Albanian National Awakening

The Albanian National Awakening (Albanian: Rilindja or Rilindja Kombëtare), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where the Albanian people gathered strength to establish an independent cultural and political life as well as the country of Albania.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Prior to the rise of nationalism, Albania remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries and the Ottoman authorities suppressed any expression of national unity or institutional national conscience by the Albanian people.

There is some debate among experts regarding when the Albanian nationalist movement should be considered to have started. Some sources attribute its origins to the revolts against centralisation in the 1830s,^[1] others to the publication of the first attempt by Naum Veqilharxhi at a standardized alphabet for Albanian in 1844,^[1]^[4]^[5]^[6] or to the collapse of the League of Prizren during the Eastern Crisis in 1881.^[1] Various compromise positions between these three theses have also emerged, such as one view positing that Albanian nationalism had foundations that dated earlier but "consolidated" as a movement during the Eastern Crisis (1878–1881).^[7]

Another view is that Albanian nationalism's roots "sprouted" in the reforms of the first decades of the 19th century^[8] but Albanian nationalism emerged properly in the 1830s and 1840s^[9] as a romantic movement for societal reform that was initially mainly driven by Albanians publishing from abroad, and it transformed into an overt political national movement in the 1870s.^[10] On December 20, 1912, the Conference of Ambassadors in London recognized an independent Albania within its present-day borders.^[11]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Rrapaj, Jonilda; Kolasi, Klevis (2013). "The Curious Case of Albanian Nationalism: the Crooked Line from a Scattered Array of Clans to a Nation-State". The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations. 44. Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science: 195. doi:10.1501/intrel_0000000290. S2CID 29750907. In the Albanian case as we will see below, we can argue that Phase A, generally speaking, covers the period from the beginning of the Reforms of Tanzimat or the publication of first the Albanian alphabet in 1844 as a symbolic date, until the collapse of the League of Prizren (1881) or the publication of Sami Frashëri's nationalist manifest in 1899
^ Cite error: The named reference Kaser was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Hurst, Michael (1969). "7. The Albanian National Awakening, 1878–1912. By Stavro Skendi. Princeton and London: Princeton University Press, 1968. Pp. 498. 110s". The Historical Journal. 12 (2): 380–383. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00004416. S2CID 161310325.
^ Enis Sulstarova, Naum Veqilharxhi dhe lindja e kombit [Naum Veqilharxhi and the birth of the nation] (in Albanian), Pashtriku, retrieved 2014-12-01, Naum Veqilharxhi is considered the avant-garde and first ideologue of the National Awakening, because his work results in one of the first attempts for an original Albanian alphabet (1844 and 1845), as well as contains an embryo form of the ideas which would develop later on during the National Renaissance. [Naum Veqilharxhi është konsideruar si pararendësi dhe ideologu i parë i Rilindjes Kombëtare Shqiptare, sepse vepra e tij përbën një nga përpjekjet e para për një alfabet origjinal të shqipes (1844 dhe 1845), si edhe përmban në trajtë embrionale idetë që do të zhvilloheshin më vonë gjatë periudhës së Rilindjes.]
^ Fedhon Meksi (2011-10-21), Naum Veqilharxhi, babai i alfabetit dhe abetares shqipe [Naum Veqilharxhi, the father of Albanian alphabet and ABC-book] (in Albanian), archived from the original on 2014-12-02, retrieved 2014-12-01
^ Zhelyazkova, Antonina (2000). "Albanian Identities". Sofia: International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Page 24: "It is assumed that the beginning of the Albanian Revival was set by Naum Veqilharxhi's activity and his address to the Orthodox Albanians, which, along with his primer published in 1845, was the first programme document of the Albanian national movement. In it Veqilharxhi demanded Albanian schools and development of the Albanian language as a first step to the evolution of the Albanian people side by side with the other Balkan nations"
^ Pahumi, Nevila. "The Consolidation of Albanian Nationalism: The League of Prizren 1878-1881". Page 7.
^ Misha, Piro. Invention of a Nationalism. In Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and Bernd J. Fischer (2002), Albanian Identities. Page 34
^ Misha, Piro. "Invention of a Nationalism: Myth and Amnesia". In Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and Bernd J. Fischer (2002), Albanian Identities. Page 33: "The beginnings of the Albanian national awakening, better known as the 'Albanian National Renaissance' (rilindja), took place during the 1830s and 1840s... at least in its beginnings, the Albanian national movement did not differ much from any other national movement in the region
^ Piro Misha. Invention of a Nationalism. In Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and Bernd J. Fischer (2002), Albanian Identities. Page 39
^ Richard C. Hall, The Balkan Wars, 1912–1913: prelude to the First World War

[Rrapaj195-1] Rrapaj, Jonilda; Kolasi, Klevis (2013). "The Curious Case of Albanian Nationalism: the Crooked Line from a Scattered Array of Clans to a Nation-State". The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations. 44. Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science: 195. doi:10.1501/intrel_0000000290. S2CID 29750907. In the Albanian case as we will see below, we can argue that Phase A, generally speaking, covers the period from the beginning of the Reforms of Tanzimat or the publication of first the Albanian alphabet in 1844 as a symbolic date, until the collapse of the League of Prizren (1881) or the publication of Sami Frashëri's nationalist manifest in 1899

[Kaser-2] Cite error: The named reference Kaser was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] Hurst, Michael (1969). "7. The Albanian National Awakening, 1878–1912. By Stavro Skendi. Princeton and London: Princeton University Press, 1968. Pp. 498. 110s". The Historical Journal. 12 (2): 380–383. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00004416. S2CID 161310325.

[4] Enis Sulstarova, Naum Veqilharxhi dhe lindja e kombit [Naum Veqilharxhi and the birth of the nation] (in Albanian), Pashtriku, retrieved 2014-12-01, Naum Veqilharxhi is considered the avant-garde and first ideologue of the National Awakening, because his work results in one of the first attempts for an original Albanian alphabet (1844 and 1845), as well as contains an embryo form of the ideas which would develop later on during the National Renaissance. [Naum Veqilharxhi është konsideruar si pararendësi dhe ideologu i parë i Rilindjes Kombëtare Shqiptare, sepse vepra e tij përbën një nga përpjekjet e para për një alfabet origjinal të shqipes (1844 dhe 1845), si edhe përmban në trajtë embrionale idetë që do të zhvilloheshin më vonë gjatë periudhës së Rilindjes.]

[5] Fedhon Meksi (2011-10-21), Naum Veqilharxhi, babai i alfabetit dhe abetares shqipe [Naum Veqilharxhi, the father of Albanian alphabet and ABC-book] (in Albanian), archived from the original on 2014-12-02, retrieved 2014-12-01

[Zhelyazkova33-6] Zhelyazkova, Antonina (2000). "Albanian Identities". Sofia: International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations. Page 24: "It is assumed that the beginning of the Albanian Revival was set by Naum Veqilharxhi's activity and his address to the Orthodox Albanians, which, along with his primer published in 1845, was the first programme document of the Albanian national movement. In it Veqilharxhi demanded Albanian schools and development of the Albanian language as a first step to the evolution of the Albanian people side by side with the other Balkan nations"

[PahumiRoot-7] Pahumi, Nevila. "The Consolidation of Albanian Nationalism: The League of Prizren 1878-1881". Page 7.

[Misha,_Piro_2002_Page_34-8] Misha, Piro. Invention of a Nationalism. In Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and Bernd J. Fischer (2002), Albanian Identities. Page 34

[Misha,_Piro_2002_Page_33-9] Misha, Piro. "Invention of a Nationalism: Myth and Amnesia". In Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and Bernd J. Fischer (2002), Albanian Identities. Page 33: "The beginnings of the Albanian national awakening, better known as the 'Albanian National Renaissance' (rilindja), took place during the 1830s and 1840s... at least in its beginnings, the Albanian national movement did not differ much from any other national movement in the region

[Misha39-10] Piro Misha. Invention of a Nationalism. In Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and Bernd J. Fischer (2002), Albanian Identities. Page 39

[Hall-11] Richard C. Hall, The Balkan Wars, 1912–1913: prelude to the First World War

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