1900s: Propaganda with coexistence and reawakening of Albanians

The orientation of the Albanians on the side of the Young Turk revolution weakened the conservative wing, which tied its fate to the Ottoman state and Sultan Abdyl Hamit. But the Young Turks behaved like "Ottomans", whose goal was an Ottoman imperial nation created by Turks and non-Turkish nationalities. In fact, they were as anti-Albanian as the conservative monarchists, that's why it didn't take long after they came to power and in the Albanian provinces of the Empire, revolts and anti-Ottoman uprisings began, as a result of the non-fulfillment of promises by the Young Turks.

Between the Albanians, who had demanded national schools, roads, railways, and the Young Turks, the conflict began, which appeared as a political discourse and in journalistic writings. Eqrem Bej Vlora gives us such an example, who, speaking about the Young Turk movement in Albania, among other things, writes: "The new regime, installed in Constantinople mainly thanks to Albanian support, has never given the Albanians many thanks for their help: we put the Young Turks in the saddle and now they ride on us far away", writes Eqrem Bey Vlora.

Efforts for Albanian schools

This example proves that the Albanian and Young Turk movements, which appeared and developed simultaneously, although they had the same type of discourse, presenting the coexistence of different nations or peoples in the Ottoman Empire, used it in different ways to mobilize segments of population for different purposes.

Even the Serbs were unhappy with this regional geopolitical situation, as an Ottoman state with a consolidated power was seen as an obstacle to the formation of Greater Serbia. Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece saw Albania as a welcome field for their national propaganda.  
Serbs were particularly active in this direction, the language of religious services was Serbian. Even in order to counter this foreign propaganda, the Albanian cultural elite, after the proclamation of the Constitution of 1908, tried hard to establish schools with teachers in the Albanian language. 
"Only through the strengthening of the national opinion will we be able to oppose all these intrigues", wrote Eqrem Bey Vlora.

One year after the Assembly of Ferizaj

also Culture Supplement July 28, 2024 The Assembly of Peja and Ferizaj far from autonomous Albania

A year after the holding of the Assembly of Ferizaj, when the Young Turks had already overthrown Sultan Abdyl Hamit by sending him into internal exile in Thessaloniki, the conservative circles in Kosovo, such as Isa Boletini and Riza bey Kryeziu, had started an uprising against the Young Turk regime. The line of conservative Kosovars was not ready to abandon the sultan, who, as Stavro Skendi says, "they called Baba king." But, according to the French author Léon Lamouche, among the Catholic Gegs the Albanian national character was preserved and this explains the sympathy they enjoyed, regardless of religious differences, among all loyal Albanians of their race, that is, among the great majority of the Albanian population.

On the other hand, the High Gate sent a large military force under the command of Xhav Pasha, a tough soldier of Circassian origin, who with his repressive measures only caused a reaction and the intensification of the Albanian resistance. From this moment, the revolts and armed movements of the Albanians continued until the beginning of the Balkan wars of 1912/13, which ended with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. 

The rebellion of the Albanians

The purpose of this paper was not to analyze in detail the relationship between the Young Turks and the Albanian elite, but to reflect the demands of this Assembly of the Albanian elite in Ferizaj, before which the Turks as well as other countries stood, which tried to take advantage of the situation the predicament in which the Ottoman imperial state found itself. Most importantly, the Albanian rebellion was characterized as a struggle between increasing state power at the center and increasingly vigorous resistance on the periphery of the Ottoman state to a perceived infringement of local rights.

It is evident that the positioning of Albanians in the face of the Young Turk revolution was not as Albanians, but more as Muslims, Christians, members of social-professional groups, residents of an Ottoman region. For both parties, the Albanian question and the fate of the European Ottoman Empire in general were important. They also had the same kind of discourse, presenting the coexistence of different nations or peoples in the Ottoman Empire, which they used in different ways to mobilize segments of the population for different purposes. Also, in the Assembly of Ferizaj there was also a passive actor within the Albanian elite. The most typical example was that of Isa Boletini, who came out clearly against the revolution, as he was known until the end as a loyal supporter of Sultan Abdylhamit.

also Culture Supplement July 14, 2024 1908: Albanians against the Young Turks, overthrow by Serbian agents

Among other things, the Assembly of Ferizaj, in contrast to the linear and ethno-national interpretations of Albanian historiography, cannot be said to have been a gathering with high national demands, since the influence of the High Gate was great, as well as of the countries of others, which were interested in erecting barriers around the Albanian efforts for the formation of an autonomous Albania. In fact, in the official document, Itifakname, a copy of which is also in the Imperial Archives of Vienna, it seems clear that the issue of national demands was almost completely excluded, for the reason that the leaders of this assembly did not have a high national imperative, but preservation of individual or regional interests. Moreover, the pro-Ottoman spirit prevails in this and the absence of a strong national line, which could strengthen the national character of the demands of the Assembly of Ferizaj. Another fact stands out, like many Albanian organizations, this one in Ferizaj also suffers from the spirit of spontaneity and the lack of cooperation at the national level, which localizes this event only in the framework of the Kosovo Province.

Enthusiasm for the new regime

It was the Young Turks like Galib Bey, Nexhib Draga and other prominent officers from Üsküb/Skopje who played an active role in this movement. The help of the Albanians was decisive for the restoration of the constitutional regime in the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Confident in the promises of the Young Turks, the Albanians enthusiastically welcomed the new regime from which they expected the recognition of these national rights. In this line, the Assembly of Ferizaj was involved in the whirlwind of this revolution thanks to the positioning of the progressive Albanian elite, which had great expectations for liberation from the absolutist power of Sultan Abdyl Hamid.
This orientation of the Albanians on the side of the Young Turk revolution weakened the conservative wing, which tied its fate to the Ottoman state and Sultan Abdyl Hamit. But the Young Turks behaved like "Ottomans", whose goal was an Ottoman imperial nation created by Turks and non-Turkish nationalities. In fact, they were as anti-Albanian as the conservative monarchists, that's why it didn't take long after they came to power and in the Albanian provinces of the Empire, revolts and anti-Ottoman uprisings began, as a result of the non-realization of promises by the Young Turks.  

Breaking with the regime and mobilization

also Culture Supplement April 21, 2025 The hopes of the Young Turks and the government's expeditions against Albanians

This was the moment when the Albanians broke even with the Young Turk regime and strengthened the idea that their interests should be sought within an autonomous Albanian state. So, these events evoked a general mobilization and a national awareness, which was reflected in the increase in demands for national emancipation, the opening of schools, clubs and associations and newspapers in the Albanian language, which since the end of the 19th century had been banned by sultan Abdyl Hamidi for fear of creating an Albanian national community. In addition to poverty in most of the Albanian territories, ignorance reigned and it was one of the causes that hindered any progress in Albania. Therefore, since the revolution of July 1908, which seemed to bring freedom and equality to all Ottoman nationalities, Albanians increased their demands to be educated, to study their mother tongue, to read and write it , a right that until then, had been rigorously denied to them by Abdul-Hamid's government, which in general, for Arnauts, prohibited everything that could develop among them the national feeling and especially the culture of the Albanian language.

In this context, even the gathering of Ferizaj, with all the shortcomings and differences it had within the various political currents of the Albanians, marked a turning point and exerted additional pressure on the Sultan for the restoration of the Constitution and the calling of the Parliament, as well as influenced the mobilization of the movement Albanian national. From the moment of the Young Turk revolution, the Albanians did not stop their efforts to gain their national and political rights. The Albanian elite tried to use the situation created in the Ottoman Empire after the revolution, namely after the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, for the development of national consciousness and for raising the national movement to a higher level. As a result of this mobilization, the Congress of Manastir took place, which requested the establishment of an Albanian alphabet with Latin letters. In this line, in 1909 and 1910, several congresses dedicated exclusively to language and teaching issues were held, where representatives of Albanians of three religions gathered together. There, as Lamouche says, the Catholic monks met the Hoxhallars. These events not only reflected the Albanian desire for national and European identity, but became a leitmotif for the realization of the goals for national independence.