On this day in 1939, in an effort to mimic Hitler's conquest of Prague, Benito Mussolini's troops, though badly organized, invade

and occupy Albania. Although the invasion of Albania was intended as but a prelude to greater conquests in the Balkans, it proved a costly enterprise for Il Duce. Albania was already dependent on Italy's economy, so had little to offer the invaders. And future exploits in neighboring nations, in Greece in particular, proved to be disastrous for the Italians.

Italian penetration in Albania Albania had long had considerable strategic importance for Italy. Italian naval strategists eyed the port of Vlor and the island of Sazan at the entrance to the Bay of Vlor with considerable interest, as it would give Italy control of the entrance to the Adriatic Sea.[56] In addition, Albania could provide Italy with a beachhead in the Balkans. Before World War I Italy and Austria-Hungaryhad been instrumental in the creation of an independent Albanian state. At the outbreak of war, Italy had seized the chance to occupy the southern half of Albania, to avoid it being captured by the Austro-Hungarians. That success did not last long, as post-war domestic problems, Albanian resistance, and pressure from United States President Woodrow Wilson, forced Italy to pull out in 1920.[57] When Mussolini took power in Italy he turned with renewed interest to Albania. Italy began penetration of Albania's economy in 1925, when Albania agreed to allow it to exploit its mineral resources.[58] That was followed by the First Treaty of Tirana in 1926 and the Second Treaty of Tirana in 1927, whereby Italy and Albania entered into a defensive alliance.[58] The Albanian government and economy were subsidised by Italian loans, the Albanian army was trained by Italian military instructors, and Italian colonial settlement was encouraged. Despite strong Italian influence, Zog refused to completely give in to Italian pressure.[59] In 1931 he openly stood up to the Italians, refusing to renew the 1926 Treaty of Tirana. After Albania signed trade agreements with Yugoslavia and Greece in 1934, Mussolini made a failed attempt to intimidate the Albanians by sending a fleet of warships to Albania.[60] As Nazi Germany annexed Austria and moved against Czechoslovakia, Italy saw itself becoming a second-rate member of the Axis.[61] The imminent birth of an Albanian royal child meanwhile threatened to give Zog a lasting dynasty. After Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia (15 March 1939) without notifying Mussolini in advance, the Italian dictator decided to proceed with his own annexation of Albania. Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III criticized the plan to take Albania as an unnecessary risk. Rome, however, delivered Tirana an ultimatum on 25 March 1939, demanding that it accede to Italy's occupation of Albania. Zog refused to accept money in exchange for countenancing a full Italian takeover and colonization of Albania. Italian invasion On 7 April Mussolini's troops invaded Albania. The operation was led by General Alfredo Guzzoni. The invasion force was divided into three groups, which were to land successively. The most important was the first group, which was divided in four columns, each assigned to a landing area at a harbor and an inland target on which to advance. Despite some stubborn resistance by some patriots, especially at Durrs, the Italians made short work of the Albanians.[61] Durrs was captured on 7 April, Tirana the following day, Shkodr and Gjirokastr on 9 April, and almost the entire country by 10 April. Unwilling to become an Italian puppet, King Zog, his wife, Queen Geraldine Apponyi, and their infant son Leka fled to Greece and eventually to London. On 12 April, the Albanian parliament voted to depose Zog and unite the nation with Italy "in personal union" by offering the Albanian crown to Victor Emmanuel III.[62] The parliament elected Albania's largest landowner, Shefqet Bej Verlaci, as Prime Minister. Verlaci additionally served as head of state for five days until Victor Emmanuel III formally accepted the Albanian crown in a ceremony at the Quirinale palace in Rome. Victor Emmanuel III appointed Francesco Jacomoni di

San Savino, a former ambassador to Albania, to represent him in Albania as "Lieutenant-General of the King" (effectively a viceroy). Albania under Italy While Victor Emmanuel ruled as king, Shefqet Bej Verlaci served as the Prime Minister. Shefqet Verlaci controlled the day to day activities of the Italian protectorate. On 3 December 1941, Shefqet Bej Verlaci was replaced as Prime Minister and Head of State by Mustafa Merlika Kruja.[63] From the start, Albanian foreign affairs, customs, as well as natural resources came under direct control of Italy. The puppet Albanian Fascist Party became the ruling party of the country and the Fascists allowed Italian citizens to settle in Albania and to own land so that they could gradually transform it into Italian soil. In October 1940, during the Greco-Italian War, Albania served as a staging-area for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's unsuccessful invasion ofGreece. Mussolini planned to invade Greece and other countries like Yugoslavia in the area to give Italy territorial control of most of theMediterranean Sea coastline, as part of the Fascists objective of creating the objective of Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea") in which Italy would dominate the Mediterranean. But, soon after the Italian invasion, the Greeks counter-attacked and a sizeable portion of Albania was in Greek hands (including the cities ofGjirokastr and Kor). In April 1941, after Greece capitulated to the German forces, the Greek territorial gains in southern Albania returned to Italian command. Under Italian command came also large areas of Greece after the successful German invasion of Greece. After the fall of Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941, the Italian Fascists added to the territory of the Kingdom of Albania most of the Albanian-inhabited areas that had been previously given to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Albanian fascists claimed in May 1941 that nearly all the Albanian populated territories were united to Albania (see map). Even areas of northern Greece (Chameria) were administered by Albanians[citation needed]. But this was even a consequence of borders that Italy and Germany agreed on when dividing their spheres of influence. Some small portions of territories with Albanian majority remained outside the new borders and contact between the two parts was practically impossible: the Albanian population under the Bulgarian rule was heavily oppressed.

Invasion The original Italian plans for the invasion called for up to 50,000 men supported by 137 naval units and 400 airplanes. Ultimately the invasion force grew to 100,000 men supported by 600 airplanes.[9] On April 7 Mussolini's troops, led by General Alfredo Guzzoni, invaded Albania, attacking all Albanian ports simultaneously. There were 65 units in Saranda, 40 at Vlor, 38 in Durrs, 28 at Shngjin and 8 more at Bishti i Palls. On the other side the regular Albanian army had 15,000 poorly equipped troops who had been instructed by Italian officers. King Zog's plan was to mount a resistance in the mountains, leaving the ports and main cities undefended, but Italian agents placed in Albania as military instructors sabotaged this plan. The Albanians discovered that artillery pieces had been disabled and there was no ammunition. As a consequence, the main resistance was offered by gendarmes and small groups of patriots. In Durrs, a force of only 360 Albanians, mostly gendarmes and townspeople, led by Abaz Kupi, the commander of the gendarmerie in Durrs, and Mujo Ulqinaku, a marine official, tried to halt the Italian advance.[9] Armed with small arms and three machine guns, they succeeded in keeping the Italians at bay for several hours until a large number of small tanks disembarked from the Italian ships. After that, resistance diminished and within five hours Italy had captured the city.[10]

By 1:30 pm on the first day, all Albanian ports were in Italian hands. The same day King Zog, his wife, Queen Geraldine Apponyi, and their infant son Leka fled for Greece, taking with them part of the gold reserves of the Albanian Central Bank. On hearing the news, an angry mob attacked the prisons, liberated the prisoners and sacked the King's residence. At 9:30 am on April 8, Italian troops entered Tirana and quickly captured all government buildings. Italian columns then marched in the directions of Shkodr, Fier and Elbasan. Shkodr surrendered in the evening after 12 hours of fighting. However, two officers garrisoned at Rozafa castle refused to obey the ceasefire order and continued to fight until they ran out of ammunition. The Italian troops paid homage to the Albanian troops in Shkodr who had halted their advance for an entire day. During the Italian advance in Shkodr the mob besieged the prison and liberated some 200 prisoners.[11] The number of casualties in these battles is disputed. For example, the Italian military forces maintained that at Durrs 25 Italians were killed and 97 wounded and 160 Albanians were killed and several hundred wounded, while the townspeople of Durrs declared that some 400 Italians had been killed. To cover up their losses the Italians immediately took away the bodies and washed the harbor and streets of Durrs.[9] On April 12, the Albanian parliament voted to depose Zog and unite the nation with Italy "in personal union" by offering the Albanian crown to Victor Emmanuel III.[12] The parliament elected Albania's largest landowner, Shefqet Bej Verlaci, as Prime Minister. Verlaci additionally served as head of state for five days until Victor Emmanuel III formally accepted the Albanian crown in a ceremony at the Quirinale palace in Rome. Victor Emmanuel III appointed Francesco Jacomoni di San Savino, a former ambassador to Albania, to represent him in Albania as "Lieutenant-General of the King" (effectively a viceroy).

Ang panghihimasok
Sa 7 Abril , Mussolini ng hukbo invaded Albania. Operasyon ay iniutos sa pamamagitan ng General Alfredo Guzzoni . Ang panghihimasok puwersa ay nahahati sa 3 group, na nakalapag sa. Ang unang grupo ay ang pinaka-mahalaga, na kung saan ay hinati sa 4 hanay, ang bawat isa ay nakatalaga sa isang landing page sa isang port area na may isang layunin sa loob. Sa kabila ng ilang mga punto ng paglaban, lalo na sa Durrs , ang Italians mabilis ang pagsulong. Durrs ay conquered sa araw 7, 8 Tirana, Shkodr at Gjirokastr Abril 9 at halos ang buong bansa ay conquered ika-10. Hindi nagkukulang sa isang Italian manika , Hari Zog, ang kanyang asawa, ang Queen Geraldine Apponyi at ang kanyang mga anak na lalaki, Prince Leka tumakas bansa, pagpunta sa London sa pamamagitan ng Greece. Sa Abril 12 , ang Albanian parliyamento bumoto upang saksihan ang Zog at magkaisa ang bansa sa Italya sa isang personal na unyon , na nag-aalok ng Albanian korona sa Victor Emmanuel III. Parliyamento ang inihalal ng pangunahing Albania maylupa, BEJ Shefqet Verlaci bilang Prime Minister. Gayunpaman Verlaci nagsilbi bilang pinuno ng estado para sa 5 araw hanggang Victor Emmanuel III pormal na tinanggap ang Albanian korona sa isang seremonya sa Palau Quirinale sa Roma . Victor Emmanuel III itinalaga sa San Francesco ng Jacomoni di Savino , isang dating ambasador sa Albania, upang kumatawan sa Albania bilang isang tenyente heneral ng Hari , sa katunayan, isang viceroy .