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The movement of June 1924, political factors and Noli's coming to power/ The clash of two political blocs...

2024-04-01 19:26:59 / JETË ALFA PRESS

The movement of June 1924, political factors and Noli's coming to power/
The fragmentation of Albania and the long effort to recognize and define the borders of the Albanian state were turning Albania into a "no man's land".

This was also reflected in the creation of political groups in Albania.

In the political arena of the time, two main blocs had been created, that of the beylers and big owners, who were led informally by Ahmet Zogolli, as well as the other bloc considered as the new bourgeoisie, with young intellectuals, educated in the West, with the youth organized in the society 'Bashkimi', directed by Avni Rustemi, as well as with the support of the Sikh emigrants of Kosovo gathered around the National Defense Committee of Kosovo.

With this social and structural basis, the opposition gathered prominent figures who had played a first-hand role in the declaration of Independence, such as Hasan Prishtina, Bajram Curri, Fan Noli, Luigj Gurakuqi, Stavro Vinjau and others. During 1923, tensions had built up between religious groups, with Christians unhappy with former Ottoman officials continuing to benefit from their position and taxes from the wealthier Christian parts of the country subsidizing a government led by the Muslim Ahmet Zogu .

These tensions fueled the main political clash between the two blocs, in the fall of 1923 for the elections to the Constituent Assembly, which had the task of determining the form of the regime, setting the capital and in a way determining the path Albania would go.

Starting collisions

The election of December 27, 1923

The murder of the candidates Adem Gjinishi and Haxhi Isuf Kazazi in Peqin was the culmination of the irritation of the relations between the groups.

The 1923 parliamentary elections were held under a two-round voting system, with the first round in November and the second held on 27 December. In the Assembly with 102 seats, opposition candidates won 39, while Zogu won 44 seats. The rest of the deputies were independent conservative candidates, who mainly support Ahmet Zogu.

There were accusations of blackmail, theft and vote-buying from both sides, but despite the opposition's claims, the election results provided an accurate picture of the political climate in Albania.

None of the groups could secure a majority, showing the great regional and religious divisions of the time, where the opposition won in the South and the North, while Zogu and his followers won in Central Albania and Dibër.

The Constitutional Assembly that emerged from the December 27 elections met for the first time on January 21, 1924. Petro Poga was elected temporary president and Nush Bushati secretary. Ali Këlcyra and Luigj Gurakuqi held a speech about the importance of this day and in this session five minutes of silence were held as a sign of honor for the candidates killed during the campaign, the late Adem Gjinishi and Haxhi Jusuf Kazazi.

On February 24, 1924, Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu was assassinated at the entrance to the Parliament by Beqir Valteri from Matjan.

Since the assassin was a member of the "Bashkimi" society, Zog's followers connected the assassination with its chairman, Avni Rustem. Zogu retired from the post of Prime Minister, giving way to Shefqet Vërlac. Despite these political movements, the situation was quite honest. In March 1924 the government had two determined opponents, the progressive forces gathered around Fan Noli and the Kosovo Committee.

The June Revolution

The murder of Avni Rustemi

Frictions between the political parties were highlighted after the assassination of Beqir Valter against Zog, incited by Rustemi.

The organizer of the event was Rustemi and others implicated were Sali Hidri (Hoxha), Sejfulla Malëshova, Omer Nishani, etc. Rrustemi, after participating for the last time in the Constitutional Assembly on April 12, 1924, returns to Tirana on April 20, appearing in the Assembly to request a quarterly leave, after having started the procedures for obtaining an American visa.

On the afternoon of April 20, at the Pasha Cemetery (then "Avni Rustemi" square, Pazari i Ri), Rrustemi stopped to greet and exchange two words with Hoxha Kadri, and in those moments he was shot with a bullet by the miller Jusuf Reçi.

Ali Këlcyra housed him for a few hours at home and then they took him to the hospital, where after a two-day stay, Rustemi died on April 22, 1924 from hemorrhage. With the murder of Rustem, political enmity took off and served as a reason for the organizations with revolutionary effects that were made for the burial of the murdered deputy.

The burial of Avni Rustemi and the establishment of the "Revolutionary Committee".

According to Këlcyra, since the opposition of the time was convinced that Rustem's murder was only a government conspiracy, it imposed a condition on the government that the conspirators surrender within 48 hours. After not taking the measures, the funeral was organized, by means of which the opposition and its intellectual followers headed towards Vlora, where they were withdrawn.

In Vlora, a revolutionary committee was formed led by Fan Noli, composed of Qazim Koculi, Spiro Koleka, Koço Tasit e Këlcyra, for South Albania; Luigj Gurakuqi and Xhemal beg Bushati for Northern Albania. This committee in a few days opposed the legitimate government of the country and demanded recognition, since the head of the committee sent a telegram from Vlora to the Italian minister in Durrës, Marquis Durazzo, expressing the hope for moral help from Mussolini.

The introduction of two military garrisons, that of Shkodra under the command of Rexhep Shala, and that of Përmet, commanded by Kasëm Qafëzezi, as well as the defeat of the forces of Bajram Curri from Kruma, caused the government to leave Albania together with Ahmet Zogun and his followers.

Twenty-four hours after the start of the movement of forces from the North and the South towards Tirana, the forces of the Movement, without emptying almost a single rifle, entered the capital

Noli Government

On June 16, 1924, Noli created his government, a small cabinet, composed of representatives of all the groups of the June uprising, the army, Beylers, liberals, progressives and the Shkodran lobby. While the Kosovo Committee was not included in the government.

The government cabinet consisted of:

Fan Noli
Prime Minister
Sulejman Delvina
Foreign Minister
Luigj Gurakuqi
Minister of Finance
Stavro Vinjau
Minister of Education
Kasëm Qafëzezi
Minister of War
Rexhep Shala
Minister of Interior
Qazim Koculi
Minister of Agriculture
Xhemal Bushati
Minister without portfolio

The search for recognition

For six months of government, he stayed abroad for 55 days, seeking recognition, but he could not get it, not even from America, in which he hoped.

Even the neighboring countries, Greece and Yugoslavia, did not recognize Noli's government, even at that time allied with each other, the neighboring countries worked together to destabilize Noli's government.

He called for good relations with neighboring countries, but managed to develop diplomatic relations only with the Soviet Union, which was interpreted by the European powers as his orientation towards Soviet Bolshevism.

Noli was removed from the government on December 22, 1924, after pressure from the armed forces led by his rival Ahmet Zogu, who then took power and held it until 1939./ Alfapress.al

 

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