Albanian Declaration of Independence (1912)
알바니아 독립 선언 (1912)
The proclamation, on 28 November 1912 at Vlorë, of Albania's independence from the Ottoman Empire by an assembly of 40 Albanian delegates led by Ismail Qemali, made during the First Balkan War as the Balkan allies moved to partition Albanian lands.
In depth
The success of the Albanian Revolt of 1912 signalled to the neighbouring states that the Ottoman Empire was weak. Serbia opposed the plan for an Albanian vilayet and preferred a partition of Ottoman Europe among the four allies. When the allied armies occupied most Albanian lands after the outbreak of war, Ismail Qemali returned to Vlorë with Austro-Hungarian support and convened an all-Albanian congress. On the afternoon of 28 November, meeting at the house of Xhemil Bey in Vlorë, the delegates decided "with one voice" that "Albania today is to be on its own, free and independent". The declaration, written in Gheg and Tosk Albanian and Ottoman Turkish, bore forty signatures.
On 4 December a government under Qemali and a Council of Elders were set up. Vlorë was the only town the delegates controlled, and the Greek navy blockaded its port from 3 December, yet the declaration proved effective in the vacuum of power. The London Conference of Ambassadors recognised independence de facto on 17 December, and on 29 July 1913, after the Second Balkan War and the settlement of the Shkodër question, the Powers recognised Albania as a neutral, sovereign and hereditary principality.