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THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
The decline of Byzantium and Ottoman conquest 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 Dusan, 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. 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 Skenderbeg--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 Kruja, Skenderbeg 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. Skenderbeg'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. The
Ottoman Empire 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 Tepelena of Janina
(now Ionnina, 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.
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