionary
entries on significant persons, places, and events; institutions
and organizations; and political, economic, social, cultural, and
religious facets.
..."A reliable and accurate dictionary of a neglected and little
translated literature..." Choice
Stalinism, that particularly brutal phase of communism, came to an
end in most of Eastern Europe with the death of Josef Stalin in
1953 or at least with the Khrushchev reforms that began in the
Soviet Union in 1956. However, in one country - Albania - Stalinism
survived virtually unscathed until 1990. The regime that the
Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha led from the time of the communist
takeover in 1944 until his death in 1985, and that continued
unabated under his successor Ramiz Alia until 1990, was
incomparably severe. Such was the reign of terror that no audible
voice of opposition or dissent ever arose in the Balkan state, a
European country that became as isolated from the rest of the world
as North Korea is today. When the Albanian communist system finally
imploded, it left behind a weary population, frightened and
confused after decades of purges and political terror. It also left
behind a country with a weak and fragile economy, a country where
extreme poverty was the norm. In the decades since Hoxha's death,
Albania has made substantial progress in political and economic
terms, yet the spectre of Hoxha still lingers over the country.
Despite this, many people - inside and outside Albania - know
little about the man who ruled the country with an iron fist for so
many decades. This book provides the first biography of Enver Hoxha
available in English, from his birth in GjirokastEr in southern
Albania, then still under Ottoman rule, to his death in 1985 at the
age of 76. Using archival documents and first-hand interviews,
Albanian journalist Blendi Fevziu pieces together the life of this
tyrannical ruler, in a biography which will be essential reading
for anyone interested in Balkan history and communist studies.
The Bektashi dervish order is a Sufi Alevite sect found in Anatolia
and the Balkans with a strong presence in Albania. In this, his
final book, Robert Elsie analyses the Albanian Bektashi and
considers their role in the country's history and society. Although
much has been written on the Bektashi in Turkey, little has
appeared on the Albanian branch of the sect. Robert Elsie considers
the history and culture of the Bektashi, analyses writings on the
order by early travellers to the region such as Margaret Hasluck
and Sir Arthur Evans and provides a comprehensive list of tekkes
(convents) and tyrbes (shrines) in Albania and neighbouring
countries. Finally he presents a catalogue of notable Albanian
Bektashi figures in history and legend. This book provides a
complete reference guide to the Bektashi in Albania which will be
essential reading for scholars of the Balkans, Islamic sects and
Albanian history and culture.
The Albanian Operation, carried out by British and American secret
services from 1949 to 1953, was one of the first Western attempts
to subvert a country behind the Iron Curtain. The British liaison
officer for the project in Washington was Kim Philby, a Soviet
double agent who sabotaged the whole venture. In all, about 300
agents and civilians are thought to have been killed in the
disastrous operation. The story was first pieced together by
Nicholas Bethell in his 1984 book The Great Betrayal: The Untold
Story of Kim Philby's Biggest Coup, based on interviews and
conversations with British and American officials and Albanian
fighters who infiltrated the Stalinist Albanian regime and escaped
alive. The present work presents the interviews throws new light on
what actually took place.
Despite the extensive analysis of the historical, political and
legal background of many Balkan conflicts in recent years, little
attention has been paid to the tragedy of the Cham ethnic
community. In 1913 the commission entrusted by the London
Conference of Ambassadors to define the southern borders of the
newly created state of Albania ended its proceedings with the
Protocol of Florence, which provided that the territories inhabited
by almost half of the Albanian population were exempted from the
boundaries of the new state. While nearly 800,000 inhabitants found
themselves within the new state of Albania, the territories
inhabited by the remaining 700,000 ethnic Albanians became
constituent parts of Serbia and Greece - the winners of the Balkan
Wars. The land of the Chams, a coastal area between southern
Albania and north-west Greece known as 'Chameria', was entirely
incorporated into Greece. Since that time, the predominantly Muslim
Chams have faced severe persecution and forced expulsion from their
homes in Greece, particularly under the Metaxas regime, when the
Chams were prohibited from using their own language outside of
their home, and also during World War II, when Chams were
persecuted in retaliation for their collaboration with the Axis
powers. In the aftermath of World War II, the continued persecution
of the Chams forced many to return to Albania, or to seek refuge in
Turkey or the United States with the result that, after the war,
only just over 100 Muslim Cham Albanians were left in Greece. In
recent years, following the collapse of communism in Albania, when
foreign travel again became possible, many have sought to return to
their homelands in Greece and to regain their property. The
documents gathered together in this book consist of records of the
League of Nations and the British Mission, as well as documents
assembled by other diplomatic missions between 1913 and the 1960s.
Together, they address all of the periods of forced expulsions of
the Cham population from Greece. The publication of these documents
provides an unparalleled historical record of the Cham story. This
book will be essential reading for scholars of Balkan history,
politics and human rights. It will provide a fascinating insight
into one of the forgotten tragedies of the twentieth century.
Northern Albania and Montenegro are the only regions in Europe to
have retained a true tribal society up to the mid-twentieth
century. This book provides the first scholarly investigation of
this tribal society, a pioneer work that offers a detailed survey
of all the major Albanian-speaking tribes in Albania, Montenegro
and Kosovo. Robert Elsie provides comprehensive material on the 69
different tribes, including data on their locations, religious
affiliations, tribal structures and relations, population
statistics, tribal folklore, legends and history. Also included are
excerpts from the works of prominent nineteenth and early-twentieth
century writers, such as Edith Durham and Johann Georg von Hahn,
who travelled through the tribal regions, as well as short
biographies on prominent figures linked to the tribes. As the first
book of its kind, The Tribes of Albania will be of interest to
scholars and students of the Balkans, of southeastern European
anthropology, ethnography and history.
M. Edith Durham is best known for her classic travel books about
the Balkans. However, she was also a passionate, articulate and
well-informed commentator on the twists and turns of Balkan
politics and the machinations of the Great Powers. The pieces in
this collection of her writings from the early half of the
twentieth century remind us of the many connections between Britain
and the Balkans over recent centuries -- of Tennyson, Disraeli,
Lord Fitzmaurice, Aubrey Herbert and Margaret Hasluck. With its
wide geographical sweep, the book offers a fair picture of the
Balkans in the early twentieth century: Montenegro, Macedonia,
Kosovo, Albania, Serbia are all represented -- their dangers and
wonders, ugly brutality and startling beauty, history, custom,
geography and politics. The anthology offers vivid pictures of
Balkan locations which will be fascinating reading for anyone
interested in modern Balkan history.
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