Ilirët

Lashtësia
Artikulli Kryesor: Lashtësi

Ilirët
Artikulli Kryesor: Ilirët

Prejardhja e Shqiptarëve nuk është e njohur përfundimisht, por të dhënat e nxjerra nga historia dhe nga gjuhësia, studimet arkeologjike dhe antropologjike na çojnë në përfundimin se Shqiptarët janë pasardhës të drejtpërdrejtë të Ilirëve të lashtë dhe këta të fundit ishin autoktonë në trojet e banuara prej tyre. Po ashtu edhe gjuha shqipe rrjedh nga gjuha e Ilirëve, kalimi nga gjuha Ilire në gjuhën shqipe me sa duket ndodhi midis shekujve të 4-të dhe 6-të e.r. Disa studiues, megjithatë, i kundërshtojnë këto teza, duke arsyetuar se Ilirët nuk ishin autoktonë dhe se Shqipja rrjedh nga një dialekt i vdekur i gjuhës Trake.

Mendohet se kultura ilire u zhvilluar nga koha e gurit dhe u shfaq në trojet e Shqipërisë rreth fillimit të kohës së bronzit, rreth 2000 p.e.s. Ilirët nuk përbënin një popullsi uniforme, por një përzierje të shumë fiseve që banonin në pjesën perëndimore të Ballkanit, nga çfarë sot është Sllovenia në veri-perëndim (dhe duke përfshirë) zonat e Epirit ,i cili shtrihej rreth gjysmë-larg poshtë tokës kryesore të Greqisë së sotme. Në përgjithsi,Ilirët në zonat e larta të Shqipërisë ishin më të veçuar se ata në zonat e ulta, dhe kultura e tyre u zhvillua më ngadalë dhe qe dalloi gjthnjë në historinë e Shqipërisë.

Shkrimtarë të lashtësisë rrëfejnë se Ilirët ishin njerëz të shoqërueshëm dhe mikpritës, të famshëm në guximin dhe trimërinë e tyre në luftë. Gratë Ilire kishin me drejtësi të drejta të barabarta në gjendjen me burrat, edhe në çështjen e prijësit të bashkësisë fisnore. Në çështjet e fesë, Ilirët ishin paganë (pafè të mirfilltë) që besonin në një jetë të përtejme dhe varrosnin të vdekurit tok me armë dhe sende të ndryshme të menduara për përdorim vetjak.

Toka e Ilirisë ishte e pasur në minerale hekuri, bakri, ari, argjendi dhe Ilirët u bënë mjeshtra në minim dhe metal përpunim. Ata ishin mjeshtra të mëdhenj në ndërtimin e anijeve dhe madje detarë shumë të aftë ; në të vërtetë, galerat e tyre të lehta dhe të shpejta të njohura si "liburnae" ishin me një skicim aq të lartë saqë Romakët i trupëzuan ata në floten e tyre si një lloj luftanije të quajtur "Liburnia".

The origins of the Albanian people are not definitely known, but data drawn from history and from linguistic, archaeological, and anthropological studies have led to the conclusion that Albanians are the direct descendants of the ancient Illyrians and that the latter were natives of the lands they inhabited. Similarly, the Albanian language derives from the language of the Illyrians, the transition from Illyrian to Albanian apparently occurring between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. (Some scholars, however, dispute such theses, arguing that Illyrians were not autochthonous and that Albanian derives from a dialect of the now-extinct Thracian language.)

Illyrian culture is believed to have evolved from the Stone Age and to have manifested itself in the territory of Albania toward the beginning of the Bronze Age, about 2000 BC. The Illyrians were not a uniform body of people but a conglomeration of many tribes that inhabited the western part of the Balkans, from what is now Slovenia in the northwest to (and including) the region of Epirus, which extends about halfway down the mainland of modern Greece. In general, Illyrians in the highlands of Albania were more isolated than those in the lowlands, and their culture evolved more slowly-a distinction that persisted throughout Albania's history. Authors of antiquity relate that the Illyrians were a sociable and hospitable people, renowned for their daring and bravery at war. Illyrian women were fairly equal in status to the men, even to the point of becoming heads of tribal federations. In matters of religion, Illyrians were pagans who believed in an afterlife and buried their dead along with arms and various articles intended for personal use. The land of Illyria was rich in minerals-iron, copper, gold, silver-and Illyrians became skillful in the mining and processing of metals. They were highly skilled boat builders and sailors as well; indeed, their light, swift galleys known as liburnae were of such superior design that the Romans incorporated them into their own fleet as a type of warship called the Liburnian.

Helenët
Artikulli Kryesor: Helenët

From the 8th to the 6th century BC the Greeks founded a string of colonies on Illyrian soil, two of the most prominent of which were Epidamnus (modern Durrës) and Apollonia (near modern Vlorë). The presence of Greek colonies on their soil brought the Illyrians into contact with a more advanced civilization, which helped them to develop their own culture, while they in turn influenced the economic and political life of the colonies. In the 3rd century BC the colonies began to decline and eventually perished.

Roughly parallel with the rise of Greek colonies, Illyrian tribes began to evolve politically from relatively small and simple entities into larger and more complex ones. At first they formed temporary alliances with one another for defensive or offensive purposes, then federations and, still later, kingdoms. The most important of these kingdoms, which flourished from the 5th to the 2nd century BC, were those of the Enkalayes, the Taulantes, the Epirotes, and the Ardianes.

After warring for the better part of the 4th century BC against the expansionist Macedonian state of Philip II and Alexander the Great, the Illyrians faced a greater threat from the growing power of the Romans. Seeing Illyrian territory as a bridgehead for conquests east of the Adriatic, Rome in 229 BC attacked and defeated the Illyrians, led by Queen Teuta, and by 168 BC established effective control over Illyria.

Nga shekulli i 8-të deri në atë të 6-in p.e.r Grekët themeluan një varg kolonish në truallin Ilir, dy prej tyre nga më të spikaturit ishin Epidamnus (Durrësi i sotëm) dhe Apollonia (afër Vlorës së sotme). Prania e kolonive Greke në dheun e tyre i solli Ilirët në prekje me një qytetërim më të përparuar, i cili i ndihmoi ata të zhvillojnë kulturën e tyre, ndërsa nga ana e tyre ndikuan jetën ekonomike dhe politike të kolonive. Në shekullin e 3-të p.e.r filluan të dobësohen dhe u prishën përfundimisht.

Fuqimisht krahas me ngritjen e kolonive Greke, fiset Ilire filluan të zhvillohen politikisht përkatësisht nga njësi (qënie) të vogla e të thjeshta në më të mëdha e më të ndërlikuara. Në fillim ata krijuan lidhje(ushtarake) të përkohshme me njëri-tjetrin për qëllime mbrojtjeje dhe sulmimi, pastaj federative dhe ende më vonë, mbretërira. Prej tyre mbretëritë më të rëndësishme, të cilat lulëzuan nga shekulli i 5-të deri në atë të 2-in p.e.r, ishin ato të Enkelajve, Taulantëve, Epirjotëve, dhe të Ardianëve.

Pas ndërluftimesh për pjesën më të mirë të shekullit 4-t p.e.r kundër shtetit zgjerues Maqedon të Filipit II dhe Aleksandrit të Madh, Ilirët u përballuan me një kërcënim më të madh nga fuqia rritëse e Romakëve. Duke e parë truallin Ilir si një urëlidhës për pushtimin në lindje të Adriatikut, Roma sulmoi dhe mundi Ilirët në vitin 229 p.e.r, të prirë nga Mbretëresha Teuta, dhe nga viti 168 p.e.r vendosi një mbikqyrje të frytshme mbi Ilirinë.

Romakët
Artikulli Kryesor: Romakët

The Romans ruled Illyria-which now became the province of Illyricum-for about six centuries. Under Roman rule Illyrian society underwent great change, especially in its outward, material aspect. Art and culture flourished, particularly in Apollonia, whose school of philosophy became celebrated in antiquity. To a great extent, though, the Illyrians resisted assimilation into Roman culture. Illyrian culture survived, along with the Illyrian tongue, though many Latin words entered the language and later became a part of the Albanian language.

Christianity manifested itself in Illyria during Roman rule, about the middle of the 1st century AD. At first the new religion had to compete with Oriental cults-among them that of Mithra, Persian god of light-which had entered the land in the wake of Illyria's growing interaction with eastern regions of the empire. For a long time it also had to compete with gods worshiped by Illyrian pagans. The steady growth of the Christian community in Dyrrhachium (the Roman name for Epidamnus) led to the creation there of a bishopric in AD 58. Later, episcopal seats were established in Apollonia, Buthrotum (modern Butrint), and Scodra (modern Shkodër).

By the time the empire began to decline, the Illyrians, profiting from a long tradition of martial habits and skills, had acquired great influence in the Roman military hierarchy. Indeed, several of them went on from there to become emperors. From the mid-3rd to the mid-4th century AD the reins of the empire were almost continuously in the hands of emperors of Illyrian origin: Gaius Decius, Claudius Gothicus, Aurelian, Probus, Diocletian, and Constantine the Great.

Romakët qeverisën Ilirinë e cila u bë krahina Illyricum për gjashtë shekuj. Nën qeverisjen Romake shoqëria Ilire pësoi ndryshime të mëdha, veçanërisht në pamjen e saj të jashtme lëndore (sendore,materiale). Arti dhe kultura lulëzuan, veçanërisht në Apollonia, shkolla filozofike e së cilës u bë e mirnjohur në lashtësi. Pasoi një shtrirje e madhe, megjithse, Ilirët i përballuan përngjasimit (përvetësimit) të kulturës Romake. Kultura Ilire mbijetoi, poashtu me gjuhën Ilire, megjithse shumë fjalë latine hynë në gjuhë dhe më vonë u bënë pjesë e gjuhës shqipe.

Krishtërimi u shfaq në Iliri gjatë sundimit romak, rreth gjysmës së shekullit të I-rë e.r. Në fillim fesë së re iu desh të ndeshej me kultet lindore (orientale), mes tyre atë të Mithra-s, perëndi persiane e dritës, e cila kishte hyrë në truallin Ilir pas gjurmëve të rritjes ndërvepruese me zonat lindore të perandorisë. Për një kohë të gjatë iu desh të hahej me perëndi të adhuruara nga paganët ilirë. Rritja e qëndrueshme e bashkësisë së krishterë në Dyrrhachium (emri romak për Epidamnus) çoi në krijimin e një peshkopate këtu në vitin 58 e.r. Më vonë, qendra peshkopale u vendosën në Apollonia, Buthrotum (sot Butrint), dhe Scodra (Shkodra sot).

Me kalimin e kohës perandoria nisi të dobësohet, Ilirët, duke përfituar nga një traditë e gjatë zakonesh dhe mjeshtrish (aftësish) ushtarake, fitoi ndikim të madh në udhëheqjen ushtarake Romake. Në të vërtetë, disa syresh mundën prej aty të bëhen perandorë. Nga mesi i shekujve të 3-të dhe të 4-të e.r frerët e perandorisë ishin pothuajse vazhdimisht në duart e perandorëve me prejardhje Ilire: Gaius Decius, Claudius Gothicus, Aurelian, Probus, Diocletian, dhe  Konstantini i Madh.

Bizantinët
Artikulli Kryesor: Bizantinët

From Illyria to Albania
When the Roman Empire divided into east and west in 395, the territories of modern Albania became part of the Byzantine Empire. As in the Roman Empire, some Illyrians rose to positions of eminence in the new empire. Three of the emperors who shaped the early history of Byzantium (reigning from 491 to 565) were of Illyrian origin: Anastasius I, Justin I, and-the most celebrated of Byzantine emperors-Justinian I.

In the first decades under Byzantine rule (until 461), Illyria suffered the devastation of raids by Visigoths, Huns, and Ostrogoths. Not long after these barbarian invaders swept through the Balkans, the Slavs appeared. Between the 6th and 8th centuries they settled in Illyrian territories and proceeded to assimilate Illyrian tribes in much of what is now Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. The tribes of southern Illyria, however-including modern Albania-averted assimilation and preserved their native tongue. In the course of several centuries, under the impact of Roman, Byzantine, and Slavic cultures, the tribes of southern Illyria underwent a transformation, and a transition occurred from the old Illyrian population to a new Albanian one. As a consequence, from the 8th to the 11th century, the name Illyria gradually gave way to the name, first mentioned in the 2nd century AD by the geographer Ptolemy of Alexandria, of the Albanoi tribe, which inhabited what is now central Albania. From a single tribe the name spread to include the rest of the country as Arbëri and, finally, Albania. The genesis of Albanian nationality apparently occurred at this time as the Albanian people became aware that they shared a common territory, name, language, and cultural heritage. (Scholars have not been able to determine the origin of Shqipëria, the Albanians' own name for their land, which is believed to have supplanted the name Albania during the 16th and 17th centuries. It probably was derived from shqipe, or “eagle,” which, modified into shqipëria, became “the land of the eagle.”)

Long before that event, Christianity had become the established religion in Albania, supplanting pagan polytheism and eclipsing for the most part the humanistic world outlook and institutions inherited from the Greek and Roman civilizations. But, though the country was in the fold of Byzantium, Albanian Christians remained under the jurisdiction of the Roman pope until 732. In that year the iconoclast Byzantine emperor Leo III, angered by Albanian archbishops because they had supported Rome in the Iconoclastic Controversy, detached the Albanian church from the Roman pope and placed it under the patriarch of Constantinople. When the Christian church split in 1054 between the East and Rome, southern Albania retained its tie to Constantinople while northern Albania reverted to the jurisdiction of Rome. This split in the Albanian church marked the first significant religious fragmentation of the country.

Nga Iliri në Shqipëri
Kur Perandoria Romake u nda në atë të lindjes dhe atë të perëndimit në vitin 395, trojet e Shqipërisë së sotme u bënë pjesë e Perandorisë Bizantine. Në kohën e Perandorisë Romake, disa ilirë u ngritën në poste të larta në perandorinë e re. Tre perandorët që mbruajtën historinë e Bizantit (duke mbretëruar nga vitet 491 deri në vitet 565) ishin me prejardhje ilire: Anastasius I, Justin I, dhe perandori më i njohur i Bizantit Justinian I.

Në dhjetëvjeçarët e parë nën qeverisjen bizantine (deri në vitin 461), Iliria vuajti bastisjet shkatërruese të Visgotëve, Hunëve, dhe Ostrogotëve. Jo shumë kohë pasi këta pushtues barbarë fshikulluan nëpër Ballkan, u shfaqën sllavët. Midis shekullit 6-të dhe 8-të ata u ngujuan në trevat ilire dhe vazhduan të përvetsojnë fise ilire pak a shumë ku ndodhet tani Sllovenia, Kroacia, Bosnja dhe Hercegovina, dhe Serbia. Fiset ilire të jugut, megjithkëtë përfshirë Shqipërinë e sotme i´u shmangën përvetsimit dhe ruajtën gjuhën e tyre amtare.

Me kalimin e disa qindvjeçarëve, nën përplasjen me Romakët, Bizantinet, dhe kulturën sllave, fiset ilire të jugut pësuan një shndërrim, dhe pasoi një kalim nga popullata e vjetër ilire në Shqipetare të re. Si rrjedhoje, nga shekulli i 8-të deri në atë të 11-in, emri Iliri i hapi rrugë emrit, në fillim të përmendur në qindvjeçarin e 2-të e.r. nga gjeografi Ptolemeus i Aleksandrisë, të fiseve Albanoi, të cilët banonin çfarë sot është qendra e Shqipërisë. Nga një fis i vetëm emri u përhap duke përfshirë pjesën e mbetur të vendit si Arbëri dhe, përfundimisht, Shqipëri (Albania). Zanafillat e kombëtarisë Shqiptare duket ndodhën në atë kohë kur populli shqiptar vërejti se ata ndanin një truall të përbashket, emër, gjuhë, dhe trashëgimi kulturore. (Shkollarët nuk kanë qenë të aftë të përcaktojnë prejardhjen e emrit Shqipëria, emri që shqiptarët quajnë tokën e tyre, i cili besohet të ketë zëvendësuar emrin Albania (Shqipëria) gjatë shekujve 16-të dhe 17-të. Ndoshta rrjedh nga emri "shqipe", ose "shqiponje," i cili u ndryshua në "Shqipëria", dhe u bë "toka e shqiponjës.")

Shumë kohë përpara së të ndodhte kjo, Krishtërimi u bë feja e themeltë e Shqipërisë, duke zëvendësuar politeizmin pagan dhe duke errësuar pjesën më të madhe të pamjes se jashtme njerëzore botërore dhe instituticionet e trashëguara nga qytetërimet greke e romake. Por, megjithse vendi ishte nën zgjedhën e Bizantit, shqipëtarët e krishterë mbetën nën pushtetin e Papës së Romës deri në vitin 732. Në këtë vit perandori ikonathyes bizantin Leo III, i zemëruar nga kryepeshkopët shqiptarë sepse këta kishin përkrahur Romën në Zënkën Ikonë-thyerëse, e shkëputi kishën shqiptare nga Papa i Romës dhe e vuri ate nën patriarkun e Konstantinopojës. Kur Kisha e Krishtere u ça në vitin 1054 midis Lindjes dhe Romës, Shqipëria e Jugut mbajti lidhjen e saj me Konstantinopojën ndërsa Shqipëria e Veriut i´u rikthye pushtetit të Romës. Kjo çarje në kishën shqiptare shënoi thyerjen e pare fetare më të rëndë të vendit.

Medieval culture
In the latter part of the Middle Ages, Albanian urban society reached a high point of development. Foreign commerce flourished to such an extent that leading Albanian merchants had their own agencies in Venice, Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik, Croatia), and Thessalonica (now Thessaloníki, Greece). The prosperity of the cities also stimulated the development of education and the arts.

Albanian, however, was not the language used in schools, churches, and official government transactions. Instead, Greek and Latin, which had the powerful support of the state and the church, were the official languages of culture and literature.

The new administrative system of the themes, or military provinces created by the Byzantine Empire, contributed to the eventual rise of feudalism in Albania, as peasant soldiers who served military lords became serfs on their landed estates. Among the leading families of the Albanian feudal nobility were the Thopias, Balshas, Shpatas, Muzakas, Aranitis, Dukagjinis, and Kastriotis. The first three of these rose to become rulers of principalities that were practically independent of Byzantium.

Kultura Mesjetare
Në pjesën e mëvonshme të Mesjetës, shoqëria qytetare shqiptare arriti një pikë të lartë të zhvillimit. Tregu i jashtëm lulëzoi në një shtrirje të atillë saqë trgetarë të mëdhenj shqiptarë kishin agjensitë e veta në Venedik, Raguzë (Dubrovniku i sotëm, Kroaci), dhe Selanik (tani Selaniku, Greqi). Mbrothësimi i qyteteve nxiti gjithashtu zhvillimin e edukimit dhe arteve.

Shqipja, megjithkëtë, nuk ishte gjuha e përdorur nëpër shkolla, kisha, dhe ndërveprimet zyrtare qeveritare. Në vend të saj, greqishtja dhe latinishtja, të cilat kishin mbështetjen e fuqishme të shtetit dhe të kishës, ishin gjuha zyrtare e kulturës dhe literaturës.

Sistemi i ri drejtues i çështjeve, ose krahinat ushtarake të krijuara nga Perandoria Bizantine, ndihmuan në mundësinë e ngritjes së feudalizmit në Shqipëri, kur ushtarët katundarë që u shërbyen zotave ushtarakë u bënë bujqrobër në pronat e tokave të tyre. Midis familjeve prijëse fisnike feudale shqiptare qenë Topiajt, Ballshajt, Shpatët, Muzakët, Arianitët, Dukagjinët, dhe Kastriotët. Tre të parët prej këtyre u ngritën të bëhen sundimtarë të principatave që ishin praktikisht të pamvarura nga Bizanti.

Perëndimi i Bizantit
Owing partly to the weakness of the Byzantine Empire, Albania, beginning in the 9th century, came under the domination, in whole or in part, of a succession of foreign powers: Bulgarians, Norman crusaders, the Angevins of southern Italy, Serbs, and Venetians. The final occupation of the country in 1347 by the Serbs, led by Stefan Dušan, caused massive migrations of Albanians abroad, especially to Greece and the Aegean islands. By the mid-14th century, Byzantine rule had come to an end in Albania, after nearly 1,000 years.

Duke zotëruar pjesërisht, për dobësinë e Perandorisë Bizante Shqipërinë, duke nisur nga qindvjeçari i 9-të, Shqipëria ra nën zotërim të plotë ose të pjesët të një vargu fuqish të huaja si: kryqëtarët Bullgarë, Normanë, Angjevinët e Italisë së jugut, Serbët, dhe Venedikasit. Pushtimi përfundimtar i vendit në vitin 1347 nga Serbët, të prirë nga Stefan Dušan, shkaktoi shpërngulje masive të shqiptarëve jashtë shtetit, veçanërisht në Greqi dhe në ishujt e Egjeut. Nga mesi i shekullit të 14-të,sundimi Bizantin mori fund në Shqipëri, pas gati 1.000 vjetësh. A few decades later the country was confronted with a new threat, that of the Turks, who at this juncture were expanding their power in the Balkans. The Ottoman Turks invaded Albania in 1388 and completed the occupation of the country about four decades later (1430). But after 1443 an Albanian of military genius-Gjergj Kastrioti (1405-68), known as Skanderbeg-rallied the Albanian princes and succeeded in driving the occupiers out. For the next 25 years, operating out of his stronghold in the mountain town of Krujë, Skanderbeg frustrated every attempt by the Turks to regain Albania, which they envisioned as a springboard for the invasion of Italy and western Europe. His unequal fight against the mightiest power of the time won the esteem of Europe as well as some support in the form of money and military aid from Naples, the papacy, Venice, and Ragusa. After he died, Albanian resistance gradually collapsed, enabling the Turks to reoccupy the country by 1506.

Pak dhjetvjeçarë më vonë vendi u përball me një kërcënim të ri, atë të Turqëve, të cilët në këtë pikë ishin duke shtrirë fuqinë e tyre në Ballkan. Turqit osmanë pushtuan Shqipërinë në vitin 1388 dhe plotësuan pushtimin e vendit rreth katërdhjetë vjet më vonë (1430. Por pas vitit 1443 një shqiptar i gjenisë ushtarake - Gjergj Kastrioti (1405-68), i njohur si Skanderbeg bashkoi rreth vetes princat shqiptarë dhe arriti të shporrte pushtuesit nga vendi. Për 25 vjetët e tjerë, duke vepruar jashtë fortesës së tij në qytetin malor të Krujës, Skënderbeu fshikulloi çdo përpjekje të turqve të rimarrin Shqipërinë, të cilën ata e parashikuan si një trampolinë për një pushtim të Italisë dhe Evropës Perëndimore. Lufta e tij e pabarabartë kundër fuqisë më të fortë të asaj kohe fitoi vlerësimin e Evropës si edhe disa përkrahje në formë parash dhe ndihme ushtarake nga Napoli, Papa i Romës, Venediku, dhe Raguza. Pasi ai vdiq, qëndresa shqiptare ra pak nga pak, duke aftësuar turqit të ripushtojnë vendin nga viti 1506.

Skanderbeg's long struggle to keep Albania free became highly significant to the Albanian people, as it strengthened their solidarity, made them more conscious of their national identity, and served later as a great source of inspiration in their struggle for national unity, freedom, and independence.

Lufta e gjatë e Skënderbeut të mbante Shqipërinë të lirë u bë shumë domethënëse për shqiptarët, sepse fuqizoi njëqënësinë e tyre, i bëri ata më të ndërgjegjshëm mbi ngjashmërinë e tyre kombëtare, dhe shërbeu më vonë si një burim i madh frymëzimi në luftën e tyre për bashkim kombëtar, liri, dhe pamvarësi.

The nature of Turkish rule
The Turks established their dominion over Albania just as the Renaissance began to unfold in Europe, so that, cut off from contact and exchanges with western Europe, Albania had no chance to participate in, or benefit from, the humanistic achievements of that era. Conquest also caused great suffering and vast destruction of the country's economy, commerce, art, and culture. Moreover, to escape persecution by their conquerors, about one-fourth of the country's population fled abroad to southern Italy, Sicily, and the Dalmatian coast.

Although the Turks ruled Albania for more than four centuries, they were unable to extend their authority throughout the country. In the highland regions Turkish authorities exercised only a formal sovereignty, as the highlanders refused to pay taxes, serve in the army, or surrender their arms-although they did pay an annual tribute to Constantinople. Albanians rose in rebellion time and again against Ottoman occupation. In order to check the ravages of Albanian resistance-which was partly motivated by religious feelings, namely, defense of the Christian faith-as well as to bring Albania spiritually closer to Turkey, the Ottomans initiated a systematic drive toward the end of the 16th century to Islamize the population. This drive continued through the following century, by the end of which two-thirds of the people had converted to Islam. A major reason Albanians became Muslims was to escape Turkish violence and exploitation, an instance of which was a crushing tax that Christians would have to pay if they refused to convert. Islamization aggravated the religious fragmentation of Albanian society, which had first appeared in the Middle Ages and which was later used by Constantinople and Albania's neighbours in attempts to divide and denationalize the Albanian people. Hence leaders of the Albanian national movement in the 19th century used the rallying cry “The religion of Albanians is Albanianism” in order to overcome religious divisions and foster national unity.

The basis of Ottoman rule in Albania was a feudalmilitary system of landed estates, called timars, which were awarded to military lords for loyalty and service to the empire. As Ottoman power began to decline in the 18th century, the central authority of the empire in Albania gave way to the local authority of autonomy-minded lords. The most successful of these lords were three generations of pashas of the Bushati family, who dominated most of northern Albania from 1757 to 1831, and Ali Pasa Tepelenë of Janina (now Ioánnina, Greece), a colourful Oriental-type despot who ruled over southern Albania and northern Greece from 1788 to 1822. These pashas created separate states within the Ottoman state until they were overthrown by the sultan. After the fall of the pashas, in 1831 Turkey officially abolished the timar system. In the wake of its collapse, economic and social power passed from the feudal lords to private landowning beys and, in the northern highlands, to tribal chieftains called bajraktars, who presided over given territories with rigid patriarchal societies that were often torn by blood feuds. Peasants who were formerly serfs now worked on the estates of the beys as tenant farmers.

Ottoman rule in Albania remained backward and oppressive to the end. In these circumstances, many Albanians went abroad in search of careers and advancement within the empire, and an unusually large number of them, in proportion to Albania's population, rose to positions of prominence as government and military leaders. More than two dozen grand viziers (similar to prime ministers) of Turkey were of Albanian origin.

Karakteri i sundimit turk
Turqit vendosen zoterimin e tyre mbi Shqiperine sapo Rilindja nisi te shpaloset ne Evrope, keshtu, te prere nga kontaktet dhe shkembimet me Evropen perendimore, Shqiperia nuk pati asnje mundesi te merrte pjese, apo te perfitonte nga arritjet njerzore te asj kohe. Pushtimi pra ahkaktoi vuajtje te madhe dhe shkaterrim te gjere te ekonomise se vendit, tregut, artit, dhe kultures. Per me teper, per t´i shpetuar perndjekjes nga pushtuesit e tyre, rreth nje e katerta e popullsise se vendit u arratis jashte shtetit ne Italine e jugut, Siçili, dhe brigjet Dalmatike.

Megjithse terqit sunduan mbi Shqiperi per me shume se kater shekuj, ata qene te paafte te shtrijne autoritetin e tyre mbi te gjithe vendin. Ne zonat malore autoritetet turke ushtronin vetem nje qeverisje formale, pasi malesoret nuk pranuan te paguajne taksat, te sherbenin ne ushtri, ose te dorezonin armet - megjithkete ata i paguanin nje haraç çdo vit Konstandinopolit.

Shqipetaret u ngriten here pas here ne kryengritje kunder pushtuesit osman. Me qellim qe te kontrollonin shkaterrimet e qendreses shqiptare - e cila ishte pjeserisht e shtyre nga ndjenja fetare, perkatesisht, mbrojtjes se besimit te krishtere - me qellim qe te sillnin Shqiperine me prane shpirterisht te Turqia, osmanet filluan nje fushate te rregullt te islamizimit te popullsise kah fundi i shekullit te 16-te. Kjo fushate vazhdoi gjate shekullit qe pasoi, nga fundi i te cilit dy te tretat e popullsise u kthyen ne fene islame. Nje arsye e madhe qe shqiptaret u bene myslimane ishte t´i shpetonin dhunes dhe shfrytezimit turk, nje shembull i tille ishte nje takse derrmuese qe te krishteret duhej te paguanin nese ata nuk pranonin te kthenin fene.

Islamizimi e rendoi copetimin fetar te shoqerise shqiptare, e cila u shfaq me pare ne Mesjete dhe qe u perdor me vone nga Konsatandinopoli dhe fqinjte e Shqiperise ne perpjekjet te ndanin dhe te çkombtarizonin popullin shqiptar. Prandaj prijesit e levizjes kombetare shqiptare ne shekullin e 19-te perdornin thirrjet nxitese "Feja e shqiptarit eshte shqiptaria" me qellim qe te mposhtnin perçarjen fetare dhe te ushqenin bashkimin kombetar.

Bazat e sundimit osman ne Shqiperi ishte sistem feudalo-ushtarak e pronave tokesore, te quajtur çifligare (pronare), dhe u jepej zoerinjve ushtarake per besnikeri dhe sherbim te perandorise. Pasi fuqia osmane nisi te bjere ne shekullin e 18-te, autoriteti qendror i perandorise ne Shqiperi u dha mundesi autoriteteve vendore te zoterinjve me mendje vetevendosjeje. Me i sukseshmi prej ketyre zoterinjve ishin tre breza pashesh te familjes Bushati, qe zoteroi pjesen me te madhe te Shqiperise se veriut nga viti 1757 deri ne vitin 1831, dhe Ali Pashë Tepelena i Janines (tani Ioánnina e Greqise), nje larmi e llojit sundimtar lindor qe sundoi mbi jugun e Shqiperise dhe veriun e Greqise nga viti 1788 deri ne vitin 1822. Keta pashallare krijuan shtete te ndara brenda shtetit osman gjersa ata u permbysen nga sulltani.

Pas renies se pashallareve, ne vitin 1831 Turqia zyrtarisht hoqi sistemin çifligar. Ne prag te rrenimit te saj, ekonomik dhe shoqeror, fuqia kaloi nga zoterinjte feudale ne pronesimin vetjak bejler dhe te malesoret e veriut ne kryetare fisnore te quajtur bajraktare, qe prinin mbi trojet e dhena me shoqerite patriarkale te ashpra qe ishin shpesh te grisura nga feudalet. Fshataret qe ishin formalisht bujqrober tani punonin ne pronat e bejlereve si fermere qiramarres.

Sundimi osman ne Shqiperi mbeti prapanik dhe shtypes deri ne fund. Ne keto rrethana shume shqiptare dolen jashte shtetit ne kerkim karriere dhe perparimi brenda perandorise, dhe nje numer shume i madh prej tyre, ne perpjestim me popullsine shqiptare, u ngriten ne pozita te larta si udheheqes qeveritare dhe ushtarake. Me se 24 vezire te medhenj (te ngjashem me kryeministrat) te Turqise ishin me prejardhje shqiptare.

Ottomanët
Artikulli Kryesor: Ottomanët

Albanian nationalism
By the mid-19th century Turkey was in the throes of the “Eastern Question,” as the peoples of the Balkans, including Albanians, sought to realize their national aspirations. To defend and promote their national interests, Albanians met in Prizren, a town in Kosovo, in 1878 and founded the Albanian League. The league had two main goals, one political and the other cultural. First, it strove (unsuccessfully) to unify all Albanian territories-at the time divided among the four vilayets, or provinces, of Kosovo, Shkodër, Monastir, and Janina-into one autonomous state within the framework of the Ottoman Empire. Second, it spearheaded a movement to develop Albanian language, literature, education, and culture. In line with the second program, in 1908 Albanian leaders met in the town of Monastir (now Bitola, Macedonia) and adopted a national alphabet. Based mostly on the Latin script, this supplanted several other alphabets, including Arabic and Greek, that were in use until then. The Albanian League was suppressed by the Turks in 1881, in part because they were alarmed by its strong nationalistic orientation. By then, however, the league had become a powerful symbol of Albania's national awakening, and its ideas and objectives fueled the drive that culminated later in national independence.

When the Young Turks, who seized power in Istanbul in 1908, ignored their commitments to Albanians to institute democratic reforms and to grant autonomy, Albanians embarked on an armed struggle, which, at the end of three years (1910-12), forced the Turks to agree, in effect, to grant their demands. Alarmed at the prospect of Albanian autonomy, Albania's Balkan neighbours, who had already made plans to partition the region, declared war on Turkey in October 1912, and Greek, Serbian, and Montenegrin armies advanced into Albanian territories.

To prevent the annihilation of the country, Albanian national delegates met at a congress in Vlorë. They were led by Ismail Qemal, an Albanian who had held several high positions in the Ottoman government. On Nov. 28, 1912, the congress issued the Vlorë proclamation, which declared Albania's independence.

Kombëtarizmi shqiptar
Nga mesi i shekullit të 19-të Turqia ishte në grahmat e " Çështjes Lindore", në kohën që ballkanasit, duke përfshirë edhe shqipëtarët, kërkonin të plotësonin ëndrrën e tyre kombëtare. Për të mbrojtur dhe përkrahur interesat e tyre kombëtare, shqiptarët u mblodhen në Prizren, një qytet i Kosoves, në vitin 1878 dhe krijuan Lidhjen Shqiptare. Lidhja kishte dy qëllime kryesore, atë politike dhe atë kulturore. Së pari, u përpoq (pasukses) të bashkonte të gjitha trojet shqiptare - atë kohe të ndara ndër katër vilajete, ose krahina, e Kosovës, e Shkodrës, e Manastirit, e Janinës - në një shtet vetqeverisës brenda sistemit të Perandorisë Osmane. Së dyti, mprehi një lëvizje për zhvillimin e gjuhës shqipe, letërsisë, arsimimit, dhe kulturës. Në vijë me programin e dytë, në vitin 1908 udhëheqësit shqiptarë u takuan në qytetin e Manastirit (tani Bitola, Maqedoni) dhe përshtatën një alfabet kombëtar. Ai bazohej më së shumti në shkrimin Latin, ky zëvendësoi disa alfabete të tjera, duke përshire alfabetin arab dhe grek, që ishin gjer në atë kohë në përdorim.

Lidhja Shqiptare u shtyp nga turqit në vitin 1881, pjesërisht sepse ata ishin alarmuar nga synimi i fuqishëm kombëtar. Që atëherë, megjthkëtë, lidhja u bë një simbol i zgjimit kombëtar të Shqipërisë, dhe idetë dhe qëllimet e saja ushqyen shtysën që kulminoi më vonë në pavarsinë kombëtare.

Kur Turqit e Rinj (Gjon Turqit), që kishin marre pushtetin në Stamboll në vitin 1908 shpërfillen zotimet e tyre të bëra shqipëtarëve të bëjnë reforma demokratike dhe dhënies së vetvendosjes (autonomisë), shqipëtarët u hodhën në luftë të armatosur, e cila, në fund të tre vjetësh (1910-1912), detyroi turqit për pasojë, t´u plotësonin kërkesat e tyre. Të alarmuar nga ardhmëria e autonomisë shqiptare, fqinjët ballkanas të Shqiperisë, që kishin bërë tashmë plane për copëtimin e vendit, i shpallën luftë Turqisë në tetor 1912, dhe ushtritë greke, serbe dhe malazeze përparuan në trevat Shqiptare. Për të shmangur asgjësimin e vendit, të dërguarit e kombit u takuan në një kongres në Vlorë. Ata udhehiqeshin nga Ismail Qemali, një shqiptar që kishte pasur pozita të larta në qeverinë osmane. Me 28 nëntor 1912, kongresi nxori thirrjen, e cila shpalli pavaresinë e Shqipërisë.

Creating the new state
Shortly after the defeat of Turkey by the Balkan allies, a conference of ambassadors of the Great Powers (Britain, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Italy) convened in London in December 1912 to settle the outstanding issues raised by the conflict. With support given to the Albanians by Austria-Hungary and Italy, the conference agreed to create an independent state of Albania. But, in drawing the borders of the new state, owing to strong pressure from Albania's neighbours, the Great Powers largely ignored demographic realities and ceded the vast region of Kosovo to Serbia, while, in the south, Greece was given the greater part of Çamëria, a part of the old region of Epirus centred on the Thíamis River. Many observers doubted whether the new state would be viable with about one-half of Albanian lands and population left outside its borders, especially since these lands were the most productive in food grains and livestock. On the other hand, a small community of about 35,000 ethnic Greeks was included within Albania's borders. (However, Greece, which counted all Albanians of the Orthodox faith-20 percent of the population-as Greeks, claimed that the number of ethnic Greeks was considerably larger.) Thereafter, Kosovo and the Greek minority remained troublesome issues in Albanian-Greek and Albanian-Yugoslav relations.

The Great Powers also appointed a German prince, Wilhelm zu Wied, as ruler of Albania. Wilhelm arrived in Albania in March 1914, but his unfamiliarity with Albania and its problems, compounded by complications arising from the outbreak of World War I, led him to depart from Albania six months later. The war plunged the country into a new crisis, as the armies of Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia invaded and occupied it. Left without any political leadership or authority, the country was in chaos, and its very fate hung in the balance. At the Paris Peace Conference after the war, the extinction of Albania was averted largely through the efforts of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who vetoed a plan by Britain, France, and Italy to partition Albania among its neighbours.

A national congress, held in Lushnje in January 1920, laid the foundations of a new government. In December of that year Albania, this time with the help of Britain, gained admission to the League of Nations, thereby winning for the first time international recognition as a sovereign nation and state

Bishop Noli and King Zog
At the start of the 1920s, Albanian society was divided by two apparently irreconcilable forces. One, made up mainly of deeply conservative landowning beys and tribal bajraktars who were tied to the Ottoman and feudal past, was led by Ahmed Bey Zogu, a chieftain from the Mat region of north-central Albania. The other, made up of liberal intellectuals, democratic politicians, and progressive merchants who looked to the West and wanted to modernize and Westernize Albania, was led by Fan S. Noli, an American-educated bishop of the Orthodox church. In the event, this East-West polarization of Albanian society was of such magnitude and complexity that neither leader could master and overcome it.

In the unusually open and free political, social, and cultural climate that prevailed in Albania between 1920 and 1924, the liberal forces gathered strength, and, by mid-1924, a popular revolt forced Zogu to flee to Yugoslavia. Installed as prime minister of the new government in June 1924, Noli set out to build a Western-style democracy in Albania, and toward that end he announced a radical program of land reform and modernization. But his vacillation in carrying out the program, coupled with a depleted state treasury and a failure to obtain international recognition for his revolutionary, left-of-centre government, quickly alienated most of Noli's supporters, and six months later he was overthrown by an armed assault led by Zogu and aided by Yugoslavia.

Zogu began his 14-year reign in Albania-first as president (1925-28), then as King Zog I (1928-39)-in a country rife with political and social instability. Greatly in need of foreign aid and credit in order to stabilize the country, Zog signed a number of accords with Italy. These provided transitory financial relief to Albania, but they effected no basic change in its economy, especially under the conditions of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Italy, on the other hand, viewed Albania primarily as a bridgehead for military expansion into the Balkans. On April 7, 1939, Italy invaded and shortly after occupied the country. King Zog fled to Greece.

The social base of Zog's power was a coalition of southern beys and northern bajraktars. With the support of this coalition-plus a vast Oriental bureaucracy, an efficient police force, and Italian money-King Zog brought a large measure of stability to Albania. He extended the authority of the government to the highlands, reduced the brigandage that had formerly plagued the country, laid the foundations of a modern educational system, and took a few steps to Westernize Albanian social life. On balance, however, his achievements were outweighed by his failures. Although formally a constitutional monarch, in reality Zog was a dictator, and Albania under him experienced the fragile stability of a dictatorship. Zog failed to resolve Albania's fundamental problem, that of land reform, leaving the peasantry as impoverished as before. In order to stave off famine, the government had to import food grains annually, but, even so, thousands of people migrated abroad in search of a better life. Moreover, Zog denied democratic freedoms to Albanians and created conditions that spawned periodic revolts against his regime, alienated most of the educated class, fomented labour unrest, and led to the formation of the first communist groups in the country.

World War II
In October 1940 Italian forces used Albania as a military base to invade Greece, but they were quickly thrown back into Albania. After Nazi Germany defeated Greece and Yugoslavia in 1941, the regions of Kosovo and Çamëria were joined to Albania, thus creating an ethnically united Albanian state. The new state lasted until November 1944, when the Germans-who had replaced the Italian occupation forces following Italy's surrender in 1943-withdrew from Albania. Kosovo was then reincorporated into the Serbian part of Yugoslavia, and Çamëria into Greece.

Meanwhile, the various communist groups that had germinated in Zog's Albania merged in November 1941 to form the Albanian Communist Party and began to fight the occupiers as a unified resistance force. After a successful struggle against the fascists and two other resistance groups-the National Front (Balli Kombëtar) and the pro-Zog Legality Party (Legaliteti)-which contended for power with them, the communists seized control of the country on Nov. 29, 1944. Enver Hoxha, a college instructor who had led the resistance struggle of communist forces, became the leader of Albania by virtue of his post as secretary-general of the party. Albania, which before the war had been under the personal dictatorship of King Zog, now fell under the collective dictatorship of the Albanian Communist Party. The country became officially the People's Republic of Albania in 1946 and, in 1976, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.

The Stalinist state
The new rulers inherited an Albania plagued by a host of ills: pervasive poverty, overwhelming illiteracy, blood feuds, epidemics of disease, and gross subjugation of women. In order to eradicate these ills, the communists drafted a radical modernization program intended to bring social and economic liberation to Albania, thus completing the political liberation won in 1912. The government's first major act to “build socialism” was swift, uncompromising agrarian reform, which broke up the large landed estates of the southern beys and distributed the parcels to landless and other peasants. This destroyed the powerful class of the beys. The government also moved to nationalize industry, banks, and all commercial and foreign properties. Shortly after the agrarian reform, the Albanian government started to collectivize agriculture, completing the job in 1967. As a result, peasants lost title to their land. In addition, the Hoxha leadership extended the new socialist order to the more rugged and isolated northern highlands, bringing down the age-old institution of the blood feud and the patriarchal structure of the family and clans, thus destroying the semifeudal class of bajraktars. The traditional role of women-namely, confinement to the home and farm-changed radically as they gained legal equality with men and became active participants in all areas of society.

In order to obtain the economic aid needed for modernization, as well as the political and military support to enhance its security, Albania turned to the communist world: Yugoslavia (1944-48), the Soviet Union (1948-61), and China (1961-78). Economically, Albania benefited greatly from these alliances: with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and credits, and with the assistance of a large number of technicians and specialists sent by its allies, Albania was able to build the foundations of a modern industry and to introduce mechanization into agriculture. As a result, for the first time in modern history, the Albanian populace began to emerge from age-old backwardness and, for a while, enjoyed a higher standard of living. Politically, Hoxha was disillusioned with his communist allies and patrons and broke with each one, charging that they had abandoned Marxism-Leninism and the cause of the proletariat for the sake of rapprochement with the capitalist West. Alienated from both East and West, Albania adopted a “go-it-alone” policy and became notorious as an isolated bastion of Stalinism.

Hoxha's program for modernization aimed at transforming Albania from a backward agrarian country into a modern industrial society, and, indeed, within four decades Albania had made respectable-in some cases historic-strides in the development of industry, agriculture, education, the arts, and culture. A notable achievement was the drainage of coastal swamplands-until then breeding grounds for malarial mosquitoes-and the reclamation of land for agricultural and industrial uses. Also symbolic of the change was a historic language reform that fused elements of the Geg and Tosk dialects into a unified literary language.

Political oppression, however, offset gains made on the material and cultural planes. Contrary to provisions in the constitution, during Hoxha's reign Albania was ruled, in effect, by the Directorate of State Security, known as the Sigurimi. To eliminate dissent, the government resorted periodically to purges, in which opponents were subjected to public criticism, dismissed from their jobs, imprisoned in forced-labour camps, or executed. Travel abroad was forbidden to all but those on official business. In 1967 the religious establishment, which party leaders and other atheistic Albanians viewed as a backward medieval institution that hampered national unity and progress, was officially banned, and all Christian and Muslim houses of worship were closed.

Collapse of communism
After Hoxha's death in 1985, his handpicked successor, Ramiz Alia, sought to preserve the communist system while introducing gradual reforms in order to revive the economy, which had been declining steadily since the cessation of aid from former communist allies. To this end he legalized some investment in Albania by foreign firms and expanded diplomatic relations with the West. But, with the fall of communism in eastern Europe in 1989, various segments of Albanian society became politically active and began to agitate against the government. The most alienated groups were the intellectuals and the working class-traditionally the vanguards of a communist movement or organization-as well as Albania's youth, which had been frustrated by years of confinement and restrictions. In response to these pressures, Alia granted Albanian citizens the right to travel abroad, curtailed the powers of the Sigurimi, restored religious freedom, and adopted some free-market measures for the economy. In December 1990 Alia endorsed the creation of independent political parties, thus signaling an end to the communists' official monopoly of power.

With each concession to the opposition, the state's absolute control over Albanian society weakened. Continuing economic, social, and political instability led to the fall of several governments, and in March 1992 a decisive electoral victory was won by the anticommunist opposition led by the Democratic Party. Alia resigned as president and was succeeded by Sali Berisha, the first democratic leader of Albania since Bishop Noli.

Albania's progress toward democratic reform enabled it to gain membership in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, formally bringing to an end its notorious isolation. Efforts to establish a free-market economy caused severe dislocations, but they also opened the road for Albania to obtain large amounts of aid from developed countries. Albania thus began integrating its politics and institutions with the West, which Albanians have historically viewed as their cultural and geographic home.

The failure of various fraudulent investment schemes caused first the collapse of the economy and then of the government in early 1997. One-third of the population found itself penniless overnight. Rioting quickly escalated, and vast stores of weapons were looted from storage depots; criminal gangs took control of the countryside. In response, the UN dispatched peacekeeping troops in March. The Socialist Party (the former Communist Party) won parliamentary elections in June 1997, and party secretary Rexhep Mejdani became president in July. In 1999 the nation was inundated by some 450,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo.

Lidhje të jashtme
تاريخ ألبانيا Albaniens historie Geschichte Albaniens History of Albania Histoire de l'Albanie Storia dell'Albania Geschiedenis van Albanië História da Albânia История Албании Zgodovina Albanije Albaniens historia 阿尔巴尼亚历史