Sarah Inglis
Origins of the Albanian National Awakening

Abstract

On 26 August 1830, in the present day city of Bitola in Macedonia, then known as Manastir, the Grand Vizier, Reshid Pasha, met with five hundred southern Albanian beys. Reshid Pasha lured the Albanian leaders to Monastir on the premise they would receivean award for their loyalty to the Porte and for helping to fight alongside the Ottomans in the Greek War of Independence. Instead, that afternoon, over a thousand Ottoman troops killed the five hundred Albanian beys and their guards. This massacre occurred in order to prevent Albanian resistance movements, inspired by their involvement in the Greek War of Independence and other revolutionary events that had or were occurring in the Balkans and in other parts of Europe, and can be seen as one of the origins of the Albanian nationalist movement.

Key words: Albania, National Awakening, Ottoman Empire, massacre

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