Italy and Albania

...Briefly, in 1921, the Great Powers sitting in the Council of Ambassadors guaranteed the "status quo" in Albania, to the exclusion of outside—which clearly meant Greek or Jugo-Slav—interference, and constituted the Italian army a "fairy godmother," who should watch over the infant people of Albania...

...Ahmed Zoglou is a large proprietor and a Mussulman...

...In view of the strategical position of Albania on the Adriatic coast facing eastern Italy, it was further agreed that, even in the case of the council deciding against an armed intervention in Albania, the signatory powers should reconsider the matter among themselves...

...On the face of things, the overthrow of Zoglou was sure to be attempted In a short time, either by the peasants from within or by one or another of the Comitadgi (Balkan Revolutionary Committees) from without, or even by both acting in concert...

...According to this document, any infringement of Albania's territorial or economic rights was to be brought before the Council of the League of Nations...

...Should an armed intervention be required by the council, the signatory powers engaged their representatives on the council to agree that the task be confided to Italy...

...But there can be no denying the fact that the present diplomatic tension is no more than the acute stage of a malady that is endemic in the Adriatic region...

...It is difficult to find evidence of any other traces of Greek culture among them...

...But their chances of peaceful realization will be not less but greater if the Duce, whose word is Italy's only present law, contrives to sprinkle a saving shower of cool patience upon the heat and flame of his country's distemper...

...The economic concessions were more valuable than the foregoing description of the country might indicate, owing to the fact that reports o£ the discovery of oil had recently come from various regions...

...The peoples of Europe have learned the great lesson of the world war, and "War Clouds in the Balkans," though they may provide as sensational a headline as ever, cannot be regarded as more than a specious excuse put forward by some modern Machiavelli to further his ultimate political aims...

...They are renowned for their blood-feuds and for little else, save the impossibility of either establishing an efficient government among them or attaching them to any of the neighboring kingdoms...

...In November, 1921, the Council of Ambassadors recognized that the integrity of Albanian territory, as laid down by the post-war treaties, was a matter of international concern...

...For years, the great aspiration of the three nations, the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes, has been to attain an independent democratic government and to possess an outlet to the sea for their people...

...This pact handed over the economic exploitation of Albania to Italy, in return for an agreement on the latter's part that she would take measures to protect the then existing government of Albania against any attempt at its overthrow from within or without...

...In a formal pact, the representatives of England, France, Italy, and Japan agreed to leave the task of defending Albania to Italy under certain prescribed conditions...

...The Albanian people are said to have retained the Homeric tradition of hospitality...

...As such, he has never met with much sympathy from the Catholic and Greek Orthodox population, which form a strong peasant party, with the usual ramifications of interstate intrigue that constitute the background of Balkan politics...

...She has little geographical connection with either of them...

...His predecessor, Monsignor Fan Noli, had fled to Italy and for many months received the covert support of the Fascist government...

...Furthermore, the entry of an outsider into the Balkans, be he Turk, Austrian or Italian, has always been, and seems likely to remain, the signal for a general upheaval...

...Unless and until Italy lands troops in Albania, the crisis cannot be said to have reached an acute stage...

...Some measure of political moderation, In Italy and out of it, seems to be the desideratum for the moment...

...Poor as the few ports on the rocky Dalmatian coast may be, they would be rendered absolutely useless, in the political sense, were Italy to take possession of Albania and so bottle up the Adriatic and make it virtually an Italian lake...

...The rest of the country may be traversed on a mule, given a certain measure of courage and a good sense of direction...

...Ahmed Zoglou, though a strong ruler and reputed to be honest after his fashion, had been set up in the face of considerable popular opposition from the Jugo-Slav government...

...The question of whether Ahmed Zoglou is a President or an exile seems hardly worth a feeling of insecurity in the Balkans whose reactions must involve every power, directly or indirectly, and be felt, not only in Europe, but in nearer Asia as well...

...The beginning of the present conflict between Rome and Belgrade dates back to last December, when Mussolini surprised the chancelleries of the world by announcing the signature of the Pact of Tirana between Italy and the actual ruler of Albania, one Ahmed Zoglou...

...The rumor that Italy will immediately withdraw from the League of Nations if the proofs are offered to that body still requires official confirmation, and there is considerable hope in the report in League circles at Geneva and the Hague that Downing Street has addressed to Premier Mussolini on the Albanian question "the stiffest note the British have written since the Armistice...

...Albania is united (or separated from, as the case may be) her neighbors, Italy and Jugo-Slavia, by sea and mountain, respectively...

...There is some attempt at a passable line of communication between its capital, Tirana, and the chief seaport, Durazzo...

...It would be unduly alarmist to see any real danger of another European conflagration in the situation caused by the action of Italy in protesting formally to the Great Powers against certain activities aiming at the overthrow of the present Albanian President, Ahmed Zoglou...

...Both the Italians and the Jugo-Slavs are more or less convinced of the justice of their cause...

...THE controversy which has arisen between the Italian and Jugo-Slav governments over the internal affairs of Albania, and which has provided rich fodder for scare-mongers and war-prophets throughout Europe, may subside as suddenly as it arose...

...No doubt can possibly have lurked in the mind of the Italian premier as to the conduct of Jugo-Slavia in the event of an Italian incursion into Albania...

...Politically, the treaty was at once a surprise to Europe and a threat to the stability of the Balkans, as was immediately pointed out by the Jugo-Slav government...

...Guaranteeing the position of Ahmed Zoglou meant that Mussolini took it upon himself, sooner or later, to send Italian troops into Albania...

...Happily, the government of Belgrade has acted with praiseworthy sang-froid in offering to provide absolute proof of its innocence in the face of Italian accusations...

...There is not a single nation in Europe today—certainly not one whose territories lie outside the Balkan region—which wants to be drawn into any conflict whatsoever, least of all a conflict arising out of some Balkan quarrel...

...The claims of Italy, with an overflowing population, a tradition of influence in eastern Europe that dates back to the day of Venetian and Genoese splendor, and commercial ambitions like those her neighbors gratified years ago, need a less sulky recognition in Europe than they receive...

...Yet, neither can allow its rival to control that uninviting strip of mountain territory along the Adriatic coast...

...But neither London, Paris, nor Berlin would care to see a struggle begin in the Balkans whose extent and result none of them could pretend to foresee...

...Russia, the "big brother" to whom the Slavs, great and little, were accustomed to turn in time of trouble, is temporarily out of the running...

...Yet, out of sheer force of habit, the mere fact that the quarrel had its origin in the Balkans sends a shudder of apprehension through the chancelleries of Europe...

...Albania cannot be described as a rich country...