Montenegro and Albania fuse...

[Kabraloth]

...in the 1910s. The king of Montenegro now has his hands full to keep Albania in order as well.

Discuss.

[LordInsane]

Alabania sounds like a union of Alabama and Albania, but I understand that that is merely a misspelling.

[Kabraloth]

Thankfully it was still within editing time.

[Doug M.]

That's... a little tricky. Starting with the fact that Montenegrins and Albanians had been traditional enemies for several centuries.

Also, there are some inconveniently large mountains between the two countries -- they don't exactly form a geographical unit.

Also, even in 191x, the region that's now Albania had 3-4 times the population of Montenegro.

Mind, I could see Montenegro clawing off a hunk of northern Albania -- they wanted a lot more than they got OTL. Reasonably so; despite Montenegro's tiny size, they'd managed to pin down a lot of Turkish troops that could have been used elsewhere.

But in retrospect, it was probably better for them that they didn't. Serbia insisted on grabbing all of Kosovo, and look how that worked out.


Doug M.

[Kabraloth]

I am actually aware that it's a geographically and politically idiotic idea, but consider that Albania is pretty much a failed state at this point and giving it to Montenegro would mean giving it to a king who actually has something of a power base nearby (plus it will keep them busy and Serbia and Italy focused on Albania and away from A-H).

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Kabraloth

I am actually aware that it's a geographically and politically idiotic idea, but consider that Albania is pretty much a failed state at this point and giving it to Montenegro would mean giving it to a king who actually has something of a power base nearby (plus it will keep them busy and Serbia and Italy focused on Albania and away from A-H).

Wouldn't there be a problem down the line with the royal marriage with the Italian dynasty, and the subsequent Italian appetites? The Italians were already avid enough in the 1930s in OTL. Or does the marriage not happen?