The Albanians, though they rather opposed than assisted the Allies in
the war against Turkey, were set off as an independent nation by the
Great Powers at the instigation of Austria-Hungary with the support of
Italy. The {119} determination of the boundaries of the new state was
the resultant of conflicting forces in operation in the European
concert. On the north while Scutari was retained for Albania through
the insistence of Austria-Hungary, Russian influence was strong enough
to secure the Albanian centres of Ipek and Djakova and Prisrend, as
well as Dibra on the east, for the allied Serb states. This was a sort
of compensation to Servia for her loss of an Adriatic outlet at a time
when the war between the Allies, which was destined so greatly to
extend her territories, was not foreseen. But while in this way
Albanians were excluded from the new state on the north and east, an
incongruous compensation was afforded it on the south by an
unjustifiable extension into northern Epirus, whose population is
prevailingly Greek.
The location of the boundary between Albania and New Greece was forced
upon the Great Powers by the stand of Italy. During the first war the
Greeks had occupied Epirus or southern {120} Albania as far north as a
line drawn from a point a little above Khimara on the coast due east
toward Lake Presba, so that the cities of Tepeleni and Koritza were
included in the Greek area. But Italy protested that the Greek
occupation of territory on both sides of the Straits of Corfu would
menace the control of the Adriatic and insisted that the boundary
between Albania and Greece should start from a point on the coast
opposite the southern part of the island of Corfu. Greece,
accordingly, was compelled to evacuate most of the territory she had
occupied above Janina. And Albania subsequently attempted to assert
her jurisdiction over it.
But the task of Albania is bound to be difficult. For though the Great
Powers have provided it with a ruler--the German Prince William of
Wied--there is no organized state. The Albanians are one of the oldest
races in Europe, if not the oldest. But they have never created a
state. And to-day they are hopelessly {121} divided. It is a land of
universal opposition--north against south, tribe against tribe, bey
against bey. The majority of the population are Mohammedan but there
are many Roman Catholics in the north and in the south the Greek
Orthodox Church is predominant. The inhabitants of the north, who are
called Ghegs, are divided into numerous tribes whose principal
occupation is fighting with one another under a system of perpetual
blood-feuds and inextinguishable vendettas. There are no tribes in the
south, but the people, who are known as Tosks, live under territorial
magnates called beys, who are practically the absolute rulers of their
districts. The country as a whole is a strange farrago of survivals of
primitive conditions. And it is not only without art and literature,
but without manufactures or trade or even agriculture. It is little
wonder that the Greeks of Epirus feel outraged by the destiny which the
European Powers have imposed upon them--to be torn {122} from their own
civilized and Christian kindred and subjected to the sway of the
barbarous Mohammedans who occupy Albania. Nor is it surprising that
since Hellenic armies have evacuated northern Epirus in conformity with
the decree of the Great Powers, the inhabitants of the district, all
the way from Santi Quaranta to Koritza, are declaring their
independence and fighting the Albanians who attempt to bring them under
the yoke.
The future of Albania is full of uncertainty. The State, however, was
not created for the Albanians, who for the rest, are not in a condition
to administer or maintain it. The state was established in the
interests of Austria-Hungary and Italy. And those powers are likely to
shape its future.