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Meanwhile King Zog switched his capital to Elbasan, a town 25 miles southeast of Tirana. King Zog did not long continue leading his "insignificant little Army" into battle. Only one day after the Queen's arrival, he joined her at Fiorina. With him went 115 of his court followers and ten heavy cases of valuables. Going first to Salonika and then to the seaside resort of Volos, the Albanian Royal Family soon received a hint that Greece, fearing for its own hide, could not offer them a permanent asylum. As soon as the Queen recovered from a fever they were expected to move on to Egypt, a Moslem land, which is cordial to titled visitors. Also expected to move soon to a less troubled neighborhood were Banker J. P. Morgan and his guest, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, expecting no excitement, arrived at Athens on the Morgan yacht Corsair.
Pawn. Most primitive and out-of-the-way spot in Europe, more Oriental than Western, two-thirds of its 1,000,000 inhabitants of the Moslem faith, Albania does not add much developed wealth to Dictator Mussolini's Roman Empire. Principal exports (largely to Italy) are hides, cheese and tobacco. Albanian oil is at best of second-rate importance, probably not capable of supplying more than a tenth of Italy's peacetime needs.
Moreover, in King Zog II Duce already had as obliging a King as any normal dictator could want. A member of the Albanian Mati tribe, son of the hereditary chieftain of the Mati Valley, Achmed Zogu underwent the typical vicissitudes of a Balkan politician whose country must forever remain the pawn of power politics. Once before he was forced to flee the country. But he came back, was named President and then took the crown in 1928.
As to his kingship, opinions differ. Italians claimed he had been a tyrant, had misappropriated the State's funds. To others he seemed a reasonably well-educated man (he went to school at Constantinople) who—in a country with a peasant economy where the people are largely illiterate and have had independence for only 27 years—has done his best at reform. He had tried particularly to abolish the blood feud, one of the deep-rooted traditions of the country.
Back to Roost. If Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is now alarmed over Italy's grab, he can have none but his own country in general to blame, and in particular his own halfbrother, the late Sir Austen. In 1926 II Duce was pressing for extended Ethiopian interests. To divert his attention British Foreign Secretary Sir Austen Chamberlain hinted that Albania was a more convenient outlet for Italian expansion and one, incidentally, less likely to interfere with British plans.
II Duce leaped at the suggestion, immediately sent a note to Albania insisting upon becoming the guarantor of Albania's independence. Once before when the Italians presented demands President Zogu appealed to Britain, got immediate results. This time, however, the British Minister at Tirana informed the President that "London expected Albania to reach an amicable agreement with Italy without undue delay." Sir Austen and II Duce met on a yacht off Livorno to consummate the deal. The Treaty of Tirana, which made Albania a virtual Italian economic protectorate, was duly signed on Nov. 27, 1926.