Principality of Albania

The Principality of Albania refers to the short-lived monarchy in Albania, headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, that lasted from the Treaty of London of 1913 which ended the First Balkan War, through the invasions of Albania during World War I and the subsequent disputes over Albanian independence during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, until 1925, when the monarchy was abolished and the Albanian Republic declared. History Albania had been under Ottoman rule from around 1478. The Great Powers recognized the independence of Albania in the Treaty of London in May 1913 and the Principality was established on February 21, 1914. The Great Powers selected Prince Wilhelm of Wied, a nephew of Queen Elisabeth of Romania, to become the sovereign of the newly independent Albania. A formal offer was made by 18 Albanian delegates representing the 18 districts of Albania on February 21, 1914, an offer which he accepted. Outside of Albania Wilhelm was styled prince, but in Albania he was referred to as king so as not to seem inferior to the king of Montenegro. The first government under the rule of the House of Wied was a kind of "princes privy council" because of its members, who were representatives of the Albanian nobility: Prince Turhan Pasha Përmeti (former Governor of Crete and ambassador of the Ottoman Empire at Saint Petersburg), Aziz Pasha Vrioni, Prince Bib Doda of Gjomarkaj-Mirdita, Prince Essad Pasha Toptani, Prince George Adamidi bey Frashëri, Mihal Turtulli bey Koritza, and others. Prince Wilhelm arrived in Albania at his provisional capital of Durrës on March 7, 1914, along with the Royal family. The security of Albania was to be provided by an International Gendarmerie commanded by Dutch officers. Wilhelm left Albania on September 3, 1914, following a pan-Islamic revolt initiated by Essad Pasha and later headed by Haxhi Qamili, the latter the military commander of the "Muslim State of Central Albania" centered in Tirana. Wilhelm never renounced his claim to the throne. World War I