Italian invasion of Albania

The Italian invasion of Albania (April 7–12, 1939) was a brief military campaign which was launched by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime minister and dictator Benito Mussolini. Albania was rapidly overrun, its ruler King Zog I went into exile in neighboring Greece, and the country was made a part of the Italian Empire as a protectorate in personal union with the Italian Crown.

Italian invasion of Albania
Part of the interwar period
Italian forces in Albania.
Date April 7–12, 1939 (5 days) Location Albanian Kingdom Result Italian victory Territorial changes Albania becomes an Italian protectorate
Belligerents
Kingdom of Italy	Albanian Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Benito Mussolini Alfredo Guzzoni Giovanni Messe	Zog I Xhemal Aranitasi Abaz Kupi Mujo Ulqinaku †
Strength
40,000 soldiers^[1] 400 aircraft^[2] 2 battleships 3 heavy cruisers 3 light cruisers 9 destroyers 14 torpedo boats 1 minelayer 10 auxiliary ships 9 transport ships	8,000 soldiers^[3] 5 aircraft 3 torpedo boats
Casualties and losses
Possibly 700 dead (according to Fischer)^[4] 12–25 dead (Italian claim)^[4]^[5] 97 wounded^[5]	Possibly more than 700 dead (according to Fischer)^[6] 160 dead and several hundreds wounded (according to Pearson)^[5] 5 aircraft 3 torpedo boats

Events leading to World War II

1. Revolutions of 1917–1923
2. Aftermath of World War I 1918–1939
3. Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War 1918–1925
4. Province of the Sudetenland 1918–1920
5. 1918–1920 unrest in Split
6. Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919
7. Heimosodat 1918–1922
8. Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia 1918–1919
9. Hungarian–Romanian War 1918–1919
10. Hungarian–Czechoslovak War 1918–1919
11. 1919 Egyptian Revolution
12. Christmas Uprising 1919
13. Irish War of Independence 1919
14. Comintern World Congresses 1919–1935
15. Treaty of Versailles 1919
16. Shandong Problem 1919–1922
17. Polish–Soviet War 1919–1921
18. Polish–Czechoslovak War 1919
19. Polish–Lithuanian War 1919–1920
20. Silesian Uprisings 1919–1921
21. Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1919
22. Turkish War of Independence 1919–1923
23. Venizelos–Tittoni agreement 1919
24. Italian Regency of Carnaro 1919–1920
25. Iraqi Revolt 1920
26. Treaty of Trianon 1920
27. Treaty of Rapallo 1920
28. Little Entente 1920–1938
29. Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia) 1920–1938
30. Mongolian Revolution of 1921
31. Soviet intervention in Mongolia 1921–1924
32. Franco-Polish alliance 1921–1940
33. Polish–Romanian alliance 1921–1939
34. Genoa Conference (1922)
35. Treaty of Rapallo (1922)
36. March on Rome 1922
37. Sun–Joffe Manifesto 1923
38. Corfu incident 1923
39. Occupation of the Ruhr 1923–1925
40. Treaty of Lausanne 1923–1924
41. Mein Kampf 1925
42. Second Italo-Senussi War 1923–1932
43. First United Front 1923–1927
44. Dawes Plan 1924
45. Treaty of Rome (1924)
46. Soviet–Japanese Basic Convention 1925
47. German–Polish customs war 1925–1934
48. Treaty of Nettuno 1925
49. Locarno Treaties 1925
50. Anti-Fengtian War 1925–1926
51. Treaty of Berlin (1926)
52. May Coup (Poland) 1926
53. Northern Expedition 1926–1928
54. Nanking incident of 1927
55. Chinese Civil War 1927–1937
56. Jinan incident 1928
57. Huanggutun incident 1928
58. Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928
59. Chinese reunification 1928
60. Lateran Treaty 1928
61. Central Plains War 1929–1930
62. Young Plan 1929
63. Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)
64. Great Depression 1929
65. London Naval Treaty 1930
66. Kumul Rebellion 1931–1934
67. Japanese invasion of Manchuria 1931
68. Pacification of Manchukuo 1931–1942
69. January 28 incident 1932
70. Soviet–Japanese border conflicts 1932–1939
71. Geneva Conference 1932–1934
72. May 15 incident 1932
73. Lausanne Conference of 1932
74. Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact 1932
75. Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact 1932
76. Proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1932
77. Defense of the Great Wall 1933
78. Battle of Rehe 1933
79. Nazis' rise to power in Germany 1933
80. Reichskonkordat 1933
81. Tanggu Truce 1933
82. Italo-Soviet Pact 1933
83. Inner Mongolian Campaign 1933–1936
84. Austrian Civil War 1934
85. Balkan Pact 1934–1940
86. July Putsch 1934
87. German–Polish declaration of non-aggression 1934–1939
88. Baltic Entente 1934–1939
89. 1934 Montreux Fascist conference
90. Stresa Front 1935
91. Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935
92. Soviet–Czechoslovakia Treaty of Mutual Assistance 1935
93. He–Umezu Agreement 1935
94. Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935
95. December 9th Movement
96. Second Italo-Ethiopian War 1935–1936
97. February 26 incident 1936
98. Remilitarization of the Rhineland 1936
99. Soviet-Mongolian alliance 1936
100. Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
101. Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936
102. Italo-German "Axis" protocol 1936
103. Anti-Comintern Pact 1936
104. Suiyuan campaign 1936
105. Xi'an Incident 1936
106. Second Sino-Japanese War 1937–1945
107. USS Panay incident 1937
108. Anschluss Mar. 1938
109. 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania Mar. 1938
110. Easter Accords April 1938
111. May Crisis May 1938
112. Battle of Lake Khasan July–Aug. 1938
113. Salonika Agreement July 1938
114. Bled Agreement Aug. 1938
115. Undeclared German–Czechoslovak War Sep. 1938
116. Munich Agreement Sep. 1938
117. First Vienna Award Nov. 1938
118. German occupation of Czechoslovakia Mar. 1939
119. Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine Mar. 1939
120. German ultimatum to Lithuania Mar. 1939
121. Slovak–Hungarian War Mar. 1939
122. Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War Mar.–Apr. 1939
123. Danzig crisis Mar.–Aug. 1939
124. British guarantee to Poland Mar. 1939
125. Italian invasion of Albania Apr. 1939
126. Soviet–British–French Moscow negotiations Apr.–Aug. 1939
127. Pact of Steel May 1939
128. Battles of Khalkhin Gol May–Sep. 1939
129. Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact Aug. 1939
130. Invasion of Poland Sep. 1939

Background

Albania had long been of considerable strategic importance to the Kingdom of Italy. Italian naval strategists coveted the port of Vlorë and the island of Sazan which is located at the entrance to the Bay of Vlorë, because they wanted to use it as an entrance to the Adriatic Sea, and they also wanted to construct a suitable base on Vlorë and Sazan and use it to conduct military operations in the Balkans.^[7] In the late Ottoman period, with a local weakening of Islam, the Albanian nationalist movement gained the strong support of two Adriatic sea powers, Austria-Hungary and Italy, which were concerned about pan-Slavism in the wider Balkans and also Anglo-French hegemony, purportedly represented in the area through Greece.^[8] Before World War I Italy and Austria-Hungary had been supportive of the creation of an independent Albanian state.^[9] At the outbreak of the war, Italy had seized the chance to occupy the southern half of Albania, to avoid it being captured by the Austro-Hungarians. That success did not last long, as Albanian resistance during the subsequent Vlora War and post-war domestic problems forced Italy to pull out in 1920.^[10] The desire to compensate for this failure would be one of Mussolini's major motives in invading Albania.^[11]

Culturally and historically, Albania was important to the nationalistic aims of the Italian Fascists,^{[citation needed]} as the territory of Albania had long been part of the Roman Empire, even prior to the annexation of northern Italy by the Romans. Later, during the High Middle Ages, some coastal areas (like Durazzo) had been influenced and owned by Italian powers for many years. Chief among them were the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Venice (cf. Albania Veneta). The Italian Fascist regime legitimized its claim to Albania by conducting studies and using them to proclaim the racial affinity of Albanians and Italians, especially as opposed to the Slavic Yugoslavs.^[12] Italian Fascists claimed that Albanians were linked to Italians through an ethnic heritage which was due to links which existed between the prehistoric Italiotes, Roman and Illyrian populations, and they also claimed that the major influence which was exhibited over Albania by the Roman and Venetian empires justified Italy's right to possess it.^{[citation needed]}

When Mussolini seized power in Italy, he turned to Albania with renewed interest. Italy began to penetrate Albania's economy in 1925, when Albania agreed to allow Italy to exploit its mineral resources.^[13] That action was followed by the signing of the First Treaty of Tirana in 1926 and the signing of the Second Treaty of Tirana in 1927, which enabled Italy and Albania to form a defensive alliance.^[13] Among other things, the Albanian government and economy were subsidised by Italian loans and the Royal Albanian Army was not only trained by Italian military instructors, most of the officers in the army were also Italians; other Italians were highly placed in the Albanian government. A third of Albanian imports came from Italy.^[14]

Despite strong Italian influence, King Zog I refused to completely give in to Italian pressure.^[15] In 1931, he openly stood up to the Italians, refusing to renew the 1926 Treaty of Tirana. After Albania signed trade agreements with Yugoslavia and Greece in 1934, Mussolini made a failed attempt to intimidate the Albanians by sending a fleet of warships to Albania.^{[dubious ][16]}

As Nazi Germany annexed Austria and moved against Czechoslovakia, Italy noticed that it was becoming the lesser member of the Pact of Steel.^{[dubious ][17]} Meanwhile, the imminent birth of an Albanian royal child threatened to give Zog the opportunity to establish a lasting dynasty. After Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia (March 15, 1939) without notifying Mussolini in advance, the Italian dictator decided to proceed with his annexation of Albania.^{[citation needed]} Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III criticized Mussolini's plan to annex Albania by stating that it was an extremely unnecessary risk for an almost negligible gain.^[18] Rome, however, delivered Tirana an ultimatum on March 25, 1939, demanding that it consent to Italy's occupation of Albania.^[19] Zog refused to accept money in exchange for allowing a full Italian takeover and colonization of Albania.^{[citation needed]}

The Albanian government tried to keep news of the Italian ultimatum secret.^{[citation needed]} While Radio Tirana persistently broadcast claims in which it stated that nothing was happening, people became suspicious; and the news of the Italian ultimatum was spread by unofficial sources. On April 5, the king's son was born and the news of his birth was announced by the firing of cannons. Alarmed, people poured out into the streets, but the news of the birth of the new prince calmed them. People suspected that something else was going on, which led to an anti-Italian demonstration in Tirana the same day. On 6 April, several demonstrations were staged in Albania's main cities. That same afternoon, 100 Italian aircraft flew over Tirana, Durrës, and Vlorë, dropping leaflets which instructed the people to submit to Italian occupation. The people were infuriated by this demonstration of force and they called for the government to resist the Italian occupation and release all of the Albanians who were previously arrested on the suspicion that they were "communists". The crowd shouted, "Give us arms! We are being sold out! We are being betrayed!".^{[citation needed]} While a mobilization of the reserves was called, many high-ranking officers left the country.^{[citation needed]} The government began to dissolve. The Minister of the Interior, Musa Juka, left the country and moved to Yugoslavia the same day. While King Zog announced that he would resist the Italian occupation of his country, his people felt that they were being abandoned by their government.^[20]

Invasion

See also: Battle of Durrës (1939)

 

Italian troops and L3/35 tanks in Durrës.

The original Italian plans for the invasion called for the deployment of up to 50,000 men who would be supported by 51 naval units and 400 airplanes. Ultimately, the invasion force grew to 100,000 men who were supported by 600 airplanes,^[21] but only 22,000 men actually took part in the invasion.^[3] On April 7, Mussolini's troops, led by General Alfredo Guzzoni, invaded Albania, simultaneously attacking all Albanian ports. The Italian naval forces which were involved in the invasion consisted of the battleships Giulio Cesare and Conte di Cavour, three heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, nine destroyers, fourteen torpedo boats, one minelayer, ten auxiliary ships and nine transport ships.^[22] The ships were divided into four groups that carried out landings at Vlore, Durres, Shengjin and Sarandë. The Romanian Royal Army never deployed to Sarandë and Italy conquered the Romanian concession along with the rest of Albania during the invasion.^[22]

On the other side, the regular Albanian army had 15,000 poorly equipped troops who had previously been trained by Italian officers. King Zog's plan was to mount a resistance in the mountains, leaving the ports and the main cities undefended; but Italian agents who were placed in Albania as military instructors sabotaged this plan. The Albanians discovered that artillery pieces had been disabled and there was no ammunition.^{[citation needed]} As a consequence, the resistance was mainly offered by the Royal Albanian Gendarmerie and small groups of patriots.

In Durrës, a force of 500 Albanians, including gendarmes and armed volunteers, led by Major Abaz Kupi (the commander of the gendarmerie in Durrës), and Mujo Ulqinaku, a naval sergeant, tried to halt the Italian advance. Equipped with small arms and three machine guns and supported by a coastal battery, the defenders resisted the Italians for a few hours before they defeated them with the help of naval gunfire.^[21] The Royal Albanian Navy stationed in Durrës consisted of four patrol boats (each armed with a machine gun) and a coastal battery with four 75 mm guns, the latter also being involved in the fighting.^[23] Mujo Ulqinaku, the commander of the patrol boat Tiranë, used his machine gun to kill and wound many Italian troops until himself being killed by an artillery shell from an Italian warship.^[23][24] Eventually, a large number of light tanks were unloaded from the Italian ships. After that, resistance began to crumble, and within five hours the Italians had captured the city.^[25]

By 1:30 pm on the first day, all Albanian ports were in Italian hands. That same day King Zog, his wife, Queen Geraldine Apponyi, and their infant son Leka fled to Greece, taking with them part of the gold reserves of the Albanian Central Bank. On hearing the news, an angry mob attacked the prisons, liberated the prisoners and sacked the King's residence. At 9:30 am on April 8, Italian troops entered Tirana and quickly captured all government buildings. Italian columns of soldiers then marched to Shkodër, Fier and Elbasan. Shkodër surrendered in the evening after 12 hours of fighting. However, two officers garrisoned at Rozafa castle refused to obey the ceasefire order and continued to fight until they ran out of ammunition.^{[citation needed]} The Italian troops later paid homage to the Albanian troops in Shkodër who had halted their advance for an entire day.^{[citation needed]} During the Italian advance in Shkodër the mob besieged the prison and liberated some 200 prisoners.^[26]

The number of casualties in these battles is disputed. Italian military reports stated that at Durrës 25 Italians were killed and 97 wounded, while the local townspeople claimed that 400 Italians were killed.^[5] Casualties for the Albanians were given as 160 dead and several hundreds wounded.^[5]

On April 12, the Albanian parliament voted to depose Zog and unite the nation with Italy "in personal union" by offering the Albanian crown to Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III.^[27] The parliament elected Albania's largest landowner, Shefqet Vërlaci, as Prime Minister. Vërlaci served as interim head of state for five days until Victor Emmanuel III formally accepted the Albanian crown in a ceremony at the Quirinale palace in Rome. Victor Emmanuel III appointed Francesco Jacomoni di San Savino, a former ambassador to Albania, to represent him in Albania as "Lieutenant-General of the King" (effectively a viceroy).

In general, the Italian invasion was poorly planned and badly executed, and succeeded only because Albanian resistance was weak. As Fillipo Anfuso, Count Ciano's chief assistant sarcastically commented "...if only the Albanians had possessed a well-armed fire-brigade, they could have driven us into the Adriatic".^[28][29][30]

Aftermath

Main articles: Albanian Kingdom (1939–1943) and Albanian Resistance of World War II

 

  Kingdom of Italy

  Albanian Kingdom

 

Flag of Albania, during Italian rule.

On April 15, 1939, Albania withdrew from the League of Nations, from which Italy had resigned in 1937. On June 3, 1939, the Albanian foreign ministry was merged into the Italian foreign ministry, and the Albanian Foreign Minister, Xhemil Dino, was given the rank of an Italian ambassador. Upon the capture of Albania, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared the official creation of the Italian Empire and the figurehead King Victor Emmanuel III was crowned King of the Albanians in addition to his title of Emperor of Ethiopia, which had been occupied by Italy three years before. The Albanian military was placed under Italian command and formally merged into the Italian Army in 1940. Additionally, the Italian Blackshirts formed four legions of Albanian Militia, initially recruited from Italian colonists living in Albania, but later from ethnic Albanians.

 

1940 Albanian Kingdom Laissez Passer issued for traveling to Fascist Italy after the invasion from the previous year.

Upon the occupation of Albania and the installation of a new government, the economies of Albania and Italy were merged by a customs union which resulted in the removal of most trade restrictions.^[31] Through a tariff union, the Italian tariff system was put in place in Albania.^[31] Due to the expected economic losses in Albania from the alteration in tariff policy, the Italian government provided Albania 15 million Albanian leks each year in compensation.^[31] Italian customs laws were to apply in Albania and only Italy alone could conclude treaties with third parties.^[31] Italian capital was allowed to dominate the Albanian economy.^[31] As a result, Italian companies were allowed to hold monopolies in the exploitation of Albanian natural resources.^[31] All petroleum resources in Albania went through Agip, Italy's state petroleum company.^[32]

Albania followed Italy into war against Britain and France on June 10, 1940. Albania served as the base for the Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940, and Albanian troops participated in the Greek campaign, but they massively deserted the front line. The country's southern areas (including the cities of Gjirokastër and Korçë) were temporarily occupied by the Greek army during that campaign. In May 1941, Albania was enlarged by the annexation of Kosovo and parts of Montenegro and the Vardar Banovina, going a long way towards the realization of nationalistic claims for a "Greater Albania". Part of the western coast of Epirus which was called Chameria was not annexed, instead, it was put under the rule of an Albanian High Commissioner who exercised nominal control of it. When Italy left the Axis powers in September 1943, German troops immediately occupied Albania after a short campaign, with relatively strong resistance.^[33]

During the Second World War, the Albanian Partisans, including some Albanian nationalist groups, sporadically fought against the Italians (after autumn 1942) and, subsequently, they sporadically fought against the Germans. By October 1944, the Germans had withdrawn from the southern Balkans in response to military defeats which they had suffered at the hands of the Red Army, the collapse of Romania and the imminent fall of Bulgaria.^[34] After the Germans left Albania due to the rapid advance of Albanian Communist forces, the Albanian Partisans crushed nationalist resistance and the leader of the Albanian Communist Party, Enver Hoxha, became the ruler of the country.^[35]

Cultural references

The events which surrounded the Italian annexation of Albania formed part of the inspiration for the eighth volume of The Adventures of Tintin comics titled King Ottokar's Sceptre, with a plot based on a fictional Balkan country Syldavia and uneasy tensions with its larger neighbour Borduria.^[36] The author of the Tintin comics Hergé also insisted that his editor publish the work to take advantage of current events in 1939 as he felt "Syldavia is Albania".^[36]

See also

• Adriatic campaign of World War II
• Albania–Italy relations
• Royal Albanian Army
• Royal Italian Army

References

1. "HALL OF THE ANTI-FACHIST NATIONAL LIBERATION WAR – Muzeu Historik Kombëtar" (in Albanian). Retrieved 2022-12-24.
2. Fischer 1999 (Purdue ed.), p. 21.
3. Fischer 1999 (Purdue ed.), p. 22.
4. Fischer 1999, p. 22:Reports on the number of casualties differed rather significantly. The townspeople of Durrës maintained that the Italians lost four hundred. Although Italian propaganda claimed that Italy only lost twelve men in the entire invasion, it is possible that approximately two hundred Italians were killed in Durrës alone and as many as seven hundred Italians may have been killed in total.
5. Pearson 2004, p. 445.
6. Fischer, Bernd J. (1999a). Albania at war, 1939-1945. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press. p. 22. ISBN 9781557531414. Albanian casualties may have been higher.
7. Fischer 1999 (C. Hurst ed.), p. 5.
8. Kokolakis, Mihalis (2003). Το ύστερο Γιαννιώτικο Πασαλίκι: χώρος, διοίκηση και πληθυσμός στην τουρκοκρατούμενη Ηπειρο (1820–1913) [The late Pashalik of Ioannina: Space, administration and population in Ottoman ruled Epirus (1820–1913)]. Athens: EIE-ΚΝΕ. p. 91. ISBN 960-7916-11-5. "Περιορίζοντας τις αρχικές του ισλαμιστικές εξάρσεις, το αλβανικό εθνικιστικό κίνημα εξασφάλισε την πολιτική προστασία των δύο ισχυρών δυνάμεων της Αδριατικής, της Ιταλίας και της Αυστρίας, που δήλωναν έτοιμες να κάνουν ό,τι μπορούσαν για να σώσουν τα Βαλκάνια από την απειλή του Πανσλαβισμού και από την αγγλογαλλική κηδεμονία που υποτίθεται ότι θα αντιπροσώπευε η επέκταση της Ελλάδας." "[By limiting the Islamic character, the Albanian nationalist movement secured civil protection from two powerful forces in the Adriatic, Italy and Austria, which was ready to do what they could to save the Balkans from the threat of Pan-Slavism and the Anglo French tutelage that is supposed to represent its extension through Greece.]"
9. Hall, Richard C. (17 October 2014). Consumed by War: European Conflict in the 20th Century. University Press of Kentucky. p. 12. ISBN 9780813159959. As a result of the Ottoman collapse, a group of Albanians, with Austrian and Italian support, declared Albanian independence at Valona (Vlorë) on 28 November 1912.
10. Albania: A Country Study: Albania's Reemergence after World War I, Library of Congress.
11. Stephen J. Lee (2003). Europe, 1890–1945. Psychology Press. p. 336–. ISBN 978-0-415-25455-7. The invasion of Albania in 1939 resulted in the addition of territory on the Adriatic, a compensation for the territory Italy had not been given in the 1919 peace settlement. These policies were, however, carried out at immense cost, which eventually shattered the regime's limited infrastructure. There are also examples of direct
12. Kallis, Aristotle A. (2000), Fascist ideology: territory and expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922–1945, Routledge, pp. 132–133, ISBN 9780415216128
13. Albania: A Country Study: Italian Penetration, Library of Congress
14. p. 149 Smith, Denis Mack Mussolini's Roman Empire Viking Press 1976
15. Fischer 1999 (C. Hurst ed.), p. 7.
16. Albania: A Country Study: Zog's Kingdom, Library of Congress
17. Albania: A Country Study: Italian Occupation, Library of Congress
18. p. 151 Smith, Denis Mack Mussolini's Roman Empire Viking Press 1976
19. Pearson, Owen (2004). Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History. Vol. I - Albania and King Zog. The Centre for Albanian Studies / I.B.Tauris. p. 429. ISBN 978-184511013-0.
20. Pearson 2004, p. 439.
21. Pearson 2004, p. 444.
22. La Regia Marina tra le due guerre mondiali.
23. "Zeqo">Zeqo, Mojkom (1980). Mujo Ulqinaku. Tirana, Albania: 8 Nëntori Pub. House.
24. Kore, Blerim (7 April 2009). . Koha Jone (in Albanian). Koha Jone. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
25. Pearson 2004, pp. 444–5.
26. Pearson 2004, p. 454.
27. Fischer 1999 (C. Hurst ed.), p. 36.
28. Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie; Fischer, Bernd Jürgen (2002). Albanian Identities: Myth and History. Indiana University Press. p. 139. ISBN 0253341892.
29. Fischer, Bernd Jürgen (1999). Albania at War, 1939–1945. Hurst. p. 23. ISBN 9781850655312.
30. Brewer, David (2016-02-28). Greece, the Decade of War: Occupation, Resistance and Civil War. I.B.Tauris. p. 2. ISBN 9780857729361.
31. Raphaël Lemkin. Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. Slark, New Jersey, US: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2005. Pp. 102.
32. Pearson, Owen (2005). Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History. Vol. II - Albania in Occupation and War, 1939–45. The Centre for Albanian Studies / I.B.Tauris. p. 433. ISBN 978-184511104-5.
33. Fischer 1999 (C. Hurst ed.), p. 189.
34. Fischer 1999 (C. Hurst ed.), p. 223.
35. Albania: A Country Study: The Communist and Nationalist Resistance – Library of Congress.
36. Assouline, Pierre (2009) [1996]. Hergé, the Man Who Created Tintin. Charles Ruas (translator). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-19-539759-8.

Sources

• Fischer, Bernd J. (1999). Albania at War, 1939–1945. Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-155753141-4.
• Fischer, Bernd J. (1999). Albania at War, 1939–1945. C. Hurst & Co Publishers. ISBN 978-185065531-2.
• Library of Congress Country Study of Albania

External links

• Comando Supremo: Invasion of Albania (1939) – Italian Order of battle
• WW2DB: Invasion of Albania