Albanophilia

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Flag of Albania.

Albanophilia is a non-Albanian person's expression of a strong interest in or appreciation for the Albanian language, Albanian culture, Albanian literature, Albanian history or the Albanian people.

Contents

Albanophilia in Europe outside of the Balkans

Austrian Theodor Ippen in Shkoder with traditional costume. (1900) Theodor Ippen-Albanian costume.jpg
Austrian Theodor Ippen in Shkodër with traditional costume. (1900)

Sweden

Johann Erich Thunmann in the 18th century supported the theory of the autochthony of the Albanians [1] and also presented the Illyrian origin theory. [2] [3] Later on Gustav Meyer proved that Albanian language was part of the Indo-European family. [4]

Germany

In 2001 during the Insurgency in Macedonia the German foreign minister Joschka Fischer declared, that the Albanian question in the Balkans is not solved. Around 1912 Germany and Austria supported an Independent Albania, including cities like Parga, Tetovo and Prishtina. [5]

Albanophilia in Balkans

Palace Albanija in Belgrade by night Palata Albanija night.jpg
Palace Albanija in Belgrade by night

Montenegro

The Montenegrin Federalist Party was the only party in Montenegro which promoted common Illyrian theory with Albanians. The party's theoretician, Sekula Drljević, promoted ideas of a separate Montenegrin ethnicity (ideas that become more extreme throughout the 1930s), arguing that the Montenegrins were Illyrian. [6] He wrote:

Races are communities of blood, whereas people are creatures of history. With their language, the Montenegrin people belong to the Slavic linguistic community. By their blood, however, they belong [to the Dinaric peoples]. According to the contemporary science of European races, [Dinaric] peoples are descended from the Illyrians. Hence, not just the kinship, but the identity of certain cultural forms among the Dinaric peoples, all the way from Albanians to South Tyroleans, who are Germanized Illyrians. [7]

Notable Albanophiles

Pro-Albanian political parties

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-European languages</span> Language family native to western and southern Eurasia

The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family—English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch, and Spanish—have expanded through colonialism in the modern period and are now spoken across several continents. The Indo-European family is divided into several branches or sub-families, of which there are eight groups with languages still alive today: Albanian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Celtic, Germanic, Hellenic, Indo-Iranian, and Italic/Romance; and another nine subdivisions that are now extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montenegro</span> Country in Southeast Europe

Montenegro is a country in Southeast Europe. It is bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina to the north, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east, Albania to the southeast, and Croatia and the Adriatic Sea to the northwest with a coastline of 293.5 km. Podgorica is the country's capital and its largest city; it covers 10.4% of Montenegro's territory of 13,812 square kilometres (5,333 sq mi), and is home to roughly 31% of its total population of 621,000. Cetinje is the former royal capital and cultural centre of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the President of Montenegro.

The early written records of the history of Montenegro begin with Illyria and its various kingdoms until the Roman Republic incorporated the region into the province of Illyricum after the Illyro-Roman Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montenegrin Orthodox Church</span> Religious organization

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church is a canonically unrecognized Eastern Orthodox Church. It was formed in 1993 and registered as a non-governmental organization. Antonije Abramović was appointed as its first metropolitan. It claims succession to an older and autocephalous Montenegrin Church, which operated until the unification of the Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Montenegro, later to join the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montenegrins</span> South Slavic ethnic group

Montenegrins are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro.

The origin of the Albanians has been the subject of historical, linguistic, archaeological and genetic studies. The first mention of the ethnonym Albanoi occurred in the 2nd century AD by Ptolemy describing an Illyrian tribe who lived around present-day central Albania. The first certain attestation of medieval Albanians as an ethnic group is in the 11th century, when they continuously appear in Byzantine sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sekula Drljević</span> Montenegrin and Yugoslav politician (1884–1945)

Sekula Drljević was a Montenegrin nationalist, Yugoslav jurist, politician, orator, and theoretician. During World War II, he became a collaborator with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and cooperated with the Ustaše in the German puppet state of Croatia.

Onamo 'namo! is a patriotic song written by Prince Nicholas of Montenegro and first published in the Novi Sad-based Serbian-language literary journal Danica in 1867. Its melody can be attributed either to the Slovene composer Davorin Jenko or the Czech chaplain František Wimmer, the conductor of the Royal Montenegrin Army's military band.

Historiography is the study of how history is written. One pervasive influence upon the writing of history has been nationalism, a set of beliefs about political legitimacy and cultural identity. Nationalism has provided a significant framework for historical writing in Europe and in those former colonies influenced by Europe since the nineteenth century. Typically official school textbooks are based on the nationalist model and focus on the emergence, trials and successes of the forces of nationalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albanology</span> Science that studies Albanian language and culture

Albanology, also known as Albanian studies, is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the language, costume, literature, art, culture and history of Albanians. Within the studies the scientific methods of literature, linguistics, archeology, history and culture are used. However the Albanian language is the main point of research of the studies.

The linguistic classification of the ancient Thracian language has long been a matter of contention and uncertainty, and there are widely varying hypotheses regarding its position among other Paleo-Balkan languages. It is not contested, however, that the Thracian languages were Indo-European languages which had acquired satem characteristics by the time they are attested.

Albanians in Montenegro are an ethnic group in Montenegro of Albanian descent, which constitute 4.91% of Montenegro's total population. They are the largest non-Slavic ethnic group in Montenegro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montenegrin Federalist Party</span> Political party in Yugoslavia

The Montenegrin Federalist Party, sometimes known simply as the Montenegrin Party, was a Montenegrin political party in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which stood for preservation of Montenegrin autonomy and a decentralized federalised Yugoslavia. It pursued the ideology of the Greens who lost the Christmas Uprising, but in a peaceful and democratic manner. Its best known leader was Sekula Drljević.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian governorate of Montenegro</span> 1941–1943 Italian-occupied area of Yugoslavia

The Italian governorate of Montenegro existed from October 1941 to September 1943 as an occupied territory under military government of Fascist Italy during World War II. Although the Italians had intended to establish a quasi-independent Montenegrin kingdom, these plans were permanently shelved after a popular uprising in July 1941. Following the Italian surrender in September 1943, the territory of Montenegro was occupied by German forces which withdrew in December 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavle Đurišić</span> World War II Chetnik leader (1909–1945)

Pavle Đurišić was a Montenegrin Serb regular officer of the Royal Yugoslav Army who became a Chetnik commander (vojvoda) and led a significant proportion of the Chetniks in Montenegro during World War II. He distinguished himself and became one of the main commanders during the popular uprising against the Italians in Montenegro in July 1941, but later collaborated with the Italians in actions against the Communist-led Yugoslav Partisans. In 1943, his troops carried out several massacres against the Muslim population of Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Sandžak in which an estimated 10,000 people were killed between January and March, including thousands of women, children and the elderly. He then led his troops during their participation in the anti-Partisan Case White offensive alongside Italian forces. Đurišić was captured by the Germans in May 1943, escaped, and was recaptured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illyrian language</span> Extinct Indo-European language of Southeast Europe

The Illyrian language was an Indo-European language or group of languages spoken by the Illyrians in Southeast Europe during antiquity. The language is unattested with the exception of personal names and placenames. Just enough information can be drawn from these to allow the conclusion that it belonged to the Indo-European language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montenegrin nationalism</span> Nationalism that asserts that Montenegrins are a nation

Montenegrin nationalism is the nationalism that asserts that Montenegrins are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Montenegrins.

Johann Erich Thunmann or Johannes or Hans was a linguist, historian and theologian born in Thoresund (Södermanland) in Sweden. He studied at Strängnäs and Uppsala then left Sweden to study at Greifswald. Thunmann was professor of philosophy at the University of Halle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German-occupied territory of Montenegro</span> 1943–1944 Nazi occupation of Italian Montenegro

During World War II, an area of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia previously occupied as the Italian governorate of Montenegro was occupied by German forces after the September 1943 Armistice of Cassibile, in which the Kingdom of Italy capitulated and joined the Allies. Italian forces retreated from the governorate, and from neighbouring Albania. German forces occupied Montenegro immediately, along with Albania, and the territory remained under German occupation until they and many of their local collaborators withdrew in December 1944.

Montenegrinization (Serbo-Croatian: Crnogorizacija/Црногоризација; Albanian: Malazezizimi; is the spread of Montenegrin culture, people, and language, either by social integration or by cultural or forced assimilation.

References

  1. Elsie, Robert (19 March 2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania. Scarecrow Press. p. 159. ISBN   978-0-8108-7380-3. Johann Erich Thunmann (1746–1778) of the University of Halle first disseminated the theory of the autochthony of the Albanians
  2. Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie; Fischer, Bernd Jürgen (2002). Albanian Identities: Myth and History. Indiana University Press. p. 75. ISBN   0-253-34189-2. Although the first major exposition of the Illyrian theory, published by the German scholar Johann Thunmann in 1774...
  3. Stipčević, Aleksandar (1977). The Illyrians: history and culture. Noyes Press. p. 73. ISBN   978-0-8155-5052-5. The first one who clearly formulated the thesis of the Illyrian origin of the Albanians, was the German historian Johannes Thunmann in the eighteenth century.
  4. Philip Baldi (1983). An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages. SIU Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN   978-0-8093-1091-3. In fact, Albanian was not established definitively Indo-European until the latter part of the nineteenth century, when certain structural and lexical correspondences that demonstrated the Indo-European character of the language were noted (especially by Gustav Meyer)
  5. "deutschland-und-die-albanische-frage". blaetter. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  6. Morrison, Kenneth (2009). Montenegro: A Modern History. I.B. Tauris. pp. 47–49. ISBN   978-1845117108.
  7. Banac, Ivo (1984). The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. p. 290. ISBN   978-0-8014-9493-2.
  8. Péter, László; Rady, Martyn C.; Studies, University of London. School of Slavonic and East European (1 January 2004). British-Hungarian relations since 1848. Hungarian Cultural Centre. p. 170. ISBN   978-0-903425-73-5. Edith Durham, the noted Albanophile, comes here to mind.