Posted by Guy Stair Sainty
on 6/12/2011, 11:26:37, in reply to "Re: The Albanian Monarchy "
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I agree that Zog and his monarchist adventure are interesting and that his regime was better than what came after. So was Alexander Kerensky better than Lenin but it might have been better in Russia's case to have stuck with a constitutional monarchy rather than a Kerensky republic. The Weimar republic was also better than what came later, but perhaps the pre-1870 Germany was also better than that between 1870-1918.
However, it is surely unarguable that in the case of Albania, a country which had never know a monarchy, which did not even have a written language until the 15th century (and then only a few words), and in 1914 had to invent a word for Prince "Mpret" and then king "Mbreti"), it would have been better to have had a democratic republic - the kind that Zogou was elected to rule as president. His election, however, was not by popular vote but by the parliament and the number of assassination attempts (more than 50) suggests that his rule was far from uncontroversial. He was certainly effective and a moderniser but there is no reason to suppose he would have been any less effective he had stuck to being president.
I do not take the same view for the other Balkan states - Montenegro had been an ancient principality (of Zeta). before the Ottomans, Wallachia had likewise been a quasi hereditary principality before the princes were appointed by the Sultans, Bulgaria an ancient kingdom as were Serbia and Croatia, while Greece could claim to be the last remnant of the Greek (Byzantine) empire. Furthermore when these states achieved their independence in the 19th century, it was almost inconceivable that the powers would not have preferred a monarchy.
Even in Iran where Reza Pahlavi overthrew the reigning dynasty, there was very ancient monarchical tradition.
However the Albanian monarchy was invented at a time when monarchy was far from being the accepted form of government. Zog's self-proclamation was really an exercise in hubris and his search for a wife of "suitable" birth caused much merriment among the more ancient crowned heads. His eventual choice, the beautiful Countess Apponyi, was an immense stroke of good fortune. His was probably the last monarchical experiment in Europe and for that reason worthy of note - but not a great advertisement for another.
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