International Control Commission (Albania)

The International Commission of Control (Albanian: Komisioni Ndërkombëtar i Kontrollit të Kufinjve) was the commission established on October 15, 1913, on the basis of the decision by the six Great Powers made on July 29, 1913, according to the London Treaty signed on May 30, 1913. Its goal was to take care of the administration of newly established Albania until its own political institutions were in order.[1]

Members of the International Commission for Control of the Borders of Shkodër and Vlorë.

History

The Headquarters of the International Commission of Control (ICC) was in Vlorë.[2] The Great Powers authorized the commission to assume the administration of the country.[3]

A plot by the Young Turk government and led by Bekir Fikri to restore Ottoman control over Albania through the installment of an Ottoman-Albanian officer Ahmed Izzet Pasha as monarch was uncovered by the Serbs and reported to the ICC.[4][5][6] Ismail Qemali supported the plot for military assistance against Serbia and Greece.[7][4][8] The ICC allowed their Dutch officers serving as the Albanian Gendarmerie to declare a state of emergency and stop the plot.[5][7][6] They raided Vlorë on 7–8 January 1914, discovering more than 200 Ottoman troops and arrested Fikri.[5][4][9] During Fikri's trial the plot emerged and an ICC military court under Colonel Willem de Veer condemned him to death[9] and later commuted to life imprisonment,[5] while Qemali and his cabinet resigned.[7] After Qemali left the country, turmoil ensured throughout Albania.[10]

Members

The Great Powers established the Commission of Control composed of the representatives of each Great Power and one Albanian.[11]

Members of the commission were:[12]

• Léon-Alphonse-Thadée Krajewski (France)
• Harry Harling Lamb (United Kingdom)
• Alessandro Leoni (Italy)
• Aleksandr Mihajlovič Petrjaev (Russian: Александр Михайлович Петряев) (Russia)
• Aristoteles Petrović (Austria-Hungary)
• Julius Winckel (Germany)
• Mufid Libohova (Albania)

When Prince Wilhelm of Wied took control over the Principality of Albania in March 1914, the Albanian representative (Libohova) was replaced by Mehdi Frashëri on March 17, 1914.[13] After that change, all the other members of the commission remained in their positions until September 9, 1914, except the representative of the Austria-Hungary who resigned his position before May 25, 1914.

Administration

Picture of the negotiations that lead to the Protocol of Corfu between the International Commission of Control and Northern Epirote representatives.

After gradually assuming the administration of the country in 1914, the International Commission prepared a draft of the constitution (Albanian: Statuti Organik) with 216 articles. It would provide for establishment of the National Assembly with power of legislation in Albania which was designed as hereditary constitutional monarchy.[14]

According to the constitution, the country would have, with few exceptions, the same administrative organization as during the Ottoman Empire suzerainty.[15] It would be partitioned into seven administrative districts, each of them would choose three representatives for the national assembly by direct suffrage.

The prince would nominate ten representatives and the heads of all three religions (Islam, Orthodox and Catholic) would also be represented in the national assembly, which would have a four-year term. The Council of Ministers, with executive powers, would be appointed by the prince.[16]

Protocol of Corfu

On May 17, after the Greeks living in southern Albania declared the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, the Commission intervened in order to avoid escalation of the conflicts. As a result, the Protocol of Corfu was signed, which recognized the autonomous status of Albania's southern provinces, which consisted of Northern Epirus. Moreover, the execution and maintenance of this agreement was entrusted to the Commission.[17]

End

With Albania in a state of civil war from July 1914, Greece occupying the south of the country, the Great Powers at war with one another, the regime collapsed and Prince William left the country on 3 September 1914, originally to Venice.[18] Despite leaving Albania, he did so insisting that he remained head of state.[19] In his proclamation, he informed the people that "he deemed it necessary to absent himself temporarily".[20] The prince handed over the government to the International Commission of Control, and only three days, it dispersed.[21]

References

1. Zaharia, Perikli (March 24, 2003). "The post - 1989 constitutional course of south east Europe". Athens: Centre for European Constitutional Law. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011. Treaty of May 30, 1913. As it was decided at the London Conference of Ambassadors, the sovereignty of Albania was under the protection of the six great powers: Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. At the same time, an International Control Commission was created.
2. Jelavich, Barbara (1999) [1983], "The end of Ottoman rule in Europe", History of the Balkans: Twentieth century, 2, Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge, p. 101, ISBN 0-521-27459-1, retrieved January 21, 2011, the International Commission... had headquarters in Vlore
3. Pearson, Owen (2004). Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History. Volume I, Albania and King Zog: Independence, republic and monarchy 1908–1939. I.B. Tauris. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-84511-013-0. ... International Commission of Control ... was authorized by the Great Powers to assume administration of the whole country...
4. Gostentschnigg, Kurt (2017). Wissenschaft im Spannungsfeld von Politik und Militär: Die österreichisch-ungarische Albanologie 1867-1918. Springer-Verlag. p. 575. ISBN 9783658189112.
5. Kiefer, Dorothea (1979). Entwicklungspolitik in Jugoslawien. Ihre Zielsetzungen, Planungen und Ergebnisse. Oldenbourg Verlag. p. 320. ISBN 9783486496017.
6. Tütüncü 2017, pp. 41–42.
7. Winnifrith, Tom (1992). Perspectives on Albania. Springer. p. 111. ISBN 9781349220502.
8. Tütüncü 2017, pp. 40, 42.
9. Tütüncü 2017, p. 41.
10. Tütüncü, Mehmet (2017). "Grebeneli Bekir Fikri Bey Albay Thomson'a Karşi 1914 Avlonya Olayı [Grebeneli Bekir Fikri Bey against Colonel Thomson: The Case of Vlorë 1914]". Düşünce Ve Tarih. 3 (31): 43.
11. Jelavich, Barbara (1999) [1983], "The end of Ottoman rule in Europe", History of the Balkans: Twentieth century, 2, Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge, p. 101, ISBN 0-521-27459-1, retrieved January 21, 2011, powers... established International Control Commission composed of representatives of Great Powers, together with one Albanian
12. "International Commission of Control: 1913-1914". Arhontology. 3 January 2011. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
13. "International Commission of Control: 1913-1914". Arhontology. 3 January 2011. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
14. Jelavich, Barbara (1999) [1983], "The end of Ottoman rule in Europe", History of the Balkans: Twentieth century, 2, Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press Syndicate of University of Cambridge, p. 101, ISBN 0-521-27459-1, retrieved January 21, 2011, International Commission prepared a draft constitution. It provided for the establishment of national assembly,... composed of three representatives from... seven administrative districts... chosen by direct suffrage,... heads of three churches and ten nominees of the prince... a four year... ministers... appointed by the prince
15. Zaharia, Perikli (March 24, 2003). "The post - 1989 constitutional course of south east europe". Athens: Centre for European Constitutional Law. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011. The Ottoman administrative organization , with few exceptions, remained basically unchanged.
16. Zaharia, Perikli (March 24, 2003). "The post - 1989 constitutional course of south east europe". Athens: Centre for European Constitutional Law. Archived from the original on January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011. A Constitution (Statuti Organik) for the new State, consisting of 216 articles, was elaborated in 1914 by the International Commission. Albania was designated as a hereditary constitutional monarchy. The power of legislation was entrusted to a National Assembly, while the executive power was vested in the Council of Ministers, who were to be appointed by the Prince and accountable to him only.
17. Stickney, Edith Pierpont (1926). Southern Albania or Northern Epirus in European International Affairs, 1912–1923. Stanford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-8047-6171-0.
18. Springer, Elisabeth; Leopold Kammerhofer (1993). Archiv und Forschung. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. p. 346. ISBN 3-486-55989-3.
19. Kola, Paulin (2003). The Search for Greater Albania. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 16. ISBN 1-85065-596-0.
20. Miller, Iii William (September 9, 1966), The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors, 1801 -1927 (Hardcover Revised and Enl ed.), Frank Cass Publishers, p. 529, ISBN 0-7146-1974-4, On September 3, 1914, Prince William had ended his inglorious six months' reign with proclamation, informing his people that "he deemed it necessary to absent himself temporarily."
21. Miller, Iii William (September 9, 1966), The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors, 1801-1927 (Hardcover Revised and Enl ed.), Frank Cass Publishers, p. 529, ISBN 0-7146-1974-4, by handing over the government to ...the International Commission of Control, a body without cohesion and without funds, which soon dispersed