Figs. 51 and 52—Albanians in native costume. The men shown in the upper photograph are “Arnauds” or Mohammedans. The lower illustration shows two Albanians of the shepherd class.
The inhabitants of Albania are totally devoid of national feeling.[189] Various causes militate against national unity. Primeval patriotism, expressed by love of tribe rather than of country, is one of them. Furthermore the peculiar shape of their country transforms it into a number of compartment-like areas beyond which tribal activity rarely extends. The setting up of an independent state in 1913 was a purely political move undertaken by Austrian statesmen to prevent Serbian expansion to the Adriatic. Within the boundaries determined by the ambassadorial conference held in London in that year strife and dissensions prevail now as intensely as during the Turkish régime. Natives of the northern sections of the country speak Serbian dialects and favor union with Serbia or Montenegro rather than independence. Malisori tribesmen fought side by side with Montenegrin troops in the fall of 1912 as their ancestors had done in the campaign of 1711 against the Turks. The Albanians of Ipek, however, gave assistance to Turkish regulars. The inhabitants of the valley of the upper Morava sent supplies to Serbian troops against which the chieftains of central Albania led their men. The purest type of Albanian found in the vicinity of Elbassan, Koritza and Valona[190] is practically submerged in a sea of Greeks. Under these circumstances, partition of the country between Greece and Serbia might not be incompatible with native aspirations. Political stability could be obtained in this case without paying attention to linguistic unity. Nevertheless Albania is not without national boundaries. The valley of the Drin and the range of the Pindus have left their mark in the development of the Albanian people, while the sea on the west provides the country with a most desirable confine.
On the east and south, the limits of Albanian language and nationality become indefinite owing to the intermingling of foreign populations. In the Ipek district, along the northeast corner of the country, two centuries of Albanian invasions have failed to insure preponderance of the Albanian over the Serbian element. Nevertheless at the London ambassadorial conference in 1913 Albania was awarded the only available road between Montenegro and Serbia. The route, cut in the mountainous tangle which characterizes this region, follows the Clementi gap, a district settled by shepherds of the tribe of the same name. The Prokleita mountains allotted to Albania form here a natural boundary. The inclusion of this uplift within Serbian territory would have enabled the Serbians to maintain communication with their Montenegrin kinsmen. Albanians would have lost little in the transaction, as can well be inferred from the name of the mountain, which is Serbian for “accursed.”
A small strip of Montenegrin territory which extends from Podgoritza to the sea at Antivari and Dulcigno is peopled almost exclusively by about 10,000 Albanians. This district was annexed to Montenegro by the treaty of Berlin in exchange for the districts of Plava and Gusinje which were then awarded to Turkey in view of the predominantly Mohammedan religion of their inhabitants.
Montenegrin covetings of the Lake Scutari area are based on economic grounds. The eastern shore of this inland body of water contains broad agricultural tracts which can supply the small state with food products unobtainable from its rocky surface. The award of a small strip of the old sanjak and a portion of the Ipek district, at the end of the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, failed to meet Montenegrin requirements. The new districts are separated from the country proper by a tangle of well-nigh impenetrable mountains. At Podgoritza, the commercial center of Montenegro, it is still possible to buy cereals from Albania more advantageously than from the Ipek region. Furthermore the acquired territory is relatively densely populated and hence unfit for settlement or colonization. Under the circumstances the economic advantages secured by Montenegro by the increase of its territory in 1913 were slight.
The area claimed by the highland country comprises the shore district of Scutari Lake and the Boyana valley. To satisfy Montenegrin aspirations the Albanian boundary should follow the Drin valley to the point of confluence of the Black and White Drin and extend along the Drinassa river. Thence, passing through the coast ranges, it should attain the Kiri river by way of a canal connecting this waterway with the Boyana. Beyond, the line might appropriately be carried to Bredizza and the Adriatic between San Juan de Medua and the mouth of the Boyana.
Such a revision of Montenegro’s frontier would provide the soil which the country needs for tilling. The valley of the Boyana and the drained lake district would soon be taken up by Montenegrin colonists who, now that the Turkish danger is over, are eager to descend into the lowland from their mountain fastness. The connection between the coast and inland districts would likewise be favored by the changed course of the boundary line.
In southern Albania Greek claims to Epirus are not without foundation. Hellenic language and customs prevail throughout the province. The hopes entertained at Athens originally aimed at the establishment of a northern boundary which would have included Valona. In order to satisfy Italian demands, however, a less comprehensive line was advocated, beginning at Gramala bay and extending to the Serbian frontier in the center of the western shore of Lake Okrida. It comprises the districts of Kimara, Argyrocastro, Premeti, Koritza and Moskopolis. According to official Turkish statistics, published in 1908, the region was peopled by 340,000 Greeks and some 149,000 Mohammedans.
The Greek proposals laid before the London ambassadorial conference suggested the following delimitation of the line between Greece and Albania. Starting from Gramala bay on the Adriatic sea, the frontier was to extend to Tepeleni and thence to Klisura. From this point the line was to coincide with the crest of the Dangli mountains and, crossing the basin of the middle Devoli river, attain Lake Okrida, thus connecting with the eastern boundary of Albania.
The thwarting of these Greek aspirations was followed by an insurrection of the Epirote inhabitants of Albania in 1914. The movement aimed at annexation with Greece. Rebel troops lost no time in occupying the region of Greek speech between Kimara and Tepeleni, comprising the coast and the northern extension of the wide valley of Argyrocastro. On February 25, 1914, the autonomy of Epirus was solemnly proclaimed by the inhabitants of Kimara assembled in their cathedral. In the fall of 1914 the Hellenic government, taking advantage of the European war, despatched regular troops into the territory claimed by its citizens. As a result of this invasion the Albanian area of Greek speech was brought under the direct authority of the Greek government.[191]