The Wilmington morning star., 1946-08-17
Albania s Position
Bv ANNE O'HARE MCCORMICK

turn in the Spotllght TINS week Wnen Albania
won her appeal to appear as a witness against
Italy in Paris and became a subject OF de-
bate in New York When her application for
membership was presented to the United
Nations. During her brje+ national existence
between the wars Albania was a kind Of
comic opera kingdom i'll the eyes OF the out
side world, a miniature Ruritania furnished
with wild scenery, family feuds, a 10Y army,
a staggering young tribal chief who rushed
down from the mountains with his men to
overthrow the government on Fan Noli, made
himself king and in turn was forced to flee
with his bride on the Black Good Friday in
1889 when Italian troops and planes raided
the land and annexed il to Italy.
Albania is typical of those national entities
that liv, on in the SOL of the Balkan pen
insula like gnarled roots ir an ancient forest,
impervious to time ana change. Its popu-
lation is less than a million. Twenty years
ago the land was unbetievably primitive, with
out an electric light, a railroad or a news
paper. But if it was untouched by modern
civilization, it also resisted absorption by the
Turks. the Slavs, the Greeks and the Italians.
It is distinct from all the other Balkan peo-
pies, and through centuries of Ottoman rule
managed somehow - retain its individual
character.
1t is the kind of state predestine1 by its
size ana weakness to be a satellite, and it
has always been a satellite. yet never been
quite conquered. The Turks had so much
trouble with the Albanians that they learned
to leave them alone. Tie Ygoslavs aioei
Zog to se:Ze the government, but he never
felt he owed them allegiance: he resisted
their claims by turning to Italy and Concluded
an alliance with Rome in 1926. The Tirana
Treaty was a mistake. however, for it de-
livered the kingdom INTO the hands of the
Fascis1s and opened the way for The seizure
of 1889 But Italy was no more successful
than the Turks in subduing the mountain
tribes.
The struggle between Italy and Yugoslavia
for Albania is not new: it dates IRON the
first World War. In the light OF today's events,
it is interesting to look back on a sceAc N
the Yugoslsv Legation il Tirana on The day
the pact with Italy was announced. The Minis
ter from Belgrade, completely taken by sur
prise, paced up and down his office in futile
and suffering anger because the Italians,
tacitly encouraged by the British, had stolen
a march on him and made him look like
a fool" he said, in the eyes OF his own
government. Tirana was like a frontier out
post il those oays-but an outpost boiling
with the oldest brew Of International intrigue.
Vallona stands on one side of the narrow
gate of the Adriatic, and the objective o. the
Diplomatic war. then as now, was to gain
VI lC 81
Europe.
Italy, in the fist flush of Fascist ambition.
was in the ascendant. Yugoslavia was a new
conner, an unveiled triure kingdom too in
experienced as a power and too beset by
internal splits to play with the old masters
in the international game. Russia did not ap-
pear in the picture and Germany had hardly
resumed that penetration of the Balkans that
was the overture to this war as it was to
W. 1,e+ o-o Nov, 4bo +ob1ec r turned Tta1v
stands weakened and dlore on the open side
of the Adriatic. and yugoslavia, backed by
the nigh. CT Russia, mans the mountains on
the other shore and claims dominion oVe- the
narrow sea and the door that leads 10 the
Danube.
Albania is now a kind CT sub-sate!lite. undel
the double protection Of Belgrade ana Mos
COW. The Russians are reported to be fortity-
ing the port of Vallona. Whether this is true
or not, Albania is obviously drawn into the
Soviet sphere of influence The United States
has not vet recognized the government of
Gen. Enver Hoxha, who took over a part
of the country before the end of the war,
and the debate on Albania's eligibility to
membership in the United Nations centers on
the question CT how representative his gov
ernment really is, and how competent to full
fill freely it's international obligations.
The balance of power las changed and the
Europe or lOQdV is IOI iIC GQlOPS vi yColOl-
day, but the constituent elements remain the
same. The experience Of Turkey, Italy and
Yugoslavia in the past does not suggest that
any power will find it easy to subJugate Al
bania.
It is extraordinary how a million people in
the heart Of Europe, planted in a strategic
spot that has teen coveted by all the empire
builders, have been able to preserve their
own language, their cwn customs, physical
characteristics strikingly distinct from the
neighboring Slavs and Greeks, and in essence
their own freedom through the vicissitudes
and con1uests of 1000 years. To anyone who
knows anything of the Albanians, it is a pretty
safe bet that they will continue, insignificant
mouthful IS they are, to prove indigestible,
either to a federation of the South Slavs or
to an extension of the Soviet republics.
The Balkan nations are accustomed to be-
ing pushed around by Big Powers, and in
the process they have learned long since the
art of sliding out from under at the first
opportunity. Nowhere else will Russia learn
so well how tough small peoples are and
how unforgettoble is the flavor OF freedom
when once it has been tasted.-NeW York
Times.