At last the Armenians became exasperated, and decided on retaliation. In the spring of the following year, 1896, Armenians attacked and exterminated several small Turkish garrisons. They were incited to fresh endeavours by the false hopes raised by several European Powers, and arranged a coup de main for the 26th of August. A secret society, calling itself Dashnaktsutian, made a raid on the Ottoman Bank of Constantinople at midday. The conspiracy must have been well known by the Sultan’s secret police, for it failed completely, and all those who took part in this desperate venture were killed. A counter demonstration had been arranged by the Government, for that very afternoon Lazes and Kurds were let loose in the Armenian quarters of Pera and Galata, Haskeui and Kum Kapu; their victims numbered some six thousand killed. The Armenian plot was meant to impress the Western Powers, and they were duly impressed—but nothing else happened.
There seems no likelihood of the Armenians ever realizing their nationalist ambitions; they are scattered so widely over the Ottoman Empire, and for that reason alone cannot forgather for concerted action, as the Bulgarians and others who live in closer community have succeeded in doing. History has shown that even when they did cluster together in their more or less definite geographical limits, they lacked solidarity, so the only hope for them is in individual effort, by which many have risen to importance. With the gradual weakening of Ottoman rule, of late precipitate, the chances are that the Armenians, with their great capacity for business, their talent for affairs, and their tenacity, will play a leading part in Eastern Europe and Asia Minor, now that they have risen above their Kurd oppressors and have out-distanced their Moslem masters.
Another distinct nationality plays a prominent part in the political life of the Turkish Empire—the Albanians. The learned have spent much time in discovering their origin, have written many books about them, and have come to no very definite results after all. Some say they are descendants of the Illyrians, the original inhabitants of the Western Peloponese, and try to prove their theory by philology. A most unreliable guide to the discovery of a nation’s antecedents, as proved by the Bulgarians who, though not originally a Slav race, yet speak a Slav language. In the case of the Albanians, philology is even more misleading, and arrives at less definite results, for very few traces are left of that forgotten tongue, Illyrian, in the language spoken by the Albanians, a mixture of Slav, Roumanian, Turkish, and modern Greek, according to G. Meyer, who speaks with authority.
Another hypothesis is that the Albanians are derived from the ancient Thracians, who were dispossessed of their country by successive waves of immigrants, and took to the mountains. This theory must also be taken with reserve, as so many different races—Greeks and Latins, Slavs and Goths—have passed this way and left their impress. The Albanians themselves will tell you that they are Skipetari, eaglets, the sons of the eagle, and as they evidently wish to be considered offspring of that bird of prey, and lay claim to some of its alleged virtues, it is best to humour them, though the Turks may call them Arnouts, and the Slavs describe them as Arbanasi. Popular opinion confines this people to the mountains of Albania, where they lead a life of untrammelled feudalism; the latter suggestion is more or less correct, the former not so. There are probably about three hundred thousand Albanians in the Balkan countries, and of these about one hundred thousand inhabit the Peloponese peninsula. They are to be found in greatest numbers among the mountains of the district named after them, but many live in Greece, in fact, the population of the eastern and central parts of that kingdom is largely Albanian.
The Albanians certainly possess one virtue ascribed to the eagle—they are brave, and have shown their prowess on many occasions, notably during the wars of Greek independence. Those who know them describe them as pleasant company, courteous and hospitable, but easily roused to anger, obstinate and sensitive. This opinion is probably held by the Turks, who have never succeeded in enforcing their peculiar methods of government on these free sons of the mountains.
Though the Albanians are often divided among themselves, they invariably combine against an enemy from outside, be he pasha or tax-collector, and have thus been able to defy all attempts to bring their country under some semblance of modern government, even of the Turkish variety.
When left to themselves they find plenty of occupation in blood feuds, inter-clan fighting, or an occasional raid across the loosely defined border.
The causes which have led Slavs of the same race to separate and occupy hostile camps do not affect Albanian unity on questions concerning their nationality. They are divided into two distinct sections, the Geks and the Tosks, and are again divided by three divergent creeds, Islam, to which the majority of Albanians belong, Greek Orthodoxy, which claims about two-tenths of them, and another tenth adhering to the Church of Rome. Yet they combine, and have done so quite recently, thanks to the troubles attending the passing of Ottoman rule from provinces that adjoin their country. The Albanians have combined to some purpose, have declared themselves autonomous, were ready with a provincial government, and now invite their neighbours to leave them to manage their own affairs in their own way. This, by the by, they have always contrived to do in face of all efforts to bring them into line with modern ideas.
Little is known of Albania’s past history, though individual Albanians have helped to make history for other nations; the descendant of an Albanian soldier of the Ottoman Empire rules over Egypt. But history has been in the making for the last month or so, and possibly, nay, probably, Albania is about to enter the comity of nations, even as Servia, Bulgaria, and other former provinces of the Osmanli have done.
There is no reason to suppose that Albania will fail where others have succeeded. No doubt their habits are not such as to render government, according to modern notions, an easy matter, but the same was possibly said of the Highland clansmen some centuries ago, yet these make excellent law-abiding citizens. Then the Albanians are a highly intelligent race, and would use their gifts to other purpose than clan feuds when once they see an opportunity of taking part in the world’s work on a different footing from that to which Turkish rule restricted them. After all, Servia’s chances seemed poor, no outlet to the sea, cramped by neighbours none too friendly, yet that country has risen out of chaos, out of slavery and obscurity, to hasten the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and to open out fresh fields for its own economic expansion.