Ahmet Zogu was born in Burgajet, Mat, on October 8, 1895. He was an Albanian politician, Minister of the Interior (January 30-November 14, 1920), Prime Minister of Albania (1922-1924), President (1925-1928) and King, September 1, 1928 – de facto April 7, 1939 after the Italian invasion, while, de jure on January 2, 1946 after the declaration of the Republic of Albania. On April 9, 1961, Ahmet Zogu died in Sursnes Hospital near Paris at 4:00 p.m., at the age of 66.

Ahmet Zogu had his first lessons in his hometown from private teachers such as Sali Toron, Hysen (Efendi) Ceka and Dervish Hima for the Albanian language, Hafiz Muharremi for the Turkish language, until the age of 13.

On June 15, 1905, he left for Istanbul and began his studies at the Lyce Imperial de Galatasaray, then the center of the declining Ottoman Empire, which had controlled Albania, and later at the military academy until 1912. After his father’s death in 1908, Zogu had become the Bey of Mat.

During the First World War, Zogu had volunteered on the side of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was held in Vienna in 1917 and 1918, and in Rome in 1918 and 1919, before returning to Albania in 1919.

During his time in Vienna, he had enjoyed the Western European lifestyle. Ahmet Zogu had taken lessons in the German language and deepened his knowledge in military art and Western diplomacy.

On July 20, 1912, Ahmeti returned to Albania because the Balkan in power, openly supported by Russia, were preparing to declare war on the Ottoman Empire, as a result of which Albania would suffer the consequences of this war. On November 1, 1912, he participated with 2000 of his people in the war against the Serbo-Montenegro armies, coming to the aid of the city of Shkodra.

On November 28, 1912, in the declaration of independence in Vlora by Ismail Qemali, Mati, Dibra and Mirdita were represented by Bei Vogël, who headed the delegation of 26 people. While he was fighting, it was announced that Dibra had been captured and burned by Serbian forces, and that they were heading to Mati. At that time, Ahmet Zogu had left for Mat, where he had immediately started preparations to protect Mat from the attack.

After the end of the assembly, Ahmet Zogu returned to his homeland, where he organized the defense of the provinces of Mati and Dibra, against the Serbo-Slavic army. In Mat Zogu, was a lot of weaponry and ammunition, which the mayors of Kosovo and Dibra needed, who went to Mat to get supplies. Once again, Mati had become the center of Albania and his people had not abandoned the newcomers, but had kept them in their families without sharing food.

During the government of Ismail Qemali, Zogu had defended the interests of this government, also opposing Esat Paşe Toptani. At the time of Prince Vid’s arrival and efforts to install his government in Albania, he had supported him. In the spring of 1914, an uprising broke out against Vid (which was thought to have been masterminded by Esat Paşe Toptani).

Zogu had come to the aid of Prince Vid and asked the rebel forces to withdraw and not endanger national interests. After a negative response from the rebels, he had marched towards Elbasan and Kruja, they had broken the rebel forces and settled in Kruja. During the time he was in Kruja, Prince Vidi had left Albania and had left the administration of the country to an international representation, this had caused Zogu to withdraw from Kruja towards Mati.

In the first world war, King Zog had lined up on the side of Austria-Hungary and made 10,000 fighters available for the war (freeing Skrapar and Durrës). On March 3, 1916, Zogu had called the National Congress in Elbasan to discuss the fate of Albania.

This initiative of his, in the beginning, had the support of Austria-Hungary, which later got scared and prevented him. This act had caused Zogu to withdraw from the First World War, as a sign of revolt against this action. The Austrians, because he was the nephew of Esat Toptan, wanted to deport him. The mother had asked Father Pal Dodaj, then in Rubik, for help to save her son. Father Dodaj had gone to Burgajet, had dressed as Friar Ahmet, had taken him to the Assembly of Rubik. With Father Dodajt’s intervention, Zogu had gone to study in Austria, at a Military Academy.

In January 1917, after the death of Franz Joseph, Karl’s coronation took place in Vienna and a delegation from Albania was invited. After this ceremony, the Austrians asked Zogu to stay in Vienna, a country that had offered scholarships to a handful of Albanians, and had plans for Albania. There he also met Çatin Saraçi.

He was forced to settle in Vienna until the end of the War. In 1919, Albania was in real danger of partition, so Zogu returned to political activity, demanding that a national congress be held to protect the fate of Albania, a congress that was held in Lushnja on January 21-31, 1920, secured with 9,000 himself (Congress had appointed him interior minister). On February 11, 1920, after the Italian objection to not allowing the establishment of the government in the capital of the country in Durrës, Zogu breaks the barricade and ensures the establishment of the government and the Supreme Council in Tirana. On March 6, 1920, together with the Minister of Justice, he united Shkodra with the rest of the country. In February-November 1920, he stabilizes order in Albania. In November 1920 his success arouses jealousy and as a result, the government resigns. On April 5, 1921, he was elected deputy of the People’s Party in the National Council. On November 4, 1921, he was appointed by the government as commander of military operations for the eastern wing against the Serbs. On December 14, 1921, after the suppression of the coup, he came to Tirana and ensured the peace of the country. On December 24, 1921, he was again appointed Minister of Internal Affairs. In 1922, he changed his surname, removing the Turkish suffix -olli, and leaving simply Zogu.

In March 1922, he faced the rebellion of the opposition forces, protecting the capital from anarchy. On December 2, 1922, he was appointed prime minister for the first time. In this post, Zogu was the first to start work on the drafting of the organic laws of the ministries. For this purpose, he set up expert groups with two representatives for each ministry. In September 1923, Zogu was confirmed as the chairman of the People’s Party. In December 1923, Zogu manages to secure the largest number of votes in the elections for the Constitutional Assembly, but without reaching the right number for the creation of the new government. For the first time, he was elected with two mandates, in Dibër and Durrës.

On February 23, 1924, because Zogu secured a new majority through a coalition with the independentists, an assassination attempt was organized inside the Constitutional Assembly. Zogu was injured during his entrance into the parliament by Beqir Valteri on February 24. Valteri was entering Zogu’s door, who calmly shot Ahmet Zogu’s body three times. The bird took three bullets, one in the hand, one in the thigh and one in the abdomen.

An extremely heavy atmosphere prevailed in the parliament hall, since most of the deputies were armed, there was a risk of an armed fight between the opposing parties, writes KosovaPress.

After several scary sequences, Beqir Valteri was stopped and Eljaz Vrioni took the floor to calm the situation, while Zogu spoke loudly from the seat: “Gentlemen, it is not the first time that something like this has happened, so please friends of let them forget for a moment what happened and deal with this work later”.

This intervention of Zog and Vrion avoided a real massacre in the Assembly hall.

He approached Eqrem Bey Vlora with dr. Simonidhin, who verified the damage done by two bullets that had taken him by passing, cutting him deeply, one in the thigh and the other in the chest; the wounds were temporarily bandaged.

Accompanied by a powerful escort, the prime minister took refuge in his house, and began to heal without any problem, since the wounds were much lighter than expected, wounds which did not prevent him from receiving visits from friends. Zogu even took the opportunity to meet the assassin himself. He then resigns. The situation worsens.

In May-June 1924, the opposition organizes a coup d’état. The “Vrioni” government, which was overthrown on June 10, 1924, had appointed him, in its last days, commander for suppressing the coup d’état in the north.

In June 1924, in order not to give way to bloodshed, Zogu leaves for Yugoslavia. The political court of his political opponents sentences him to death in absentia. In December 1924, with the decision of the “Vrioni” government and with the support of the great powers, Zogu restored the legitimacy overthrown in June 1924. On January 6, 1925, the Supreme Council decreed him prime minister and minister of the interior.

The first president of the Albanian Republic, Ahmet Zogu

On January 25, 1925, the Constitutional Assembly proclaimed the Albanian Republic. Ten days later, Ahmet Zogu was elected by the Constitutional Assembly, president of the republic, being at the same time the head of the executive power. During this time, Ahmet Zogu restored stability in the country, as well as enabled the signing of important economic, political and military agreements that strengthened the position of Albania.

The instability of the country’s political stability in the 20s forced a group of parliamentarians to propose the review of the state regime in Albania, the parliament decided in favor of this proposal.

After the early elections on August 25, 1928, it was proposed to change the form of government, the status commission was formed, which proposed to change the form of government regime from republic to monarchy. This proposal was put to a vote and the parliament on August 30, 1928, decided that the Constituent Assembly should proclaim Albania a Hereditary Parliamentary Democratic Kingdom.

On September 1, 1928, the Constitutional Assembly proclaimed: “King of the Albanians” under the name “Zog I”. The coronation ceremony was scheduled at five o’clock, but by half-past four the white chamber of parliament was packed with MPs, civil servants, tribal chiefs, some dressed in frocks and others in white woolen festoons. The heads of foreign missions were also present, although they tried to keep a low profile. The case raised difficult questions of protocol, so reflecting the pending verdicts of their governments, the diplomats had opted for morning wear, without decorations. To prove that their participation was informal, they were reduced to the crowd gathered in the modest lobby, leaving the space reserved for them to the correspondents of the “Associated Press”.