Albanian History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Durres

Ancient Greeks founded many of the cities in Albania, although these places were not utilized until the Ancient Romans seized control of the area. One of these cities is Durres, home to the Amphitheatre of Durres. This amphitheatre, now in ruins, could seat over 20,000 people. It was built by the command of Trajan in the 2nd century BC and rediscovered only in 1966. Today, it is the center and main site in the city of Durres. Because of its recent discovery, the amphitheatre poses a number of problems to the city as it is structurally unsound. The risk of collapse has forced hundreds of people from their homes which were built nearby.

It is believed the Amphitheatre of Durres was the first place Christianity was preached in Albania.

Answer: Iconoclasm

The main controversy within the Church at the time involved icons. Byzantine leaders like Leo III opposed the display of icons (called iconoclasm) while leaders in the western church were supportive of such displays. Leo III banned icons in his kingdom but the bishops and priests within the Byzantine Empire supported Rome.

This caused Leo III to remove the church in his empire from Roman control and place it under Constantinople where he had greater influence with church leaders.

Answer: Charles of Anjou

The land of what is now Albania had seen centuries of tumultuous times. The area was constantly changing hands mostly between the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires. By the late 13th century, the Byzantine Empire was experiencing a period of waning influence that allowed Charles of Anjou to scoop up Albania for himself.

He became King of Albania in 1272 with the aid of the local rulers and priests. Charles promised to protect Albania from further invasions and allow Albania greater autonomy than other parts of his kingdom received.

Answer: Albania fell under control of the Ottoman Empire

The Battle of Savra in 1385 began as a feudal battle for local control between Karlo Thopia and Balsa Balsic. Karlo Thopia invited the Ottoman Empire to fight on his behalf. The Ottomans were successful. This was the beginning of over 500 years of Ottoman occupation and influence in what is now Albania.

Answer: Skanderbeg

Skanderbeg was originally an Albanian nobleman who rose through the ranks of the Ottoman Empire to become Governor of Dibra. However, he turned on the Ottoman Empire when many of the local noblemen lost their power and their land. His rebellions were not very successful although he did see limited wins. By and large, his supporters were those from outside Albania and the Ottoman Empire who wanted to see the Ottomans defeated and lose their power in Europe.

Although he was unable to overthrow the Ottomans, Skanderberg was able to deter and slow their expansion into Europe.

Answer: False

Albanians were among the very last people within the Empire to call for dissolution and seek independence. Albania was always a very split country politically and ethnically. The Southern part was home to many Muslim Ottomans while the north was home to Albanian-speaking Orthodox Christians. Many in the south believed that the collapse of the Ottoman Empire would see Albania split in two or see the whole of it fall under the control of a Slavic Empire.

However, with the dawn of the Albanian National Awakening (which among other things created a united Albanian alphabet and culture), Albanian finally began to rebel against the Ottomans in hopes for an independent Albania.

Answer: Ismail Qemali

Ismail Qemali had been involved in a number Ottoman overthrow attempts over the years. After the Revolt of 1912, it was Qemali who officially declared Albania independent from the Ottomans. Qemali wrote the Albanian Declaration of Independence and was the first to officially raise the flag of Albania. Qemali was forced to resign as Prime Minister in 1914 after evidence emerged he had aligned with the Ottomans in a military conquest against Greece in exchange for spoils of war.

Answer: To return Albania to the Ottoman Empire

The Peasant Revolt of 1914 was led primarily by Muslims in Albania, although other groups also took part and not all Muslim groups did. The main concern was that Prince Wilhelm of Wied had been seizing peasant (Muslim mostly) land in the midst of the chaos of World War I. Furthermore, the rebels demanded Albania be returned to the Ottoman Empire as many Muslims felt the prince was trying to replace them with Slavs.

The revolt failed large part because of lack of popularity even among the groups that would have benefited the most.

Answer: Italy

King Zog was the only King of Albania. He was formally prime minister and president. Zog governed Albania during the very turbulent interwar period and managed to bring stability and justice to Albania, a country that had not seen much of either. However when the Great Depression happened, Zog ceded much control to Mussolini. Mussolini had long been a supporter of Zog's and helped him became prime minister in the 1920s. Mussolini also supported Albania financially to the point that Zog had no choice but to essentially give up control.

He allowed Mussolini to invade in 1939 as collateral for Albania being unable to pay its loans. Prior to this, much of the Albanian military and police force was already controlled by Italy.

Answer: China

Albania was a hotly sought after ally between the Soviet Union and China, despite its small size. Both sides essentially bribed Albania with promises to build extravagant buildings and infrastructure programs within Albania. Ultimately, Albania sided with China because the Soviets had not treated Albania well when they briefly occupied it. Non-communist European countries also got in the action and tried to sway Albania toward capitalism.

Although Europe lost this fight, it would win soon afterward when China dumped Albania in the 1970s because it was too small to be of any importance.