Could the Albanians have become Europe's Kurds?

During WWI, there were plans to partition the country.



Had this occurred, would the Albanians have become Europe's version of the Kurds? i.e. a large nation with no state

If this happened, would there be more Albanian terrorism as the nationalistic movement gradually turns to Islamism in the modern era? How would Europe/USA handle this?
 
It is very possible that state of Albania not exists. Some nationalism there is but I can't say how radical it is. And how international community reacts for Albanians depends very much political situation.
 
As I'm currently doing my MA and will be doing my PhD work on an area of Albanian history I feel somewhat qualified to answer this question.

I think the answer to your first question is undeniably yes. It's one of the minor miracles of history that the Albanian state managed to overcome it's early obstacles and achieve statehood. It's survival was a very near run thing, especially in the Versailles conference. Had the Italians and the Greeks been a bit more savvy in their politicking they could have easily convinced Wilson to continue his support of the partition of Albania. Instead they played fast and loose and convinced him to take the opposite position leading to the creation of Albania and beginning Albania's love affair with the United States. Nicola Guy does an excellent job of explaining this in her recent book (2012) The Birth of Albania.

That being said, averting Albanian statehood in the early 20th century opens a whole can of worms that could substantially change the face of Europe. The interwar period would be relatively unchanged but the war itself would be substantially different. Especially once Italy surrenders. Nazi Germany might just create a Nazi Albanian state (much like they did in OTL) in order to cheaply occupy the region. Yet without the subsidies offered by King Zog for Albanian students to travel abroad the local Communist movement will likely be even more dominated by the pro-Yugoslav faction than OTL. Post war, I think there's a good chance you could see much of Albania incorporated into Yugoslavia.

Having Albania (minus the southern portion which would be Greek in TTL) incorporated into Yugoslavia as the 6th Republic would certainly make the Balkans more interesting in the Cold War. Especially given that Albanians in Northern Epirus could add an interesting ethnic element to the Greek Civil War. However the trick would be in this scenario having Yugoslavia survive post-Tito and keeping Albania from breaking off like Croatia or Slovenia. Not impossible...

In such a scenario, though I certainly think there would be agitation for Albanian independence I have a hard time seeing said agitation becoming Islamist. Too much of radical Islam clashes with Albanian culture for it to have that big of a purchase on average Albanians. Albanians in my experience are always Albanians first and Muslim/Christian second.
 
But how though, could Albania be partitioned and what is the required PoD for it?

The easiest POD in my mind would come some time during the Paris Peace Treaties and could see Albania partitioned a number of ways. Numerous different plans were proposed but they all fell into the following categories.

1). Three way Partition of Albania
Basically Serbia/Yugoslavia gains Shkoder and a hefty chunk of Northern Albania, Italy gains Vlora/Durres and the central portion of Albania. While Greece gains Gjyrocaster and Korce and a hefty chunk of Southern Albania.

2). Four way partition of Albania
Similar to the above, except with an Italian dominated Albanian puppet state in the middle of OTL Albania under Essad Pasha.

3). 2 way partition of Albania
-Italy would control everything North of Vlora while Greece would receive the southern 5th of the country including Gjirocaster and Korcha.
 
But wouldn't a PoD before the Great War (at the time when Albania was created) be more feasible?

I'm not so sure, the Great Powers all saw an Albanian partition as a potential trigger for WWI and so had largely determined that some kind of Albania (borders were another thing) would be created from the outset.
 
Would have made more sense, although the three way partition would have made a lot more sense. On the other hand, could Bulgaria somehow gain some portions of Albanian territory as well? While Serbia can get Northern Albania, it will have to give up most of Macedonia to Bulgaria.
 
No. The partition failed for a reason. Every time Albania was partitioned, the Albanians ignored it. The only way to keep Albania apart of any nation would be to have it remain in the Ottoman Empire, and even then 1912, the Albanians themselves had rebelled against Imperial authority.
 
No. The partition failed for a reason. Every time Albania was partitioned, the Albanians ignored it. The only way to keep Albania apart of any nation would be to have it remain in the Ottoman Empire, and even then 1912, the Albanians themselves had rebelled against Imperial authority.

So Kosovo, Chameria, and Western Macedonia...how does that fit in? Keep in mind that the creation of Albania itself was a form of Partition. More Albanians lived outside of the 1912 borders than within them. The Albanians seemed to have dealt with that partition just fine...
 
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