Part XI: Law and Order

Part XI: Law and Order

December 4, 1935. New York, USA.

If you would have told George Hyde a couple years ago that his first major success as a firearms designer would be manufacturing weapons for King Zog's oil company, the Royal Albanian Gendarmerie, and the Albanian Navy he would have laughed in your face and asked "What the hell's going on in Albany?" He'd more or less done that to the first poor sop Zog had sent his way in 1932. Fortunately for him, Zog was determined and the Lord alone only knew how, but he'd somehow managed to make money while everyone else was losing gobs of it. Apparently Zog was convinced that he was another "Dad" Joiner, another American "Diamond in the Rough" Zog could invest in.

Well not quite American…

Both Hyde, his wife, and their two children had been born in Germany, and had only moved to America 7 years ago due to both the Depression and rising anti-Semitism in their home country. Given everything that had happened since 1933 and even before them, he was absolutely convinced that they'd made the right choice leaving when they did, and Hyde couldn't believe that he almost missed out on partnering with one of the brightest business minds in the world. (1) Pushing the embarrassment out of his mind, George turned his attention to his workbench and hoped that Zog's belief in him wasn't misplaced.

Hell, I bet if he had the time or inclination, he'd probably be able to design the guns himself…

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George Hyde's first foray into Sub-machine guns: the Model 33 (from OTL)​

Again, Lord only knew how he found out about Hyde's Model 33. Probably the same way he knew about Joiner. But Zog must have sent a response back almost immediately with an amazing level of insight. His suggestions regarding the weapon's grip, stock, and function were astonishing and he was humbled to admit that they had resulted in a weapon that not only functioned better but was cheaper. He still found the King's willingness to work with him as he implemented the instructions and worked out the production problems amazing, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially when Zog had played such a key role in getting the Model 34 produced and marketed. To the Albanian King's credit, he was certainly willing to put his money where his mouth was. Together with Jean Koree, "Dad" Joiner and a few others, they'd purchased the Auto-Ordinance Company and hired him on as one of their main designers. Marketing it as a cheaper alternative to the Thompson, Zog and the Auto-Ordinance company had invested thousands of dollars helping Hyde with the patent process, production and marketing, even before Zog personally purchased the first Model 34s to arm the guards he was using in the oil patch. (2)

If he hadn't come along when he did…

As it was, they'd still had a pretty difficult time, the National Firearms Act of 1934 and this year's Neutrality act had thrown American submachine gun development into a sea of chaos. They'd only managed to succeed by exploiting Zog's American contacts and getting the purchase of the 9mm version grandfathered in. Even then, they'd still probably only end up making less than a thousand Model 34's. But, as Zog was keen to point out in his letters, that was a whole lot more than anyone else. Despite all that had happened, , Zog remained utterly convinced that soon someone was going to reveal the submachine gun's full military potential and then orders would be flying off the shelf. So far, only the Argentines and the Peruvians were showing interest, but as Hyde very well knew, interest didn't guarantee sales. (3) Zog on the other hand continued to encourage him in his letters by assuring him that even if nothing came from the South American sales, others would soon follow.

That same undying optimism which motivated him to spend so much of his money on his homeland meant that Zog was more than happy to provide the resources for Hyde to not only continue the weapon's development but also begin work on even cheaper alternatives. Here again, Zog's suggestions had been extremely helpful. The resulting weapons weren't aesthetically pleasing or menacing, but they'd do the job just fine and could be made either in simple machine shops or even American car factories for a fraction of the cost of the Model 1934 which itself cost less than half of what it took to make a Thompson. (4)

Still, all the optimism in the world didn't change the fact that all of Zog's investments had only resulted in a handful of guns being sold to organizations not associated with him. If they weren't able to sell more weapons soon George worried that even Zog's enthusiasm would dry up, and with it all the money that was sustaining his family during these trying times…

Notes

1. I'm filling in some blanks here, but since Hyde's wife's last name was Levy I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that antisemitism played some role in their decision to move to America in OTL.

2. Interestingly enough, in OTL Hyde partnered with another eastern European with "considerable" business acumen in the Romanian Jean Koree. Koree had immigrated to the US and had experienced some success with the invention and marketing of razor blades before he partnered with Hyde after failing to purchase rights to produce the Thompson. Koree helped Hyde patent and market his Model 35 submachine gun which was basically the same design as the Model 33 but they received very little success not due to any fundamental problems from what I can find but the fact that the design was immature. Koree also attempted to buy the Auto-Ordinance Company twice in OTL (1932 and 1935) in TTL Zog comes along with some friends and helps Koree put forward a much better offer. TTL's Model 34 is basically the same as the Model 33 save for a simpler front grip, a better magazine, and a different charging handle as well as Zog paying for additional development. Source: http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1697

3. Both the Argentines and the Peruvians showed interest in Hyde's design in OTL. Given that TTL's version is far more mature and also available in 9mm, I think they might go for it.

4. If you haven't figured it out by now, Hyde is the designer of the Grease Gun and is basically gets a massive head start in TTL. Not only that, but he also happens to have a model that is very suited to production on a certain island off the coast of Europe… Again Zog could have invested in Italian guns, but why give Mussolini any more help than he has to?

August 18, 1936. Peshkopia, Albania.

He almost looks normal… Musa Juka thought as he turned his attention from today's ongoing exercises to watch the King.

He'd stopped referring to the man as "Zog" in his head a long time ago. "Jack" also seemed odd, considering that in all likelihood, the parents of the man who now inhabited Zog's body would never meet. Thus Musa had settled on "The King," a moniker that also served to keep any errant words from being spoken. The absolute last thing they needed was someone else getting it in their head that Zog was "possessed" or something like it. As it was there were still far too many questions for Musa's liking about Krosi being the real culprit in last year's assassination attempt. The only thing that kept that whole situation from going pear shaped was the fact that Zog not only survived, but reluctantly agreed to go along with the story Musa had released while the doctors were busy making sure that he didn't bleed out on the table. Even then, his insistence to prolong the investigations to keep pressure on the Italians was foolhardy and almost led to ruin.

Yet here they were, the Italians had folded and were now shooting up Abyssinia. Then again, things had changed so much from the way things were supposed to go, who knew how much longer those predictions were going to last? Only time could tell whether this gamble would pay off. If the Italians did decide to turn their gaze back to Albania before they were "supposed to" Zog's decision to choose this moment to reform the country's legal system could be disastrous. (5) Musa was convinced that in such a scenario, every single Catholic would take up arms against the government, royal marriage or not. Such a hypothetical Italian invasion would not only mean far greater political power but the continued ability to have priests scold unhappy couples of all faiths into a lifetime of misery. (6)

Perhaps that's why he decided to be such a stick in the mud…

As with most marriages which went through such things, the death of Zog's mother and the King's own unexpected brush with death, brought a degree of healing to his relationship with Behije. For a while it had seemed that things were on the mend and that they'd come to some kind of understanding, but eventually the fundamental differences between the two of them had bubbled to the surface. It was becoming increasingly apparent, even to the king himself that his marriage was not improving. Despite all this, Musa noted, the King refused to engage in any kind of physical affair and steadfastly maintained that the political utility of his marriage was simply too great for him to abandon it without more of a fight. He remained convinced that just like all the other problems in Albania, he could fix his marriage with enough work and patience.

No, the King's real impetus for changing Albania's laws around divorce was threefold, the first was the fact that Albania's existing Legal Code had been inherited from the Ottomans and was utterly unsuited to the needs of a modern country. The growing ranks of reformists had been willing to accept Zog's decision to postpone dealing with the problem only to a point. Though the King had initially thought that his Tax Reform would have been enough, many of the reformists didn't think it went nearly far enough. In Musa's opinion, that dissatisfaction coupled with the continued stream of deaths from bloodfeuds pushed him into making the reform as soon as he possibly could.

Yet it was the fact that the window for such a reform had at long last opened was the true motivating factor. All of their hard work reforming Albania's armed forces and securing their allegiance had finally borne sufficient fruit. Though, as Musa had long suspected, the fight against Albanian corruption was indeed proving to be eternal, in many units it had retreated to levels unthinkable just a decade ago. Furthermore, the combination of Moisiu's success in organizing "New Albanian" cells and the changing attitudes of the Italian military mission under Pariani's successor, Colonel Boloccio (7) meant that even the Albanian Army, previously considered by both him and the King to be a political liability, was becoming increasingly reliable. With the Italians content to merely retain their existing level of influence and wait for the supposedly inevitable customs union to kick in, there was a real opportunity to lay the foundation for a more politically stable state which meant that the King was not only willing to pursue reforming the legal system but also ensuring that his forces had the means to enforce it.

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Alberto Pariani: Head of the Italian Military Mission to Albania 1927-33​

The latter aspect was what brought them out to Peshkopi of all places to engage in training exercises which incorporated not only Gendarmerie units, but army units, and even elements of the Albanian Legion and Royal Albanian scouts. The official rationale was for the exercise to serve as a show of force against domestic opponents: tribes unhappy with the new westernized Legal Code and the growing specter of Communist activity. There was also the unspoken rationale that by holding these exercises so close to the Yugoslav border they were also aiming to dissuade any Yugoslav attempt to take advantage of potential domestic Albanian unrest while simultaneously demonstrating their fealty to the 1927 Treaty of Alliance with Italy. Officially, the exercise was classified as a "police training exercise" and led by the Gendarmerie to avoid making it a bigger provocation, but the real rationale was apparent to everyone who was observing

The real driver for the ongoing "Police Training Exercise" was to give all the component parts of the "military" Zog was building up experience in "working together" and working with their new equipment. Despite Musa's apprehension, it appeared that the Army officers involved in today's exercises had all bought in to the "New Albanian" ideology and were more than happy to subordinate their units to the Gendarmerie to the point of integration on a platoon level. So far there had been understandable hiccups but the King's grand idea of using Gendarmes with Light Machine Guns and Grenade launchers to augment Army rifle platoons seemed to be working. Even the "Chetnik-esque" units the King had ordered cobbled together from loyal elements of the Legion and the Scouts were proving to be valuable as well.

Pederasty aside…

Musa tried to contain his reflex to chuckle. The King's continued frustration at the phenomenon's persistence in the military, gendarmerie, legion, and scouts belied his underlying American optimism. Though in the past Musa had found the optimism to be grating, lately he'd come to find it funny. Like it or not, there were some things in this country that just wouldn't change. His continued reliance on Musa and his "less than savoury" ways of doing things seemed to suggest that despite all his bluster he was beginning to come around to certain realties. The only thing that was really changing was the fact that, instead of just winking and nodding at the pederasts, the King was intent on removing them, punishing them, and placing different people in their place. (8)

Still, how much of the King's tolerance of Musa was due to his need for adequate time and space to recover from the painful gut wound he'd received during his most recent assassination attempt? Though as far as Musa knew, he was the only one the King had decided to reveal his secret to, he remained convinced that even that fact did not make him immune from the endless backstabbing endemic to Albanian politics. So far nothing seemed to be happening, but if the King did end up succeeding in building a truly stable national coalition of Albanians invested in his vision of modernity, how much longer would he need Musa's services?

I'll deal with that day when…or perhaps better yet, if… it comes…

That had been his approach to date, yet still something gnawed at Musa. He still didn't believe that the King could succeed…that wasn't it. What really bothered him was despite all of the setbacks, the King remained convinced that with enough time he could succeed. Two assassination attempts and eight years of frustration didn't seem to dampen the man's optimism one bit. So far he'd been able to use his foreknowledge to astounding effect and had been far more successful than anyone gave him credit for. Would he end up being right about this thing too?

Again, the fact that once it became clear that the integration of the forces employed in this training exercise was on track to become a reasonable success he turned his attention to writing yet another political pamphlet was clear evidence that He certainly believed that success was possible. Again normally, Musa would have found the King's performance of mental gymnastics trying to mate his democratic republican sensibilities to the fact that he was a literal monarch and a self-declared one at that hilarious, but things were somehow different. Perhaps it was the fact that the King was becoming more comfortable with his position even with his most recent gut wound. Or perhaps it was because now that the King's ability to write was no longer "secret" he could at last try his hand at doing more to publicly justify his reign.

Though here again, Musa had been skeptical about how well the Albanian populace would take to the King's modification of modern Chinese political philosophy, so far it seemed to be working. A big part of it came from the fact that the King's current writings went along quite well with all the things Zog had said in the lead-up to his coronation. For several years Zog had claimed that Albania was not ready for democracy and that his coronation had a popular mandate and that the monarchy would not be automatically conferred unto his heirs. (9) Of course, Zog would have said anything to get his damn crown, who knew what the man actually believed. At this point who cared? What mattered was the fact that the King believed in the substance of Zog's earlier remarks and was busy expounding upon them as much as he could. Whereas the Zogism of his history had been nothing more than a thinly veiled, perhaps translucent, guise for an "autocratic patronage system" the King's vision was going far more complex.

Now, according to the King's writings, the Albanians were living under a "Tutelatory Monarchy," having supposedly proven that they were not ready for democracy during the chaotic period of 1920-27. This was hardly a surprise to the Albanians as it reflected Zog's original rhetoric and their lived reality. What was proving surprising was the fact that the King had laid out clear criteria for the end of the monarchy and proposed that at such time a constitutional convention should be held to write a new constitution. Unlike Sun Yat-Sen however, the King hadn't identified a specific date but rather had put forward specific metrics like literacy rates, infrastructure completion, and land reform as necessary criteria to signal the country's ability to move on to the last stage.

That last criterion had been a piece of political genius in Musa's opinion, to the point he wished he would have thought of it himself. Despite being a simple statement at first glance, what made it so astounding was its ability to say different things to different people and simultaneously placate both the growing ranks of reformers and restless aristocrats alike. To the reformers, the inclusion of land reform along with things like literacy rates and infrastructure completion which the King was investing large amounts of money meant that despite the delays he was very much intent on solving the issue. Yet the landowners, being far closer in worldview to Musa, saw its inclusion as a poison pill, something Zog threw in there to ensure Albania's continued existence in the state of "Tutelatory Monarchy." In their minds, Zog would never intentionally relinquish power so therefore Zog would never enact Land reform. Had Zog been possessed by an Albanian, they might have been right, but the fact that the King had received his education in America and pledged in a past life to die for its Constitution remained indelibly stuck in Musa's mind. Zog would have never relinquished power, but the King certainly would. Eventually time would show whether the reformers or the landowners were right, and this would force the King to decide what he'd do next, but for the current moment the entire thing was working wonderfully.

Furthermore, by labeling his regime a "Tutelatory Monarchy," Zog also obliviated any need to name an heir and thus successfully diffused a budding conflict between the reformers who had rallied behind his nephew Tati, currently living with his mother with her new Albanian American husband in Boston, and his son Leka who was favoured by the landowners due to his grandfather being none other than Shefqet Verlaci. Now, when/if Zog died a national vote would be held to elect his successor, who could be anyone, as Tutelatory Monarch. Only unlike past votes, the previous cumbersome, and easily manipulated system had been replaced with a One Man/One Vote system enforced by a far less corrupt Gendarmerie. How long the Gendarmerie's anti-corruption stance would last in Zog's absence would be an open question, especially since in the event of Zog's unforeseen death, Musa wasn't planning on sticking around to see what happened first-hand. He'd stockpiled enough of a slush-fund to make sure that in that event he'd be able to have a comfortable retirement abroad and wouldn't have to get involved in what was sure to be a bloody civil war.

Musa had no illusions that such a conflict was coming. Even without the King's future influenced meddling it was coming. Musa didn't need any 21st century knowledge to figure that out. Yet rather than avert it the King seemed content to manage the budding conflict's escalation with the hopes of somehow avoiding it while simultaneously trying to ensure that it broke out at the right time and in the right circumstances to keep him and his ideas in power. That was perhaps the biggest factor behind the King's current writing fascination and his odd fusion of promoting democratic principles while maintaining autocracy. Fortunately, the King was not alone in doing this as in addition to the Chinese the Turks were similarly engaging in such philosophizing. (10)

Yet the King had an advantage over both of those, namely that in an economic boom almost any political philosophy would work. Things were so good that even the King's staunchest critics, old followers of Noli who'd insisted that the King's proposed customs harmonization with Italy was a disaster and a prelude to annexation, were forced to admit that they'd made a mistake. The King's growing wealth and coupled with his willingness to prop up the state meant that customs duties were becoming increasingly obsolete. Additionally, the King's tax reforms were finally beginning to bear fruit as once scarce tax revenue was increasing year after year. Albania was getting increasingly close to erasing its historical trade deficit with Italy something that even the Italians were beginning to take notice of. The once frequent refrain from the anti-Zogists, that Zog was merely biding his time until he could retire in Rome following the Italian annexation, was no longer heard even abroad where publications had official press freedom.(11)

Musa shook his head, all of this philosophizing was needlessly dangerous in his opinion. Time after time he'd told the King that the only things his political writing did was play with fire and risk alienating groups of Albanians, yet the King kept writing. Musa could only watch as even now, the King put down his binoculars and turned is attention from the ongoing training exercises in favour of his latest article. He knew that any advice on this matter wouldn't be heeded, so instead Musa reached for his own binoculars and opted to content himself with watching his Gendarmes get acquainted with their new Belgian light machine guns and Grenade Launchers.

Notes

5. In OTL Zog chose to adopt a more westernized legal system shortly after his coronation when he was similarly convinced of Italian support. In TTL he takes on taxation first and has so far completely ignored the thorniest issue of all: land reform.

6. Musa's fears about Catholics being unhappy with Zog's new divorce laws echo OTL fears.

7. Colonel Boloccio was Pariani's OTL successor when the latter was removed during the clash with Zog over his decision to not sign the 1931 Treaty of Friendship. Boloccio was much more willing to follow the lead of the Italian legation unlike Pariani who was willing to play politics to get the resources that he needed to pursue his mission. In TTL Pariani's behaviour would be similarly frowned upon and appointing Boloccio fits within the policy Italy has chosen to pursue towards Albania in TTL.

8. Musa Juka's fixation on the problem of pederasty in Albanian society was from OTL and though he often used it to justify political ends, the presence of the phenomenon is attested to by multiple sources from both domestic and foreign observers. AFAIK the practice's prevalence only declined during the Communist period as the party cracked down on abusers as part of a broader crack down on the class groups to which they were a part of.

9. All of this is from OTL.

10. 1936 also happens to be when the Six Arrows of Kemalism are finalized as well. Arguably Kemal also borrowed from Sun Yat-Sen in his formulation of these ideas but he had his own priorities. In TTL Zogism will develop along its own lines but will generally be seen as being heavily influenced by Sun-Yat Sen's thought.

11. Remember that the 1928 constitution was all but written when the SI appeared so he couldn't change it. Rather than reverse the policy immediately, the SI has allowed functional press freedom until such a time as he can bundle it with additional reforms.

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

By far, the most controversial aspect of Zog's policies during the monarchy's first decade was his effort to construct "Zogism" into an actual ideology. Though subsequent Zogist apologists have stressed elements of continuity in the King's thinking, his recently published journals seem to paint a vastly different picture. Still, as no journals from prior to his coronation have been found to exist, questions of continuity and change in Zog's thought remain an open academic debate. Less debatable is the fact that, like the writings of Sun Yat-Sen which influenced him, Zog's "Little Red Book" have been twisted by countless dictators to justify repressive and autocratic policies. By employing a selective reading of Zog focused on the first two decades of his career, these dictators have been able to effectively dismiss Zog's subsequent post-war writings as being both unsuitable for their nations' state of development and too heavily influenced by Zog's participation in the Anglo-American imperialist system.

Ironically, this emphasis completely ignores both the Italian imperialist and existing Albanian feudal systems Zog found himself enmeshed in during that same period. Zog's journals point to both systems deeply impacting his efforts to legitimize himself and his project to transform Albanian society. The Albanian archives are full of contemporaneous evidence showing how Zog's perceived political weakness and not his own lust for autocratic power made him adopt ideas such as "Gradualism" and its component parts the "Tutelatory Monarchy" and "Corporate Experimentation." It is thus unsurprising that, when removed from their historical context, these aspects of the "Second Stone" have laid the foundation, not for human flourishing, but the exact opposite. Try as he might to explain after the war that few countries found themselves in the same situation Albania did in the 1930s, Zog simply could not atone for the sins inspired by his past successes and his efforts to legitimize them.

For all the attention paid to the infamous Second of the 5 Stones of Zogism, it's worth noting here that the decision to mold Zog's ideology to fit the ancient Albanian saying "Gur nga gur ndertohet mur, mur nga mur ndertohet Kalaja" (Stone upon stone builds a wall, wall upon wall builds a Castle) was only made during the war. In the 1930s the ideology had no such formulation but was rather found in a series of newspaper articles published by the King himself. These subsequently became pamphlets that were often distributed and read as a part of broader Zogist propaganda efforts. Shortly before the war these articles were bound into a book and published domestically with the title of "Cfare eshte Zogismi?" and internationally as "What is Zogism? Recent Developments in the Kingdom of Albania." Given low literacy rates in Albania and the considerable interest abroad in Zog's sudden rise to prominence, it is unsurprising that up until the 1950s international sales vastly outstripped domestic with the latter only rising due to Zog's entrenchment as a national hero and icon equal to if not surpassing Skanderbeg.

Zog's ongoing intellectual feud with Kemal Ataturk also fueled international interest in his burgeoning ideology. Comparing the performance of the Kingdom of Albania and the Republic of Turkey as they sought to overcome their Ottoman heritage proved to be an endless source of debate for international observers up until the two states began to significantly diverge in the post-war period. To his credit, even in the 1930s Zog scrupulously cited his sources noting that his beliefs had been shaped by not only Kemal and Sun-Yat Sen but also the writings of other Young Turks, as well as western philosophers. Despite initial claims of plagiarism by Kemalists, the collapse of the CUP's hold on power in the 1980s coupled with Albania's continued economic growth clearly demonstrated that Zog had managed to not only copy but substantially improve upon the Kemalist formula. Indeed it could be argued that the 21st century advent of "Neo-Ottomanism" in the Republic of Turkey can be seen as an attempt to adopt certain Zogist principles in an attempt to emulate the success of the Kingdom of Albania…

…For all the attention paid to Gradualism, the infamous "Second Stone" of Zogism, it is worth noting that the other stones played an equally large part in the ideology's success both in Albania and abroad. In as much as Zog's adherence to the principle of "Gradualism" played into people's stereotypes and caused people to castigate him as an opportunistic autocrat, his decision to expound on the other aspects of Zogism: Nationalism, Populism, Reformism, and Laicism demonstrate his fundamentally liberal attitudes. (12) Though many observers were right to withhold judgement and wait to see whether Zog truly believed his own propaganda, despite the misuse of his writings in the developing world, Zog's own actions conclusively prove that for all his mistakes he not only believed every word he wrote but was willing to act on them…

…Despite having hundreds of advisors, contractors and spies in the country, there is little evidence that the Italian Fascists saw anything concerning about Zog's political writings. Like many of Zog's less charitable readers, they believed that there was almost no substance to his words and the entire project was just a vain attempt to secure additional legitimacy. Count Galeazzo Ciano took this view a step further following his appointment to the head of the Italian Foreign Ministry in June 1936. (13) For Ciano, Zog's writings and his constant "police exercises" were all intended to put up a front of bravado to conceal his regime's deep-seated insecurity. As reports continued to arrive Ciano came to believe with increasing fervency that all of Zog's investments were failing to create the kind of political support the Albanian king had envisioned. Instead, as he put it in his diary, most Albanians remained apathetic if not opposed to the "mountaineer's delusions of grandeur" while his "limited" successes showcased the land's potential riches if fully exploited by "superior Italian spirit." (14)

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Count Galeazzo Ciano: Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs June 9, 1936 - )​

Yet for all his blustering, Ciano's proposed Albanian policy ran into stiff resistance from other sectors of the Fascist State. Zog's ability to make payments on Italian loans in American dollars had given him strong advocates in not only the commercial sector, but several branches of the military due to the additional import capacity the arrival of the "Albanian dollars" provided. (15) Many suspected that only his marriage to Edda Mussolini prevented his views from being completely dismissed prior to Zog's adoption of a more independent policy in the later 1930s. Had Zog been willing to toe the Italian line a bit more closely and display a greater outward acceptance of Albania's "subordinate role" there is considerable evidence that these voices might have been able to overcome Ciano, considering that the Italian archival evidence shows that they nearly did.

However the unbridled success of the First Albanian Economic Miracle which drove the immense growth in the Reformist faction's popularity and activity during the first half of the 1930s prevented Zog from taking a more subordinate role even if he wanted to. Zog's hesitance to support Italian initiatives in both Abyssinia and Spain followed by the eventual tepid support he did render alongside borderline insubordination were primarily a result not of his own attitudes but the impossible political situation he increasingly found himself in. Zog's response to Italian pressure to impose anti-Semitic laws in the late 1930s was similarly shaped not by international opinion but by the fact that a large portion of the population had adopted a positive view of Jewish immigration. (16) The growing political radicalism of the very unions he founded made any other policy impossible. To fully support Italian efforts would result in nothing short economically catastrophic strikes while to staunchly oppose Italian intervention would result in an equally catastrophic invasion. Zog had an equally difficult task responding to Italian attempts to secure an economically dominant position in the Albanian economy. Disagreeing to proposed Italian tariff adjustments risked war while agreeing to them would cut Albania off from key imports such as Japanese cotton as well as German and American scrap. (17) While his continued loan payments bought Zog time to resolve the tariff issues they did not address his most fundamental problem: the attitudes and expectations of a growing number of the Albanian people.

To Zog's surprise many Albanians were far from apathetic. In fact, the enthusiastic adoption of Zog's more liberal writings by FMSh workers and other reformers, surprised even Zog who believed that the process would take far more time than it actually did. These attitudes further complicated Zog's domestic situation given all the emphasis he had placed on building up his new political constituency at the expense of the one which had thrust him into power back in 1925. As the 1930s drew to a close Albanians from all classes became increasingly discontented with their relationship with the Kingdom of Italy. Italian aid had been necessary during the 1920s, but as the economy kept growing at a rapid pace many Albanians began to see Italian influence as increasingly malevolent. When combined with German successes in dominating other Balkan economies, these attitudes only served to feed the growing popularity of Ciano's view of Albania in Fascist Italy and with it lay the tinder for the coming conflagration. (18)

Notes

12. I'm not entirely satisfied with TTL's version of "Zogism." Feel free to suggest alternative formulations or aspects I'm missing.

13. Even though Italy has experienced more foreign policy success in TTL especially in Albania, I still don't think this alone would be enough to prevent Ciano's rise.

14. Ciano had many faults in OTL. One of which was his stubborn refusal to hear any other opinion but his own when it came to Albania. In OTL he convinced himself that the country could become Italy's "Fifth Shore" and that its population could be assimilated into the Kingdom of Italy's with no problems. He was also fixated on the idea that Albania's untapped resources could serve as the basis for increased Italian growth. I don't see the events of TTL changing what seems to me like a fundamental disposition on the subject. If anything, the events of TTL would serve to reinforce aspects of it.

15. These attitudes are inverse to OTL where Italian skepticism about Albania's riches drove opposition to Ciano's dreams of annexation. In TTL his opponents basically hold that it would be far more cost-effective to let Zog develop and exploit Albanian resources under Italian protection than to remove him or impose a more strict imperialistic relationship on the country.

16. In OTL, Albania was in an astounding level of debt to Italy owing not only the entire SVEA loan but also funds from a series of loans propping up the Albanian budget from 1931 onward. Increasing Italian economic dominance meant that when they wanted Zog to support a foreign policy he jumped to attention. In OTL he was one of the first to recognize the Italian conquest of Abysinnia as well as one of the only ones to join Italy in not participating in the Conference of Nyon. Furthermore, Albania rapidly adopted anti-Semitic legislation after the Italians did in 1938. Though the Zogists claim that this was due to Italian pressure, no evidence of this pressure exists (possibly due to the aforementioned closed nature of several key archival collections in Italy). Left-wing historians have posited, more accurately in my opinion, that Zog was attempting to again have his cake and eat it to. Passing limited anti-Semitic legislation while using Albanian corruption and backwardness to keep gates open to Jewish refugees in order to win points abroad and support his halfhearted effort to get foreign powers to agree to neutralize Albania. While Zog pursues similar policies towards Abysinnia and Spain in TTL, they are considerably more tepid, and he passes no anti-Semitic legislation.

17. While the American scrap metal purchases are decidedly a result from the SI's policies, it's worth noting that Albania's willingness to buy Japanese cotton and German goods instead of their respective Italian counterparts played a major role in Italy's ultimate decision to invade in OTL.

18. Some historians have posited that Germany's signature of the Wolthat Pact with Romania in March 1939 played a major role in determining Italy's decision to invade Albania as it caused Italy to fear that she might be completely lose her remaining commercial interests in the Balkans. The evidence for this is scant, but we don't really know for sure due to the closed nature of certain Italian archival collections regarding Albania. It's far more likely that German interest in securing Albanian oil in early 1939 played a much more significant role considering that the German archives show far more Italian resistance to that than to the Wolthat pact in OTL.