Albania History Trivia

1. How did James Lyle Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape, earn his place in Albanian history?

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Answer: He was offered the Albanian throne

Mackay (1852-1932), who had had a distinguished career as a colonial administrator in India, received a letter from the Albanian authorities in 1921, offering him the throne. It suggested he might want to visit Albania the next time he was travelling through the Adriatic to let them know whether he would be interested. He declined, saying that although he was very honoured to have been offered the throne, it was not really in his line of work ... "Alba" is the Gaelic name for Scotland, but is not how Albania got its name (it may come from the name of a local tribe, or from a word meaning "mountainous") and the name long predates Mackay. The Albanian railway network was mostly developed by the Communist authorities after WWII. Another distinguished British official, Sir Fitzroy Maclean, was sent into neighbouring Yugoslavia to help Tito's resistance forces there in WWII, but the Albanians had no similar assistance.

From Quiz Albanian History

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.

From Quiz Albanian History

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.

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Answer: He became Albanian leader Enver Hoxha's body double

According to Jones' book, Shapallo was almost a perfect likeness for Albania's post-war Communist leader Enver Hoxha. When the Albanian authorities realised this, he was forcibly whisked away from his village and spent the next 20 years standing in for Hoxha at public events. His entire family were killed. Shapallo vanished after the fall of Communism. Although Jones described in great detail how he tracked Shapallo down and met him, it later became clear that, although a person matching Shapallo's life story was widely believed to have existed, Jones never found him and these sections of the book were fiction. It remains, however, a concise and very approachable introduction to modern Albanian history and life and expands on many of the themes in this quiz. Fact is often stranger than fiction, especially in Albania, but fiction can illuminate fact. Sadly, no Albanians have made it into space yet (although US astronaut William Gregory is of Albanian descent). Although a Turkish director made a particularly infamous film, "The Man Who Saved the World," that reused verbatim numerous scenes from "Star Wars," the Albanians have not yet followed suit.

From Quiz Albanian History

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.

From Quiz Albanian History

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.

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Answer: Norman Wisdom

Unlike virtually all Western films, Wisdom's 1950s "Norman Pitkin" comedies, showing a put-upon manual worker winning through against his inept bosses, were deemed "politically correct" by the Albanian Party of Labour and became extremely popular in local cinemas, being shown there over and over again for decades. There was widespread UK media coverage of Wisdom's first visits to Albania after the fall of Communism. Reporters noted that he was initially astounded to find how incredibly popular he was with people from the President downwards. Curiously, both Wisdom and Atilla the Stockbroker are devoted fans of Brighton and Hove Albion football club - Wisdom was a director of the club in the 1960s and Atilla has been its Poet In Residence. Who knows - there may be an academic thesis waiting to be written somewhere on the hidden meaning behind the links between a small football club beside the English Channel and a small country on the Adriatic!

From Quiz Only in Albania!

Answer: Atheism

Religious believers were persecuted and oppressed in most of the former Communist bloc but most of the other countries allowed some kind of servile low-profile apolitical and non-proselytising religious communities to continue. Only Albania declared itself to be the world's first formally atheist state. Virtually all the country's mosques and churches were either demolished or put to other uses such as cinemas, sports halls or restaurants. Since the fall of Communism in 1991 many mosques and churches have been rebuilt or reopened, as has happened in many post-Communist countries thanks to extensive foreign funding, and religious life is returning, although reliable unbiased statistics on the lasting impact of Hoxha's policies are hard to come by.

From Quiz Albanian History

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.

From Quiz Albanian History

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.

From Quiz Only in Albania!

Answer: Pyramids

Kadare's story covered the building of a giant pyramid in Egypt at great human and financial cost by the pharaoh Cheops. The pyramid soon become more than just a tomb - it was a symbol of the entire Egyptian government and a means of control. The Enver Hoxha Museum was opened after Hoxha's death in a large gleaming pyramid shaped building in central Tirana. As with all good personality cults, it was stuffed to the rafters with Hoxha's personal effects and had a large statue of the man himself in the centre of it. It later became a cultural centre. The emergence of an Albanian private sector in the 1990s and the influx of earnings from Albanians working abroad led to an explosion of pyramid investment schemes in 1996-97 that promised impossible returns for investors' savings. Millions invested their life savings in these and when they collapsed, as pyramid schemes always do, there was very serious social unrest.

From Quiz Albanian History

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.

From Quiz Only in Albania!

Answer: An elephant he had bought from Harrods

The elephant - a real, live one - was called Gertie, and was a gift from Leka in 1967 when Reagan was Governor of California, where King Zog spent much of his exile. Many sources say that Nancy Reagan did not, apparently think much of the name and had the beast rechristened GOP after the alternative name for the Republican Party (symbol: an elephant). Gertie/GOP ended up in Sacramento Zoo. Leka left Albania as a baby at the outbreak of WWII and spent his life in exile, much of it in South Africa, until he returned home a few years after the fall of Communism. He was involved in local politics for a while, but, getting on in years and not in the best of health, has now largely retired from public life.

From Quiz Albanian History

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.

From Quiz Only in Albania!

Answer: Greece refused to play Albania because the two countries were still technically at war

Relations between Greece and Albania were poor for much of the 20th century. Greece had never formally made peace with Albania after Italian-occupied Albania had declared war on Greece in 1940. It was also dissatisfied with the messy outcome of the First Balkan War in 1912-13, which had left a large Greek minority inside the newly created Albanian state. Football-mad Greece preferred to withdraw from the Championships rather than play Albania. The state of war issue was finally settled in 1987 and the countries now get on tolerably well and certainly play each other at football. Albania were given a bye into the second round of the Championships, where they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Denmark (who went on to finish fourth) but at least had the satisfaction of beating the Danes 1-0 in the second leg in front of a capacity crowd in Tirana, with the winning goal scored by Albanian football legend Panajot Pano.

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