Part IX: Balkan Entanglements

Both of those things combined with Jack's business successes had led to Albania's potential membership in the Balkan pact being taken far more seriously than it had in Jack's history. Rather than looking to the members of the pact for a handout to counterbalance Italian influence, Albania, or perhaps more importantly its king, was approaching the situation from a position of strength. In the past six years Jack had transformed Albania into the fastest growing economy in the Balkans and had taken several key steps to limit Italian influence. His unparalleled successes coupled with the autocratic nature of Albania's current political system had won him admirers throughout not only the Balkans but the entire world. Even Winston Churchill, the supposed future Prime Minister, had responded to Jack's efforts to strike up correspondence. (3)

Of course, none of these improvements meant that the members of the Balkan pact were willing to seriously budge on the manifold issues which made Albania joining the pact problematic. All of Jack's efforts had barely touched the surface of entire Northern Epirus issue and he hadn't even made an impact on the ongoing problems in Kosovo, especially since signing Alexander's proposed relocation agreement would be tantamount to political suicide. Moreover, despite the half a decade of superlative economic growth caused by Jack's future guided efforts, Albania remained the poorest of the Balkan countries and one which Italy still claimed a "special interest" over. The only tangible diplomatic result of smoothing things over with Albania's Balkan neighbours had been that the negotiations to join the pact were dragging on far longer than they did in Jack's history. Instead of needing four meetings, if Mehmet Koniça's reports were accurate, they would probably need five.

The long-awaited explosion of the familiar taste of Jack's carefully brewed coffee in his mouth softened Zog's thoughts somewhat. That's not quite fair… To be fair to Jack, he had never seriously thought that Albania stood a chance of joining the Balkan Pact. The entire process had all been intended to provoke panic in Rome and create the environment for an even better deal. Zog had apparently blundered into the same strategy in Jack's history. By pursuing the same strategy with not only discipline but foresight, Jack was convinced that he'd achieve a better result. Again, if the reports on his desk from his agents in Rome were any indication, the strategy was working. The question had gone from whether Italy was willing to offer any deal to what kind of deal Italy was willing to put forward.

At times like these Zog's only seeming consolation was the fact that even with Jack's future knowledge he didn't always "get it right." His efforts to transform his political coup of a marriage to Behije Verlaci into a relational coup by laying the foundation for what he thought was a healthy marriage had failed miserably. Behije had all the makings of a challenging wife even for an Albanian aristocrat who needed her family's resources. Jack's bullheaded intention to transform Albania coupled with his ability to seemingly make money out of thin air with his future knowledge meant that no matter how hard he tried the gulf between them proved insurmountable. This failure was made even more delectable by the fact that Jack refused to do the rational thing and do anything more than pursue friendship with Parashqevi Qiriazi or any other woman for that matter. Jack was apparently content to wait until the political benefits of his marriage to Behije ran out before he began to pursue another relationship meaning that Zog had plenty more time to soak in the futility of his efforts.

In addition to enjoying Jack's frustration at the growing estrangement in his marriage and not having to endure the act of him using their body to make love, Zog also relished Jack's consternation at the burden caused by his future knowledge. As an educated 21st century American he seemingly had endless concerns: Nazism, Communism, The Holocaust, American Racism, Imperialism, Apartheid... the list was seemingly endless. The fact that he had experienced so much success initially only further compounded his anxiety as it not only fueled his boundless optimism but also his guilt over not being able to do more. His nightly battle with the agony and anxiety had become particularly delicious since the rise of Hitler in Germany. Jack had eventually reluctantly opted for a more cautious approach based on both his own self-interest and a limited view of just how much he could change, but the American had wrestled so long with whether or not to try and assassinate the man Zog doubted that he'd have experienced any relief even if he had decided to go through with it and potentially surrender so much of his future knowledge's benefits.

Jack's struggle to maintain a realistic view of his own competency similarly a near constant state of frustration at the supposed "slowness" of his reforms. Though to both Zog and seemingly all other observers, Jack's accomplishments were nothing short of miraculous, the American seemingly couldn't get over the "lost opportunities" to move Albania towards modernization even faster. This frustration combined with his constant fear of Italy invading before all of his preparations were in place had proved to be a welcome balm to the constant humiliation Zog experienced. He could only hope that some of these other frustrations such as his sister's marriages, Jack's obsession with the Jews, and his view of the supposed incoming "Postwar Order" would turn out in a similar fashion to his botched marriage.

Zog tried to keep these positive aspects of his life in mind as Jack opened the latest report from Koniça regarding discussions regarding the Balkan Pact and yet again exposed Zog to the humiliation of watching someone else do a better job of living the future he envisioned for his life. Fortunately for him, his torture was cut short by a knock on the door.

This is unusual…

Though Jack was far less paranoid than Zog had ever been, he kept a strictly regimented schedule and had explicitly instructed that no one disturb his morning routine unless it was absolutely necessary. Anyone who was daring to disturb him at this hour would be carrying news of utmost import. Was it a messenger from Durres claiming that the Italian flotilla Jack had feared had arrived and begun disgorging troops? Was it a messenger from the North warning him that the Yugoslavs had begun herding a horde of starving Kosovars over the border? (4) The sinking feeling in Jack's stomach was made all the more delicious by the fact that it distracted Zog from the potential pain of the Balkan pact negotiations.

Yet nothing Zog could have imagined compared to his reaction when none other than his mother burst through the door carrying a plate of pastries. In the blink of an eye, hope, something Zog had not felt for a long time, began to kindle within his spirit. He hadn't seen his mother in six years and had only been able to observe her through Jack's awkward monthly attempts at correspondence. He'd always hoped that somehow she'd know something was wrong and would figure out a solution just like she had so many times in Zog's past. Now, lo and behold, she'd managed to somehow escape Krosi and here she was.

"It should not be so hard for a mother to see her son…" she nearly spat as she moved forward "You kept promising to visit but you never came. So here I am… You must be starving… here take one of these I made them for you this morning…" The words came out of his mother's mouth in a way Zog had never heard before almost like the staccato burst of an old machine gun. She was incredibly tense, more tense than Zog had ever seen her before, but she was doing her very best to hide it.

Something isn't right here…

Jack must have known something was wrong too, but he too was trying to hide something. He'd drawn so much from Zog's memories and personality that now he did so almost effortlessly as he tried to resolve the situation and, most importantly, re-establish some sort of control. "You shouldn't have mother!" he said with a forced smile "I told you in my last letter that I was going to visit soon. I've just been so terribly busy…" he began to stand but Sadije only moved closer to him.

"No, no, don't get up for your mother! Here just let me feed you and I'll go, we can speak later and I will return to Burgajet." She said thrusting the plate of pastries in front of him again "Take one of these and I'll go."

"Mother," he said in almost a pleading tone "I'm afraid I've already eaten, just let me finish with these reports and I'll have one with you in an hour or two…"

His mother frowned slightly before her face hardened into a look that reminded Zog but perhaps not Jack that his mother had been accustomed to the hard life of a Bajraktar's (5) wife. Few things were out of the question.

No…

"Fine then, to hell with you and making me to this to my own son…"

The subsequent boom of the revolver Sadije had concealed in her coat drowned out any other noise in the room be it the feverish pounding on its apparently locked door from outside or the clattering of the platter on the floor. But in the brief silence that followed the shot, the hissed end of his mother's sentence rang out loud and clear.

"…djalli!" (6)

Despite his initial hope that the sheer pain and shock would provide Zog with the opportunity to regain control over his own body, Zog found that all his efforts were useless as Jack's initial panic turned into determination and adrenaline flooded his veins. His mother had shot him in the gut either because hadn't really taken the time to aim or was intent on inflicting as much suffering as possible. Regardless of her intention, Sadije tried to finish the job with a second shot only for it to miss and shatter the window behind him. Jack meanwhile pushed through the pain and tried to reach for the sawed-off shotgun under his desk. (7)

NO!

Whether it was Zog's psychic outburst or his own pain which prevented him from grabbing the weapon, Zog didn't know, but it proved not to matter as Jack quickly abandoned it as Sadije seemed intent on finishing her mission and was already moving around the large desk to get a better shot.

"You will burn for this!" She screeched as she rounded the corner "You took my son from me!" (8)

A third shot barely missed them as Jack heaved his body out from under the desk and tried to keep something between himself and wrathful figure of Sadije Zogu.

"Mother, what are you doing!?" he screamed as a fourth shot narrowly missed his leg hit the desk instead.

"I'm putting an end to all this. I don't know what your plan is, but my son will not be a part of it!"

A fifth shot rang out. This time the projectile whizzed by his head before burying itself in his office's carpeted floor.

"Look Sadije, you don't need to kill me…him…us…"

That made her pause. Good thing too, because the all too familiar lightheadedness that followed getting shot was beginning to set in.

With the revolver still trained on them, Sadije paused, panting for breath "Get out of my son…"

Looking her straight in the eyes Jack spoke, perhaps the first honest words since he'd spoken to Musa Juka, perhaps eve more honest than the ones spoken all those years ago. "You think I don't want to?"

"DON'T LIE TO ME DEVIL!" His mother screeched the revolver trembling in her hands all the while

Don't shoot… If Jack did want to leave his body perhaps there was hope…perhaps he could somehow regain control of this living nightmare.

"I'm not here by choice, I promise. I've been given a task, once that's done… I'll be gone and you can have your son back."

Tears streamed down his mother's face as she nodded but kept the gun trained on him. "I don't believe you… She said this was the only way… I should have listened and not spoken to you…"

Jack closed their eyes. Perhaps it was from cowardice, not wanting to see an old woman put an end to all his plans. Perhaps it was an act of mercy, shielding Zog from watching his mother being forced to kill her only son. Whatever it was, Zog would never find out, because before she could pull the trigger, a thunderous crack sounded from the door as its hinges finally gave way from the other side's pounding.

Jack's eyes snapped open and he saw Krosi stumble into the room before yelling out "Sadije! Drop the gun!"

Her head snapped away from him for the briefest of moments as she spat out her response. "Leave us Mati! You don't know what this is!"

Gathering up his strength, Jack took that moment to lunge at Sadije, his bloody hands taking hold of the revolver and angling the barrel away from his body so that the sixth and final shot whizzed by his shoulder and embedded itself into the wall.

It's over… There was simply no way that she could reload or grab another weapon in time, not with Krosi in the room and Zog's royal guards surely on the way.

But Sadije continued to wrestle with him pulling at the gun and trying to bring the barrel back in line with their body. Krosi meanwhile had never been good at keeping his numbers straight. In the panic and confusion, he must have lost count of the bullets, if he was even counting to begin with. Sadije's continued efforts must have convinced him that there was still a bullet left in the chamber, so he did what he'd been trained to do for his whole life: protect the Star of Mati. Before Zog could stop him, he took aim with his revolver, the same behemoth 11mm Montenegrin Zog had chided him about for his whole life, and fired a single shot. (9)

The last thing Zog remembered was watching his mother's head explode in front of him.

Notes

1. Today the makiato is the most popular coffee drink in Albania. In the 1930s though it was still in a stiff competition with more traditional Turkish coffee for the hearts of Albanians with allegiances drawn largely along pro/anti westernization and urban/rural lines.

2. Despite the majority of Albania's Greek population living closer to Corfu and the coast, Korca remained the location of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan for historic reasons as far as I can tell.

3. Interestingly enough, Zog corresponded with Churchill as well in OTL though AFAIK Churchill never responded with anything more than the standard greetings and congratulations given to a head of state. Zog's belief in his "relationship" with Churchill actually may have hurt him as instead of directing his request to have Albania considered as a site for Jewish refugee settlement during the Evian conference through official channels he directed it to Churchill through Chatin Saraci which raised too many questions about the offer's veracity which ultimately prevented Zog's offer from being considered.

4. This was a real fear of Zog's in OTL and one which governed both his and Zog's approach to the Kosovo issue.

5. Albanian tribal chief.

6. Devil

7. Zog loved sawed off shotguns in OTL almost to a fault as the fact that he insisted that his bodyguards openly carry them during his exile in the UK.

8. See Part V.

9. 11mm Montenegrin refers to the caliber of the gun. Though they did not originate in Montenegro, these behemoth revolvers became common throughout the Western Balkans after King Nicholas ordered that every male Montenegrin possess one. I don't know if Krosi possessed one in OTL but he seems like the kind of person who would. For some interesting examples of this kind of gun which exist in today see:

Moments Earlier…

Even muffled by walls, curtains, and carpets, the familiar crack of a gunshot immediately caught Musa Juka's attention and caused his heart to sink into the pit of his stomach. His mind raced towards possible suspects as his hands and body moved seemingly of their own accord. The disheveled pages of the paper hadn't even hit the ground before his feet started moving towards the stairway leading to Zog's office. Even though he knew that in all likelihood he would arrive too late to stop anything, the feeling of cold steel in his hand brought him a moment of comfort as he pushed his body through the corridor and towards the staircase. If Zog was dead, Musa would need every bit of help he could get to survive all this.

CRACK!

That moment of comfort vanished when he saw the royal guardsman tasked with keeping watch over the king's office this morning at the base of the stairway instead of at the office door.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Musa screamed without even thinking.

"The King's Mother…Mati…" Is all the guard could mutter as Musa barged past him and began to bound up the stairs.

CRACK!

"Follow me, you fucking pumpkinhead! (10) If the king dies, I'll skin you alive myself!"

Krosi? Is that fucker trying to launch some kind of coup to keep his little graft alive?

CRACK!

If anything, the timing of the continued gunshots meant that Krosi was somehow missing. But something was off. Why wasn't Krosi using his Montenegrin? Why hadn't the King returned fire with his vaunted shotgun?

A fifth shot rang out as Musa reached the top of the stairs and spurred his breathless body down the hallway towards the Royal study. A large bald figure was trying to smash the door down and evidently succeeded.

"Sadije! Drop the gun!"

Sadije?

"Leave us Mati! You don't know what this is!"

CRACK!

Slowing ever so slightly, Musa Juka brought his revolver up only to hear that all so familiar thundering of Krosi's Montenegrin overwhelm the sounds of struggling in the background.

"NO!" Krosi yelled out as he sunk to his knees.

"Drop the gun Krosi!" Musa shouted as he cleared the office's shattered door and kept his gun trained on the man.

Sobbing, Krosi complied, giving Musa time to turn his attention to the pair of bodies on the blood-soaked carpet.

"What. The. Fuck."

The half-decapitated corpse of the King's mother lay on top of the bleeding figure of the king himself.

"She thought a devil had possessed him…" Krosi managed between sobs "She promised me she was only going to make sure before she did anything else…"

Krosi didn't get a chance to say anything more before Musa's pistol slammed into his face once in a fit of rage before he brought the butt down on the man's head for good measure.

As Krosi slumped to the floor, Musa turned his attention to the bodies only to hear a muffled groan.

"THE KING'S ALIVE!" He yelled "GET THE DOCTOR!"

Dropping his gun, Musa lifted Sadije's exsanguinating corpse off Zog and began to try to stop the bleeding. Fortunately, most of the blood seemed to be Sadije's and as far as he could tell she'd only managed to hit Zog in the stomach, a painful but ultimately, survivable wound. With no other apparent injuries to tend to, Musa began to put pressure on the wound while his mind turned to the inevitable ramifications of what just happened.

What the fuck do we do now?

Notes

10. "Kungullkoke" Basically a euphenism for idiot often employed by and towards people from Shkodra. In OTL it was often used in private to refer to Enver Hoxha's successor, one of the few Northern Albanian communists: Ramiz Alia (also from Shkodra). It remains one of my favourite Albanian insults.

(Excerpted from Jason Tomes "King Zog: Self-Made Monarch of Albania" 2003)

…Fortunately for Zog, Musa Juka's presence in the Royal Mansion that day proved to be enough to not only stop Krosi from delivering the final blow but also to maintain a semblance of order in the hours that followed. Fearing that the centralized power structure Zog had established would collapse with the king incapacitated, Musa moved quickly, allegedly not even changing out of his bloodstained clothes, to consolidate the military and political force necessary to maintain control in the capital. In a move which presaged later developments, the Royal Guard was sent out to establish a cordon around the palace and maintain order in the capital while Gendarmerie units loyal to Juka himself moved in to provide immediate security. A flurry of telegrams and a hurried meeting of the cabinet established the new pecking order: Juka was in charge. (11)

News of Abdulrahman Mati's attack on the royal family was published almost immediately afterward as Juka sent orders to the Gendarmerie to track down and arrest his "associates." Though the official story was that Krosi's assassination attempt was part of a larger conspiracy, recently released documents confirmed longstanding suspicions that it was indeed a "lone wolf" attack driven by Krosi's fears of being targeted for the Castle Burgajet fiasco. (12) The subsequent crackdown which followed the events of May 18, seem to be driven initially by Juka's desire to round up a handful of personal foes. Upon recovering from surgery, Zog made clear his disapproval of Musa's "purge" in secret while outwardly agreeing with the actions of the Minister of the Interior and vowing to take revenge on the conspiracy which had killed his mother.

Zog's motives for prolonging the witch hunt amidst his personal mourning quickly became apparent once Krosi's ties to both Italy and Yugoslavia began to be investigated at the same time that the negotiations for the Balkan Pact were drawing to a close. Tensions quickly mounted as Italy feared that Zog would use the assassination attempt to completely break off relations despite their avowed lack of knowledge. For nearly two weeks both nations seemed on the verge of war, with Zog promising "the complete and utter destruction of any invader who wishes to take advantage of this time of mourning" mere hours after an Italian naval squadron dropped anchor off Durres to "protect Italian investments." Reassurances poured in from across the country that Albania stood unified behind their king. Even the Mirdita, who, notwithstanding the recent marriage into the royal family, were seen by Zog and others as potential defectors in the case of an Italian invasion send word to Zog that they would fight with him to the end. (13)

Yet as quickly as the crisis emerged it dissipated as Zog made his first public appearance on May 27, 1934 to announce that no foreign ties had been discovered among the conspirators. With all evidence supposedly pointing to the conspirators' own fears of becoming targets of the state's ongoing anti-corruption campaign, Zog now turned his attention to diffusing the international situation which had developed. As the Kingdom of Albania mourned the sudden death of the King's mother Zog and others worked tirelessly behind the scenes as they intensified their efforts to play Albania's neighbours off one another.

Ultimately, the timing of Krosi's attempt couldn't have been more fortuitous as it coincided both with Albania's flirtation with the Balkan pact and events in East Africa drawing Mussolini's gaze away from the Balkans. (14) With a confrontation with their former ally being the last thing that the Fascists wanted distracting them from their imperialistic aims in Abyssinia, negotiations rapidly drew to a conclusion as Italy did everything it could to resolve the situation while keeping Albania out of the Balkan Pact. Little did they know, that despite all the lofty rhetoric from Yugoslavia and Greece, none of the fundamental issues which complicated Albania's joining the Balkan pact were anywhere near to being resolved.

This concatenation of events effectually meant that Zog got almost everything he wanted as the Italians ended up massively overpaying for Albanian allegiance. In exchange for a negotiated return of Italian advisors and a guarantee of continued payment in USD, Zog received new loans amounting to 25 million gold francs over 5 years to help pay for the maintenance of the Albanian armed forces and Albanian infrastructure. Yet unlike the infamous SVEA loans, Zog took advantage of his position as monarch to ensure that these loans were issued to him personally as the head of FMSh without going through the SVEA board. Though the rest of the world cheered Albania's success in negotiating such an advantageous deal with Italy, it should be noted that despite all the fanfare Mussolini had succeeded in securing his primary policy goals: keeping Albania out of the Balkan Pact and ensuring the continued flow of USD into Italian coffers. (15)

Notes

11. Musa Juka did the same thing when Zog was wounded while in Vienna in OTL. In TTL he's able to get a handle on the situation even faster.

12. Zog's efforts to rebuild his childhood home which was destroyed by the Serbs in 1920 ballooned out of control in TTL due to him prioritizing it while sending Krosi and Sadije to oversee it. See Part V.

13. In OTL Zog's efforts to secure relief from the SVEA loan's payments and more Italian money led to the Italians sending a naval squadron to Durres in 1934 before a new deal was reached. Zog was far less confrontational in OTL due to the different situation but even then, the Mirdita pledged their loyalty.

14. In the original draft this assassination was supposed to happen in Part XI/1935 but I wanted to condense things to get to the 1940s more quickly. Mussolini's decision to focus on Africa however was the primary reason for the settlement in both OTL and TTL. I ultimately decided to keep the settlement the same in this condensed version regardless of the assassination attempt.

15. If anything I think I've been a bit too conservative here. In OTL Mussolini ended up paying far more to diffuse the Albanian situation while he focused on Africa. However in OTL the payments happened in dribs and drabs before adding up to quite a substantial sum. In TTL however the situation is quite different which makes the loan to Zog have both economic and political aspects and thus allows for the negotiation for more of a sum. The Italian advisors were removed in 1931 due to Zog not signing the proposed Treaty of Friendship