Romance Nation in the Balkans.

So the vulgar Latin of Illyro Roman's evolved into different dialects and these Romance languages originally had a strong ground between Croatia Dalmatia and Montenegro. historically. Despite being outnumbered by Slavic it took centuries for Romance languages to disappear late 19th Century. Ragusa had been once a mighty Medival Mediterranean City State in Dalmatia with Ragusian language spoken there. So what if at least on Romance language Nation state (or ethnic peoples later becoming independent) could have persisted until at least 20th Century or later ? What woud a significant Romance identity add to the mixture of OTL Ex Yugoslavia ? OK Romania is also Balkans so at least one Tonanic nation but still the challenge is an Romani Nation possibly between Dalmatia and Montenegro.
 
Do the Aromanians count? There was an attempt during WWII to create an Aromanian state in the Balkans by a group of Aromanian nationalists who appealed to the occupying Italians, but the Italians refused to take them up on it. IMO you'd need an earlier POD, probably around the time of the Ottoman conquest. Aromania isn't really a viable independent nation because it's too remote and isolated, but it might be able to better function if it had access to the sea. You'd need some sort of way to assimilate Albanian Christians to Aromanian culture and language, maybe a sort of social phenomena that favours the Aromanians. Like maybe a plague that decimates the lowland villages of Albanians and Greeks while mostly sparing the mountain-dwelling Aromanians, leading to migrations of Aromanians into those areas and assimilation of a lot of the Christian population, especially Albanians. The coastal cities like Vlorë will remain Greek/Italian/Jewish until rural migration occurs.

Aromania would probably consist of southern Albania, parts of northwestern Greece, and bits of western Macedonia (both Greek Macedonia and FYROM). This more or less corresponds to Epirus so I could see Aromanians adopting the identity of "Epirotes" (although they'll still call themselves variations of "Armanji" for a very long time, like Greek self-identification) and the Aromanian state called Epirus. Which could easily lead to a Macedonia/Northern Macedonia situation since "Epirus" would not contain southern Epirus (very few Aromanians there OTL, unless we find a way to assimilate the Greeks there as well rather than the inverse which happened often OTL).

It would be a small, rustic Balkan state likely focused on agriculture and tourism. If we go by OTL it would probably gain its independence in the early 20th century after a national revival and the Ottoman collapse. They would be nervous about Italy annexing them (although there would be many pro-Italians) so would probably choose a German prince over an Italian prince as their ruler. It's largest cities would be it's capital Moscopole (probably, it was a significant Aromanian center OTL) and Vlorë and like a lot of Balkan nations, very ethnically mixed with a significant Muslim Albanian, Greek, and Bulgarian/Slavic Macedonian minorities but solidly Aromanian. I could see them staying neutral in World War I, nervously eying Greece and the chaos in Albania to their north, but if pressed will side with whatever side Italy's on thanks to Italian interests there and a large pro-Italian faction. They probably end up a protectorate of Italy in World War II and end up with a civil war between pro-Italians and outright fascists on one side and socialists, republicans, and other factions (most minorities I imagine would strongly oppose Italian annexation) on the other side. After World War II it might end up a communist state but just as much may fight a civil war like Greece and be a point of tension in the early Cold War. It's possible it doesn't end up communist as a result.

If it is communist, then assuming the dictator doesn't build bunkers on every street corner they're probably better off than Albania OTL although still very poor (like Macedonia OTL). If not communist then they'll probably be like Cyprus but poorer. I could see tensions with Yugoslavia and Albania flaring up at times and possibly a military dictatorship or two (their armed forces would be small--10K soldiers or so, some small patrol boats, and a few helicopters, all with lots of Italian gear--but important for NATO because of the strategic location). No doubt it's a popular vacation spot or place for filming movies.

As for any Yugoslavia project, I think Aromania would rather stay out like Albania. They'd likely have a huge pro-Italian faction, larger than the Albanians thanks to shared "Roman" heritage and lack of a large Muslim population (despite the Aromanians being Orthodox and not Catholic).
 
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